Mexico: Border wall would harm migratory endangered species

Photo: Walk along Arivaca Creek, near the US spy tower, 12 miles north of the border. The region is the migratory route of bats, jaguar, pronghorn, black bear and other rare species in Sonora, Mexico and southern Arizona. Photo Brenda Norrell Photo 2: Sonoran Pronghorn.


Mexico urges fence changes to aid animals

The Associated Press

MEXICO CITY — The Mexican government said Monday it is seeking changes in a U.S. plan to expand fences along the two nations' border because of the threat to migratory species accustomed to roaming freely across the frontier.
The Environment Department said the fences would seriously hurt species that cross the 1,952-mile border, and said the United States needs to alter or mitigate the barriers — aimed at stopping migrants from crossing illegally into the U.S. — where necessary.
Mexico also wants Washington to expand its environmental impact study on the fences and will file a complaint with the United Nations' International Court of Justice in the Hague, Netherlands if necessary.
"The eventual construction of this barrier would place at risk the various ecosystems that we share," said Environment Secretary Juan Rafael Elvira, noting that the border includes desert, mountains, rivers and wetlands.
A report prepared for the Mexican government by experts and activists from both nations said the fences could isolate border animals into smaller population groups, affecting their genetic diversity.
Exequiel Ezcurra, director of research at the San Diego Natural History Museum, stressed that Mexico would not be the only loser from the construction of 700 miles of border fencing: the United States could lose visits from Mexican jaguars and black bears that have enriched U.S. ecosystems.
Environmentalists say highly endangered species such as the antelope-like Sonoran pronghorn — of which only about 100 still exist — could be wiped out in coming years, because they are used to moving across the border in search of scarce grassland.
Even strong lighting or radar could interfere with nocturnal species in border areas, and construction, maintenance and traffic along the walls would affect a wider strip of border land than just the fences themselves, the report states.
Elvira did not say what alternatives to the fences might be, but the report suggested creating bridge areas so ecosystems can remain connected, and wilderness areas or "green corridors" without roads that experts say may be less attractive to smugglers.
It also suggested "live" fences of cacti, non-permanent or removable fencing, night-vision instead of radar and more permeable fencing to allow water, insects and pollen to move across the border.

Struggling for Border Justice

Photos by Brenda Norrell (Protest of Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano after signing of new immigration law.)

Senate bill includes funds for dangerous crashing drones (unmanned aerial vehicles.)

Senate Approval of massive border militarization sacrifices human security
Coalicion de Derechos Humanos

(July 27, 2007) TUCSON -- Yesterday’s Senate vote to provide an additional $3 billion dollars toward “beefing up border security” will have disastrous implications for border communities and diverts attention from root causes, and therefore solutions, for our migration phenomenon, contend local human rights groups.
Coalición de Derechos Humanos denounces the decision as irresponsible, pointing out the dramatic number of human rights violations and abuses that have occurred as a result of more than a decade of militarization tactics and policies.
The bill provides for an additional 23,000 Border Patrol agents, 4 unmanned aerial vehicles, 700 miles of new walls, 300 miles of vehicle barriers and 45,000 detention beds. The bill passed with 89 votes to 1, and is being put forth by some as an effort to put Congress on a path to override President Bush's promised veto of a $38 billion homeland security funding bill.
Read more ...
http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net/

Mohawks in Canada: Secret weapons testing at Sharbot Lake

SPECIAL MOHAWK NATION NEWS REPORT:

IS CANADA THE WORLD’S “BUTT HOLE”FOR TESTING BOMBS AND WMDs??
Sombody’s making deals with the devil!
July 26, 2007
“Ye Shall Know them by the Company they Keep” [from somewhere in the Bible?]

In a Memorandum of Understanding “Mining Resources Engineering Limited” MREL is continuing its weapons making and bomb exploding activities on Algonquin lands. We investigated and found a frightening profile on MREL.

MREL Encampment in the Bush

Their weapons testing is unacceptable! On July 13, 2007, some Indigenous people stumbled on their “secret” lab and explosive testing encampment in the bush on Sharbot Lake. They probably need to clean up some evidence of their questionable activities? We are now in the know! They are making weapons of genocide to be used on our people elsewhere in the world and, who knows, maybe even on us.

MREL tries to stay anonymous. Bill Bauer, the head, keeps company with some big guys in the BIG LEAGUE. Yes, the Department of National Defense Canada [DND] and the U.S. Department of Defense [DOD] are some of MREL’s biggest customers. They work secretly for the sake of “national security”, calling it “R&D” [Research & Development]. We know they don’t care about ‘our’ security. Why do we get the feeling that there’s a lot of “insanity” going on here? [Ask Bill Bauer of MREL at 613-545-0466 (111)Cell 613-530-0777. MREL hides out in Kingston].

Why should these secret companies and agencies know more about our security than us? We are the original owners of the land, and there are non-native settlers who live on our land.

Mysterious MREL has the high tech equipment to measure all forms of radiation. They provide their services to test weapons they call “explosives” at their unique “state of the art” at a remote facility in the wilderness of Algonquin territory.

For years MREL has been making a lot of noise in the Algonquin countryside. Their explosions can be heard and felt for miles around. Farmers have moved away because the noise causes their cows and goats to miscarry. [Are these lands going to become uninhabitable for hundreds of years?]
Read more ... See: “Sharbot Lake”
http://www.mohawknationnews.com/news/news4.php?lang=en&layout=mnn&category=58&srcurl=%2Fnews%2Fnews3.php%3Flang%3Den%26layout%3Dmnn%26sortorder%3D0

Priests prepare for court, possible prison, to expose U.S. torture

By Brenda Norrell

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

TUCSON -- Two priests willing to go to prison to expose U.S. torture and torture training at Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona are prepared for their pre-trial motions.

Fr. Louis Vitale (left) and Fr. Stephen Kelly will join human rights attorney William Quigley in Tucson on Sunday evening, August 12. It is the evening before the August 13 pre-trial motions hearing. The gathering will be held at Southside Presbyterian Church, 317 W. 23rd. That's one block south of 22nd St. at 10th Ave., at 7:00 pm.
Fr. Louie Vitale, a Franciscan priest, is an Action Advocate for Pace e Bene, co-founder of the Nevada Desert Experience and SOA Watch Prisoner of Conscience.
Fr. Steve Kelly (right), a Jesuit priest, has served time in prison for his participation in several Plowshares direct disarmament actions. Fr. Kelly literary attempted to turn a weapon of mass destruction into a plowshare and went to prison for it.

In December, 2005, Fr. Kelly served as chaplain for Witness to Torture, a delegation which marched through Cuba to the gates of the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
Bill Quigley is a law professor and Director of the Law Clinic and the Gillis Long Poverty Law Center at Loyola University, New Orleans. He's been an active public interest lawyer since 1977, volunteering with School of the Americas Watch, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti and many other groups.
On August 13 (and possibly 14), Fr. Louie Vitale and Fr. Steve Kelly, represented by Bill Quigley, will have a pre-trial motions hearing in federal court in Tucson on charges of trespass and failure to obey an officer's orders for their nonviolent witness on Nov. 19, 2006 at Fort Huachuca.

The priests attempted to give a letter to the post commander of Fort Huachuca because of the leading role that the Fort has played in the development of the manuals advocating torture used at the SOA (School of Americas) and current interrogation techniques being used by the Army.
On August 13, there will be a support circle in the courtyard outside the federal courthouse, 405 W. Congress, time to be announced.
Please regularly check http://tortureontrial.org/ for details, updated information about the case and related events, or call 520-323-8697.

Read more ...

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2007/06/priests-face-prison-to-expose-torture.html

Torture protests outside federal court in Tucson. Photos by Brenda Norrell

brendanorrell@gmail.com/

Moving in 3 days

Busy busy!

With shopping and scriptwriting that is!

I just spent $325 yesterday in Ikea (the annual sale like lousy one leh...) buying 1 pink computer desk, 1 pink chest of 3 drawers, and a pink computer swivel chair --- ALL NEW IKEA PRODUCTS WITH AN AWESOME SHADE OF BABY PINK!!!

Can't find a photo of the computer table

YOU GIRLS MUST ALL GO AND BUY THEM TOO SO THAT IKEA BRINGS IN MORE PINK FURNITURE!

So exciting, we are moving into the new condo on the 1st, which is only 2 days more!!!

I can't wait!! I have been shopping around on ebay, and I found this pink microwave, pots and pans, toasters and whatever not... and they are all so cute!

Unfortunately Mike has forbidden me to turn his supposedly manly bachelor's pad into a pink fluffly place, so well... All pink products must be "quarantined" in my princess room.

Sian... Maybe one day he will get colourblind and see all pink things as blue? My only hope. Does stabbing the eyeballs work? He's sleeping now, I could just...

SO ANYWAY.

Yesterday after Ikea we also went to Courts, and Courts is so absurd!

First we saw a mattress that we really liked (its $1390) and we asked the young sales guy if for that price it is selling just that mattress (it was sitting on a white leather bedframe selling for, like $800 or something).

He said yes.

Soon after, an old Indian couple came and they enquired about the mattress, and in a rather haughty way asked (as if taken for granted) if the bedframe would be given free to them.

The young salesman said "No" and the Indian couple walked away.

While Mike and I were still sitting on the mattress and discussing about it, the salesman's friend came along, and our salesman begin to talk to his colleague about the Indian couple, insulting them (in chinese) and saying how ridiculous they are to expect the bed frame to be given free.

Mike and I walked around for a bit after this, deciding if we should get the mattress that day or not, and when we decided to do just that, we met another sales lady whom we finally sealed the deal with.

We asked the same question as before, because we needed a divan and if a divan is going to be sold at a discounted price together with the mattress we would buy it.

The saleslady walked away to check, and when she came back, she was all bouncy and told us with glee that they are going to throw in the bedframe for us for free!! A NEW SET! With divan, stumpy metal legs, leather backing (although it's quite ugly, but it's removable) and everything!

SIAO OR NOT YOU TELL ME?

I'm not complaining, but they are so disorganised la, the salespeople like all don't know their stuff, and what, if we didn't check, they are not going to give us the bedframe lah!

And the poor Indian couple got scolded and everything!

And if they are giving away something that's $800 for free, shouldn't they put it on the sign so that people would be tempted to buy the mattress? Can boh dai boh chi like that give away bedframe one meh??

Courts is so weird.

Sorry, I'm very auntie. Sigh.


In other news...


Gillian was asking me to try writing some scripts for her, and so I did!! It's so weird to be suddenly behind the scenes and hearing people act out what you wrote. Kinda fun, but I don't know if I can say more, so yeah.

I'm kinda sick of the whole Disgusting Bloggers saga.

Apparently, Wanbao and Straits Times both reported it somewhat, but I didn't see anything!

It's a little overdue, but few days ago I saw these two parody videos and almost died laughing.



Done by the very talented Jayden, who even bothered to cut and include small snippets of me. But no thanks for my signature "Bah!" - that was like 3 years ago when I was superbly fat!



Second one by none other than Kenny Sia.

Hilarious!

What's Steven Lim saying at the 21 second mark?

That's all!

Pictures soon. I've kinda lost the interest for photography and just stopped taking photos. Very very bad!

p/s: Please don't write more comments on the LZB blog post. I am sick of all the stupid comments so I'm just deleting everything.

Bush criminalizes the anti-war movement

CRIMINALIZING THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT
By Prof. Michel Chossudovsky
www.globalresearch.ca/PrintArticle.php?articleId=6377
This article gives the implications of the Executive Order Bush issued July 17, 2007 whereby opposing the Iraq War becomes an illegal act. It provides the text of the Executive Order, and the text of his Message to Congress the same day.
"In substance, under this executive order, opposing the war becomes an illegal act. The Executive Order criminalizes the antiwar movement. It is intended to "blocking property" of US citizens and organizations actively involved in the peace movement. It allows the Department of Defense to interfere in financial affairs and instruct the Treasury to "block the property" and/or confiscate/ freeze the assets of "Certain Persons" involved in antiwar activities. It targets those "Certain Persons" in America, including civil society organizatioins, who oppose the Bush Administration's "peace and stability" program in Iraq, characterized, in plain English, by an illegal occupation and the continued killing of innocent civilians. "

ECHOES RE-"CAPPED"

"In your virgin mind, women are like these mythical creatures - like unicorns with breasts. That's a myth. Women are just normal people with breasts." - Cappie, 'Greek'

"I like to think of girls as round men." - Carter Nash, 'Captain Nice'

New York Times reveals ignorance on Navajo environmentalists

By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

The New York Times has revealed the newspaper's ignorance with the headline, "Navajos and environmentalists split on power plant."

The headline incorrectly indicates that Navajos and outsiders are split on the issue of the proposed Desert Rock power plant.

However, it is the Navajo people who have maintained the staunch resistance to the Desert Rock power plant; Navajos who actually live in the Four Corners area on tribal land. They are already breathing the toxins from two other power plants.

The Navajos who live on the land are fighting their own Navajo tribal government, Navajo President Joe Shirley, Jr., and the Navajo Nation Council, to halt the power plant.

The New York Times' misleading headline is a pattern for national newspapers. During the past decades, Indigenous living in Central and South America, struggling to survive as farmers on their land, were usually referred to as "insurgents," by major newspapers. Since editors usually write the headlines, it is sad to see the New York Times staff so ill-informed.

Major newspapers usually fail to report the fact that a large amount of the revenues from power plants and other destructive mining provide the salaries and travel expense accounts of the Navajo president and the Navajo Nation Council's 88 council delegates.

While Navajos in northwest New Mexico, Big Mountain and southeastern Utah, live with the cancer-producing toxins of coal mining, oil and gas wells and power plants, many Navajos still live without running water and electricity. While they suffer the degradation, non-Indians in the Southwest receive the electricity.

Since Navajos who live on the land lack the huge bank accounts to hire highly-paid spin doctors, the voice of the tribal government and corporations are what usually makes it to the national news. Of course, visiting reporters sweep through and unfortunately, their editors often sabotage their articles with misleading headlines.

The New York Times seems unaware that there are Navajo environmentalists in a modern-day movement. Among the Navajo environmentalists was Leroy Jackson, cofounder of Dine' Citizens Against Ruining the Environment, Dine' CARE, found dead in 1993 after protesting the tribe's clear cutting of the old growth yellow pines on Navajoland.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/27/us/27navajo.html?_r=3&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=login

Photo: Navajos protest Desert Rock power plant at Navajo President Joe Shirley Jr.'s inauguration. Photo Dooda Desert Rock

TWILIGHT ZONK

One day during her second week as a secretary at the Sterling-Cooper advertising agency, Peggy was given the "grand tour" of the offices. When Paul started doing his impression of Rod Serling hosting 'The Twilight Zone' ("Submitted for your approval..."), Peggy didn't pick up on the reference. As she explained, she didn't like science fiction.

Her attitude worried Paul because there were rumors that CBS might cancel the show. (Whether his fears stemmed from just being a fan or because the agency was buying ad time for its clients on the show is unclear.) But luckily for him, Peggy proved to be in the minority. As time went on, 'The Twilight Zone' became one of the most enduring classics of Television, perhaps the culmination of the medium's "Golden Age". It's become so ingrained in our psyche that the phrase "The Twilight Zone" has moved beyond just being a pop culture reference to actually refer to those surreal, bizarre moments in our lives.

(An interesting bit of trivia in this episode, which may have been deliberate on the part of Matthew Weiner, the writer: even though the agency's clients might have been sponsoring 'The Twilight Zone', ad exec Don Draper's mistress and even his own children were ignoring it in favor of its competition on NBC, 'People Are Funny'. When 'The Twilight Zone' debuted, 'People Are Funny' was already a ratings powerhouse on Friday nights.)

Along with 'Star Trek', 'The Twilight Zone' is one of the biggest sources of Zonks in Toobworld. (For the uninitiated, Zonks are references to other TV shows as TV shows, when they should be sharing the same universe as the show making the reference.)

For the most part, the show should be be considered part of the main TV Universe, but there are certain episodes which must be located on other planets ("Eye Of The Beholder" and "The Invaders", for example) or in a parallel dimension (like "Number Twelve Looks Just Like You").

As for Rod Serling's participation as the on-screen narrator, he is the inspiration for the term "serlinguist", those TV characters who can talk to the viewers at home in the Trueniverse. Yet at the same time, he is the creative force behind the show in Toobworld as well. ('Perry Mason' mentions that he and Serling are old friends in one of the episodes of his courtroom drama.)

So even though most of the episodes have taken place on Earth Prime-Time ("Where Is Everybody?", "Nick Of Time", "Long Distance Call", "Nightmare At 20,000 Feet" etc), other TV characters have made references to the show when they've found themselves in freaky situations.

Here are a few examples:

"Next stop - 'The Twilight Zone'." - Detective Christine Cagney, 'Cagney And Lacey'

"I think I've seen this on 'The Twilight Zone'." - Mary, 'Night Court'

"It's like 'The Twilight Zone' around here, Wolf." - Jack Cafferty, 'The Situation Room'

JERRY: You know, this is like that Twilight Zone where the guy wakes up, and he's the same - but everyone else is different!
KRAMER: Which one?
JERRY: They were all like that!
- 'Seinfeld'

"I just had the weirdest experience. It was like something out of 'The Twilight Zone'!" - Larry Dallas, 'Three's Company'

"It was weird! It was like 'The Twilight Zone'! Only it wasn't in black and white." - Richard Addison, 'Moonlighting'

"This is weird! It's like 'The Twilight Zone'! I kind of half-expect Rod Steiger to just walk out here...." Jackie Thomas, 'The Jackie Thomas Show'

(Trust me, his use of "Steiger" was not a transcription error on my part!)

One good thing about the reference in the second episode of 'Mad Men' is that we can now use it to narrow down the date of the show to be more precise than just saying it takes place in 1960.

CBS announced that 'The Twilight Zone' would run the full complement of episodes for the first season on February 10th, 1960. But it would not be until May 11th of that year before CBS confirmed that the show would be renewed for a second season.

Although General Foods and Kimberly-Clark were the sponsors of the first season, the sponsors for Year Two would be General Foods and Colgate-Palmolive. Colgate-Palmolive is definitely a client of Sterling Cooper. (They manufacture Right Guard, the product in the ad campaign spotlight this week.) So it could be that Paul was worried about the show's cancellation because he was involved in putting the deal together to bring in Colgate-Palmolive as a sponsor the following year.

Therefore, I'm thinking that at least with the second episode of 'Mad Men', it's taking place at some point in April of 1960. The weather seems pleasant enough for people to be outside without coats (as we see with the divorcee who's moving in down the street from the Drapers). And the lawns are a deep green, which probably means they've had time to flourish for at least a few weeks in warmer weather.

[My thanks to Marc Scott Zicree's excellent book, "The Twilight Zone Companion" for the information... informatin... information.... And I'm glad he corrected a chronological error with the second edition!]

BCnU!
Toby OB

"I must be dreaming!
Either that, or I'm in the Twilo Zone!"
Rob Petrie
'The Dick Van Dyke Show'

WISHFUL LINKING

Now that the "death march with cocktails" (as Tim Goodman calls it) officially known as the TCA press tour is over, I'd like to take a look at some of those shows returning in the fall as well. I thought I'd use my wish-craft to put together a list of classic TV characters whom I think would make for a nice guest appearance in one of those "very special episodes" that usually crop up during Sweeps.

'UGLY BETTY'
Gloria Bunker Stivic ('All In The Family', 'Gloria')
In the years since her spin-off 'Gloria', Sally Struthers' most famous character may have moved back to her home borough in New York City. We know that her son Joey Stivic visited his grandparents' former home in the pilot episode of '704 Houser', and since the Cumberbatches were now living there, Gloria would have to find a new residence. She could even become a recurring character in Betty's neighborhood, perhaps even a romantic interest for Ignacio.

'30 ROCK'
Mary Richards Cronin ('The Mary Tyler Moore Show')
Lemon and Mayr... what a combo that would be! We know from the TV movie "Mary And Rhoda" that Mary lives in Manhattan now and is back in the TV news business. Perhaps she could produce a news profile on Liz or Tracy or better yet, on Jack! And maybe she could have a meltdown when meeting with Mr. Geis, one of the network's head honchos. "Oh, Mr. Geis!!!!"

'MEN IN TREES'
Maurice Minnifield ('Northern Exposure')
A trip to Elmo from Cicely on business could bring the ex-astronaut into town where his somewhat neanderthalish, chauvinistic attitudes would lead to him butting heads with Marin.

'BOSTON LEGAL'
Richard Fish & John Cage ('Ally McBeal')
We've seen representatives from other law firms visit the offices of Crane, Poole, & Schmidt in the past. And since Fish & Cage are alumni of another David E. Kelley series, it would seem like a natural for them to make an appearance here. It's not like DEK would be afraid of making a cross-network crossover.... After all, he's had a lot of experience with that in the past.

'SUPERNATURAL'
Fox Mulder ('The X-Files')
David Duchovny's recent announcement at the TCA press tour that plans are in the works for a new movie based on his former show would probably negate any chance for Spooky's appearance on this show. Of course, once the movie was finished, an appearance on 'Supernatural' might make for a nice transistion/set-up for the movie, advance publicity. The fact that Sam and Dean travel all over the country investigating the types of cases that Mulder lived for makes it an ideal showcase for his return. But the rival network stigma might also be a factor in keeping this from happening. (Would've been cool though!)

Finally, here are two suggestions that would have to wait until next summer....

'KYLE XY'
John Doe ('John Doe')
Both John and Kyle were introduced in the same manner - naked in the woods of the Pacific Northwest, with no memory of who they are or were. Since 'John Doe' ended with no real resolution, perhaps they could use the recent news about the 'Vanished' wrap-up coming to 'Bones' as inspiration. Perhaps we could learn that the origins of 'John Doe' can be found at Madacorp.

'THE CLOSER'
Lt. Columbo ('Columbo')
The Lieutenant must be considered a legend by everybody in the High Priority Homicide division. And he may have had assistance from Flynn and Provenza earlier in their careers when they were just starting out as detectives on the force. It might be fun to see how Columbo, known for working alone and with his old-fashioned sense of crime-solving style, would mesh with Deputy Chief Johnson's team. And we KNOW his bumbling demeanor would probably drive the hyper-tense Brenda straight up the wall.

So those are just a few suggestions I had for "mash-ups", all for the greater glory of Toobworld!

Do you have any you'd like to share?

BCnU!
Toby OB

PUSHING OUT DAISY

My friend Michael tells me that with the production of the 'Dead Like Me' movie soon to be underway, the creators are looking to recast the role of Daisy Adair. Daisy was a member of the team of Reapers on the series who was played by Laura Harris.

I'm sure most of the speculation about this revival has been centering on whether or not Mandy Patinkin might return as Rube Sofer now that he's severed his ties to 'Criminal Minds'. It doesn't look likely based on this synopsis of the movie from Bloody-Disgusting.com:

“When Calvin Kane, a slick businessman who couldn't care less about helping the newly dead, takes over Rube's [the character played by Patinkin] Head Reaper duties, all hell breaks loose, bringing out the worst in Daisy, Roxy, and Mason. George, however, is determined to set her latest, botched reap right, especially because the boy who was supposed to die, Hudson Hart, is her little sister Reggie's secret boyfriend. In the process, George and Reggie re-connect for real, for the first time.”

But from a Toobworld perspective, it's the rumor about Daisy that concerns me more.

I'd rather see them start fresh rather than recast the role. Daisy was already an addition to the cast; Laura Harris replaced Rebecca Gayheart, whose character of Betty decided to let her soul leap into the Unknown. The same could be used as a splainin as to why Daisy is no longer a member of Rube's team. And a new Reaper could be introduced either as a sub-plot or with just a quick line tossed off to note the change in the line-up.

As Ellen Muth said in her MySpace page, "We all hate change but it has been two years since season 2 so there has to be evolution.” So part of that evolution should have been the exit of Daisy entirely from the scene and a new character brought in.

However, after reading more about the upcoming movie at Wikipedia, my complaints would have fallen on deaf ears; the script seems to be locked in with Daisy's acting background playing a pivotal part.

And so it goes.....

The concept of these Reapers leading dull afterlives with celestial civil servant occupations already demands the willing suspension of disbelief. (And gets it easily, I'd say.) But recasting a previously existing character just reminds the audience that it's just another TV show.

Or, in this case, movie.....

I'm just sayin', is all.

BCnU!
Toby OB

Pissing me off

POST WITHDRAWN

A friend of mine told me that he speculates (with a certain amount of certainty), that LZB's blog is set up by Jack Neo's company as a publicity stunt.

(which would explain why someone bothered to take so many photos of her)

Of course, this is just speculation - believe it or not, up to you, but until I see a video of LZB actually blogging I won't believe it.

So anyway, I've taken away my previous post, because I personally feel that the undeserving scheming commercialised bastards don't need any more publicity.

Plus, it is not being fair to the old lady if she didn't actually write all that.

Poor old lady, used as a pawn. (If this is true, which I believe it to be.)

Most Censored: National Guardsmen, cops smuggling cocaine at US/Mexico border

Photo: National Guard troops arrived at the border, after President Bush’s said it would help bolster homeland security and border patrol activities along the 1,950-mile border. PHOTO DOD

Smuggling drugs -- Members of Immigration and Naturalization Service, Arizona Army National Guard, U.S. Bureau of Prisons, Army, Arizona Department of Corrections, Airforce Security Squadron and Nogales Police Department -- sentencing in federal court.

By Brenda Norrell
htp://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

TUCSON -- While television news reporters want the public to believe that the Arizona Army National Guardsmen, Airforce and border agents were the saviors, protecting the US border, court cases are now revealing US soldiers and agents anxious to run keys of cocaine in uniform from the Mexican border.

The FBI shut down the sting operation, "Operation Lively Green," because so many US soldiers wanted to smuggle drugs in uniform using official vehicles, from the border at Nogales, Ariz., north to Tucson and Phoenix, between 2002 and 2004.

There are now 99 cases -- including a National Guard Sargent who recruited soldiers under his command in Tucson, an Army recruiter in Tucson, police in Nogales, prison guards, Airforce security personnel and other public officials -- all caught in the act of drug smuggling. Court cases are now underway Tucson.

The arrests reveal a more accurate view of the border, far from the hype of television news.

The Arizona FBI sting was related to an Oklahoma FBI sting, "Operation Tarnished Star." National Guardsmen were running cocaine from Texas to Oklahoma.

The Arizona sting also resulted in the arrest of Davis Monthan Airforce men in the Security Squadron in Tucson smuggling drugs.

Tohono O'odham and other border residents have opposed the militarization of the border. They want the National Guard and other military out of the region.

Living in the militarized zone and surrounded by border agents on the ground, residents are spied on from the air and have lost their right to privacy. Border residents are the focus of harassment and increased dangers from speeding border agents and corrupt and drug running soldiers and border agents.

As one Tohono O'odham put it: "With all these helicopters, Border Patrol and supposed-trackers, why can't they find even one of our O'odham who goes missing in the desert?"

Derechos Humanos Coalicion says the increased militarization has only led to more deaths, by pushing migrants into more desolate areas of the desert, where deaths from dehydration and heat have increased this summer.

Breaking news, sentencing in Tucson ...
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=%22Lively+Green%22
Michael Marizco: Border Reporter
http://www.borderreporter.com/
Arizona Daily Star: National Guardsmen running cocaine: 'Just following orders'
http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/192903
Army soldiers sentenced in drug sting
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/crime/193268
Davis Monthan Airforce, Security Forces Squadron, soldiers caught smuggling drugs in sting:
http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special21/articles/0520corruption20.html
Army and Marine recruiters ran cocaine operations in Tucson
http://www.quakerhouse.org/Recruiter-Abuses-02.htm

Tohono O'odham ran over by Border Patrol

By Brenda Norrell
Angelita Ramon believes that her son, 18-year-old Bennett Patricio, Jr., was intentionally ran over and killed by Border Patrol agents on Tohono O'odham tribal land near the border.

Based on the evidence, Ramon believes that her son -- while walking home at 3 a.m. through the desert -- walked upon a drug transfer underway by Border Patrol agents on April 9, 2002.

The family filed a civil suit against the US Border Patrol, but the US District Court in Tucson ruled in favor of the Border Patrol. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco recently failed to rule in the family's favor.

However, Ramon's next option, if she can find an attorney, is to file murder charges against the Border Patrol agents at the scene. Read more of the story ...
http://bsnorrell.tripod.com/id63.html

“The Border Patrol is a death squad. They are operating like they do in Central and South America, because no one can hold them accountable,” said Jimbo Simmons, member of the International Indian Treaty Council, during the Summit Aug. 29 – Oct. 1, 2006.

Photo: Angelita Ramon, Tohono O'odham, at Indigenous Border Summit of the Americas on San Xavier tribal land, Oct. 2006/Photo Brenda Norrell


US agents drug smuggling raises new questions about the truth of the deaths of two border agents, and an ICE agent, in southern Arizona in 2004:

Border agents were believed a murder-suicide, while ICE agent Tom DeRouchey, Cheyenne River Sioux, was said to be suicide in 2004

Murder-suicide likely in border agent deaths
By Michael Marizco and Scott Simonson
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona Published: 06.12.2004

TUCSON -- Two U.S. Border Patrol agents died in an apparent murder-suicide south of Tucson early Friday, officials said.
The two agents, a 45-year-oldman and a 31-year-old woman, were from the El Paso Sector in Texas, said El Paso Sector spokesman Doug Mosier.
The male agent, Arturo Betancourt, was a supervisory agent who had been on the job for 15 years.
The woman, Elizabeth Granillo, had been an agent for two years.
Mosier said he didn't know whether Betancourt was Granillo's supervisor. He also wouldn't say whether they'd been in a relationship.
The bodies were found in a vehicle about 10 miles southwest of Tucson on the San Xavier Reservation, said Chief Richard Saunders of the Tohono O'odham Police Department.
He said the woman had been shot three times and the man once. They were not in uniform, but were identified by agency credentials found on their bodies. No suicide note was found at the scene, about a mile southeast of Mission San Xavier del Bac, he said. One handgun was found.
Police found the bodies about 2:30 a.m. Friday when they responded to a report of an abandoned vehicle on a dirt road near Interstate 19.
The FBI, which has jurisdiction in certain felonies on Indian reservations, did a preliminary investigation, then turned the case over to tribal police, said FBI spokeswoman Susan Herskovits.
Meanwhile, agents in El Paso will have counseling services made available to them through the agency, Mosier said.
The last off-duty Border Patrol agent to die in the region was Jorge Luis Salomon, 23.
Salomon had traveled to Cananea, Sonora, in February 2003 after befriending a man who was a drug-smuggler. They joined others in Cananea and when they learned Salomon was a Border Patrol agent, they beat him to death.
Four people are in custody in Sonora pending an investigation. A fifth remains at large.
The last known suicide of a federal agent in Southern Arizona was U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement interim director Tom V. DeRouchey.
He shot himself in March while driving on Interstate 10 in Marana on his way to a press conference in Tucson.

Mount Graham Sacred Run, July 26 -- 27

Thursday, July 26, Whiteriver to San Carlos

Friday, July 27, San Carlos to Mount Graham

Sacred Run Campout on Mount Graham, at Treasure Park, Fri-Sun.

RESIST: Alogonquins say 'No' to being guinea pigs for weapons testing

CANADA AND FRONTENAC VENTURES “NUKE” ALONGQUINS:
MILLION DOLLAR LAWSUIT FILED AT SHARBOT LAKE

Mohawk Nation News
July 24, 2007.

The colonizers are using a new weapon for Indigenous destruction. Law suits. Doesn’t “No mean no”? Canada and Frontenac Ventures have devised new tricks and donned new masks. They figure if they can sue then they can take away our lands.

On July 23rd 2007 they punched us in the face by handing the Algonquins a million dollar lawsuit. Canadian colonial institutions are being used as a tool to assault us.
Remember, the Algonquins never consented to the trespassing that’s happening on their land.

Sharbot and Ardoch Lakes are 42 miles north of Kingston Ontario Canada . The Algonquins rejected Frontenac’s financial offer last week of $10,000 to dig up uranium to contaminate and desecrate the land, air, water, animals and people. They were told that soon an injunction will
remove us from our own land.

The 55 acres at the gate is supposedly private land owned by Peter Jorgenson who leased an office to Frontenac Ventures. Frontenac merely has permits from Ontario to stake mining claims on unsurrendered Algonquin land, as
well as private land.

The Algonquins are supposedly represented by lawyers, Blaine McMurtry, of Toronto . What are they doing? We are not told anything! The Canadian crown claims jurisdiction over the area. Shouldn’t Affairs be protecting the area according to Canadian legislation and Supreme Court of Canada jurisprudence. We know that’s a joke! Indian Affairs has a long history of helping to destroy and steal Indigenous land, resources and rights. Indian Affairs is right in there now punching us without a velvet glove.

The Algonquins refused to come under the Indian Act. They remain free and independent, to be dealt with on a nation-to-colony basis. The land is unsurrendered and remains unceded. The Algonquins are not Canadian citizens. This is all verified by international law. The
Canadian government represents the corporate interests, against us.

All it takes is for a greedy corporation to persuade one department to give them a license to exploit Indigenous land that doesn’t belong to Canada . All the other departments will fight tooth and nail to defend this theft. We can’t think of a single time when the Department of
Justice took our part against a corporate predator.

Another dirty player on Algonquin land is MREL [Mining Resources Engineering Limited], a manufacturer and tester of weapons. It has a unique “secret” facility in a “remote location” on Algonquin land. We know all about it!

Has anyone noticed that there’s been a sudden burst of spending on the military even though war is illegal in international law? Canada is under no war threat. No attempts are being made to solve disputes by peaceful means. The UN has been turned into a “war machine”.
Canada is an eager little “go for” for these totalitarian schemes. The military siphons money away from education, health care and much needed repair of infrastructure for public health and safety.

Canada has opened up our land to any country or anybody who wants to do military testing. We are set up to be used as “guinea pigs” for these tests! The public says nothing because they are too scared and too shocked.

Canada is trying to seduce a new generation into their lethal games. Tey’re suckering the children of the poor into sacrificing their lives to lower the population of “useless eater”, as Henry Kissinger called us. They’re trying to convince us it’s glorious to “self-destruct”.

The Department of National Defense Canada and the DRDC [Defense Research and Development Canada ] are doing studies on the effects of weapons on people, animals, land, water and air. CRTI is the umbrella organization [“Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear
Explosives Research and Technology Initiatives”] that includes 21 agencies and departments, including Atomic Energy, Health Canada , CSIS and Natural Resources.

MREL makes and tests radon equipment and weapons of mass destruction on Algonquin land, like RDDs and IEDs, which are “dirty bombs” made from uranium tailings or medical grade radio active materials. Who’s the “Chemical Ali” of Canada ? Gordon O’Connor, the Member of Parliament of the area and the Minister of Defense? Are they nuking settlers who don’t vote for them?

These losers don’t know how to make a living without killing, molesting or preying on their fellow human beings. Go to the DRDC website for all the connections with the worldwide
military industry at http://www.ottawa.drdc-rddc.gc.ca/.

MREL is a very private company that does contracts for the U.S. Department of Defense Navy, Army and Air Force and who knows who else. Bill Bauer, the Vice President “front
man”, doesn’t answer any questions.

MREL is busy showing off their explosive and weapons technology at the “Force Protection Equipment Demonstration” in Stafford Virginia U.S. Also there are exhibitors like “SAIC”, “Raytheon” and “RedX Defense”
[http.//www.redxdefense.com/RedX_site/RedX_homepage02.htm].
[We want to reassure our readers that this has nothing to do with our Sage “Red-X”, though they may have been reading MNN and want to stop our peace mongering against their bombs!] Look for an article on MREL at http://www.cbrneworld.com/, a trade magazine on
weaponry development for terrorism worldwide.

These companies are all up to their necks in Algonquin land without any permission or authority. Their presence is based entirely on colonial bluff.

We aren’t sure if MREL is banned from going around on our land. The OPP told Frontenac’s George White and Pete Jorgensn to stay away. Uranium companies exploring in the Athabaskan basin oil sands in Alberta are using helicopters to fly in their heavy exploration
and drilling equipment, which is a technical possibly that could be done here on our land.

MREL boasts of having a “remote location” to do its experimentation, development and testing. They’re hoping that the Indigenous protests will disappear because they’re farther from major universities, military and population centers. These guys are playing hard ball. They are starting to manufacture “red neck” opposition to our attempts to defend the peace and
sanity of the land.

It's just a matter of time before the OPP have to "uphold their rule of law" and enforce the injunction. The OPP work with DRDC by keeping a consistent presence at the Robertsville Mine. They know how isolated this territory is and how many people are there.

Port Hope near Toronto is where the uranium waste is being stored. This was closed a few days ago due to “seepage”. The Algonquins of Sharbot Lake are feeling the pressure.

Janie Jamieson asked, “Please send in whatever you can as soon as possible: water, gas, food, disposable cameras, socks, bug spray, candles, eating utensils and any type of camping supplies. Help is urgently needed for our well being and protection”.

The Algonquins, our supporters and the local residents are demanding “No uranium mining whatsoever” on our land. “The testing of the IEDs and RDDs and nuclear weaponry has to stop”. We’re not allowed to burn a tire and look what they’re blowing up practically in our faces. We face birth defects, permanent DNA damage, leukemia and cancer to present and future generations living in the area. For the sake of the earth and the future generations, we have to mobilize now to stop this insane nonsense.

The 20th century tactic was to claim our lands were needed for military defense. The 21st century tactic is to use their courts to sue us with their colonial laws that are made up as they go along, in the name of democracy, but in violation of democratic principles.

Contact Chief Paula Sherman 613-279-1970 http://us.f520.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=paulasherman@trentu.ca;
Bob Lovelace at 613-268-2746, Cell 613-532-2166; Harold Perry
613-479-5534; Lynn Daniluk 613-268-2746, Cell 613-267-0539; Ormond
Lee of the settler committee 613-267-7584.

Send your opposition and concerns to Natural Resources Canada
http://us.f520.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=inspector@nrcan.gc.ca Phone 613-948-5200, MREL Bill Bauer
13-545-0466 (111) Cell 613-530-0777 http://us.f520.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=bbauer@mrel.com; Prime
Minister Stephen Harper http://us.f520.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=harper.s@parl.gc.ca and the Governor
General info@gg.gc.ca [she’s responsible, knows it’s happening
and turns her back on us and our children constantly].

Kahentinetha Horn
MNN Mohawk Nation News

See: “ Canada ”
http://www.mohawknationnews.com/news/news4.php?en=en&layout=mnn&category=27&srcurl=%2Fnews%2Fnews3.php%3Flang%3Den%26layout%3Dmnn%26sortorder%3D0

VANISHED BONES

This is from E! Online:

"Do you remember that 'Vanished' show with Gale Harold from last season that vanished from the airwaves? I hear that the mystery from that show is going to be resolved on 'Bones' this season. Fabulous, yes?"

I have yet to find any other verification of this story, but I'll be watching it with great interest!

Anybody ever hear of something like this happening before? Where the resolution of one show is taken care of on another series after the first one is cancelled? I'm thinking it must have happened with some show that was a spin-off of another, like one of the 'Star Trek' or 'Law & Order' franchise shows. But I think this might be a first for two series unrelated to each other.

The closest thing that comes to mind is an episode of 'Diagnosis Murder' which updated a case from 'Mannix'. In that instance, it was more a case of filling in a few loopholes caused by the original script which caused the original case to make more sense. There was also an episode of 'Murder, She Wrote' which brought closure to a film noir classic.

This is something I always hoped for with a show like 'Coronet Blue', and as long as Frank Converse is still alive, the hope is alive. Resolution for that long-ago summer series could be easily wrapped up on a show like 'CSI: NY' or 'Without A Trace'.

Think of all those shows that either ended on a cliff-hanger, or were cancelled before their time. There must be a show out there for each of them! ('Doctor Who' quickly comes to mind as the deus ex machina to resolve many of them set in the past.)

BCnU!
Toby OB

[Thanks to Rob of "The Medium Is Not Enough" for the tip.]

"HAPPY DAYS" FOR "JOHN FROM CINCINNATTI"?

Seven episodes of 'John From Cincinnatti' have aired; there are only three to go. And as much as I'm digging this series, I'll be surprised if it gets the green light for a sophomore season.

So I'm thinking it's crunch time in the home stretch and David Milch & Co. will have to buckle down to bring the story to the stunning conclusion I'm expecting in those final three eps. And that means that there probably won't be any leeway to ramble off on topics that don't relate to the main storylines... like, say, who the parents of motel owner Barry Cunningham are/were.

If the subject never comes up, here's my suggestion - he's the son of Richard and Lori Beth Cunningham, as seen in 'Happy Days'.

Imperial Beach, California, is a long way from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but here's my splainin: After serving his hitch in the Army stationed in Greenland, and after a lifetime of Wisconsin winters, Richie and his wife decided to move to a warmer clime. And so the Cunninghams found themselves either in "IB" or in the surrounding environs where they raised a family, including their troubled son Barry.

As usual with my theories of relateeveety, none of that can be proved. But like Vincent Van Gopher would say, it's pozz'ble; it's pozz'ble.

BCnU!
Toby OB

Guatemalan mother found dead on Tohono O'odham tribal land

Migrant Walk for Life 2007/Brenda Norrell

CENSORED: Indigenous continue to die from heat and dehydration on Tohono O'odham tribal land in Arizona. Many of those walking north to survive are Indigenous Peoples, but the tribe has created a law which makes it a crime to transport migrants. Further, the tribe has failed to support the humanitarian efforts of Tohono Oodham Mike Wilson. Wilson, in conjunction with Humane Borders, puts out water in several areas on tribal land for migrants.

Guatemalan mother is second mother found dead on Tohono O'odham land with son nearby

By Brenda Norrell
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

SELLS, Ariz. -- A Guatemalan mother, walking on Tohono O'odham tribal land, with her 10-year-old son was found dead Thursday. It was the second consecutive day that a mother was found dead with her son nearby.
The ten-year-old Guatemalan boy was found walking about a half mile mile north of the border south of Tecolote Ranch on tribal land. The boy told Border agents that his mother had died, the Arizona Daily Star reported.
On Wednesday on Tohono O'odham tribal land, one mile west of Big Field near Federal Route 24, the body of Maria Resendiz Perez, 33, of the central Mexican state of Queretaro, was found with four survivors, including her 10-year-old son.
"The boy is in custody of the Mexican Consulate in Tucson, which is arranging for the boy to return to Mexico this weekend to be with his grandfather, said spokesman Alejandro Ramos Cardoso. They believe the mother died of dehydration," the Star reported.
The heat has taken many lives this summer. Thursday was the 37th straight day of 100-degree temperatures in the Tucson area.

Coalicion de Derechos Humanos: More migrants die because of increased enforcement

Coalición de Derechos Humanos, a Tucson-based human rights group, announced that the total number of recovered bodies on the Arizona border reached 147 by the end of June, 2007, up from 133 at the same time last year. Thirty-three bodies were recovered in the month of June alone, twelve of them not as yet identified and nearly a third of them female.

These numbers do not reflect any of the 24 bodies recovered in first twelve days of the month of July, with reports coming out almost daily about remains found in the desert by residents, humanitarian groups and law enforcement officials alike.

Adding to this increasing tragedy are the families who are desperately searching for news of loved ones who attempted to cross the border and have yet to be heard from. Men, women and children are regularly reported missing to consulate officials and human rights groups, who attempt to search for them in detention centers, hospitals, migrant centers, and medical examiner offices.“Rarely talked about are the desaparecidos, the people who have gone missing with no clue as to their whereabouts,” says Isabel Garcia of Derechos Humanos.

“The desert is an ultimately unforgiving force, and can completely devour remains within a matter of weeks or even days, given the brutal conditions. This leaves mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and children lost to their families forever, with no hope of ever finding out what became of them.”Every month has yielded more skeletal remains on the Arizona border, indicating that death could have taken place weeks, months, or even years prior to discovery.

This—coupled with the fact that migrants do not always carry identification on their person, and their clothing can be torn away by animals or by themselves as they hallucinate and suffocate in the desert heat—makes identifying them even more difficult. Despite the recovery of an estimated 5,000 bodies on the U.S.-México border during the last 12 years, a direct result of the funnel-effect of border and militarization policies, the U.S. government has failed to acknowledge the deadly result of these strategies, and has, to the contrary, continued to increase efforts to militarize the border.

“To die because you sought a better future for yourself and your family is a human rights violation,” continued Garcia. “and to die without your family ever knowing what became of you, as they suffer the anguish of not being able to bury your body and mourn your death is a tragedy that we must demand be made right. Human life is the most precious thing on earth, and we all must work to change any government policy that threatens it.”

The complete list of recovered bodies is available on the Coalición de Derechos Humanos website: http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net/.
This information is available to anyone who requests it from us and is used by our organization to further raise awareness of the human rights crisis we are facing on our borders.

Photo 2: "No More Deaths" campaign at protest outside Gov. Janet Napolitano's office in Tucson in July/Photo Brenda Norrell

Photo 3: Isabel Garcia of Derechos Humanos speaks out at the protest outside Gov. Napolitano's office in July in Tucson, criticizing failed immigration policies that force migrants into isolated desert regions and death./Photo Brenda Norrell

Healing journey, Native AA Convention in Billings

NATIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN AA CONVENTION IN BILLINGS, MONTANA
OCTOBER 25-28, 2007

Local Native American AA members bring Annual National/International Native American Indian Alcoholics Anonymous Convention to Billings

(Billings, MT) Two years ago local Native American AA members began work to bring the Annual National/International Native American Indian Alcoholics Anonymous Convention to Billings, Montana. Their efforts have been successful. The Holiday Inn Grand Montana, 5500 Midland Road, Billings, Montana will be the host hotel for the 17th Annual National/International Native American Indian Alcoholics Anonymous Convention October 25-28, 2007.

Activities include marathon AA meetings, AA and Al-A-Non Speaker meetings, Al-A-Non brunch, workshops, talking circles, old timers meeting, young peoples’ AA meetings, dance, social powwow, and a dinner banquet.

For hotel reservations call (406) 248-7701, ask for Cindy Vaughn or make your reservations online at: www.holiday-Inn.com/billings-west. Reservations must be made by October 12, 2007.

For NAI-AA convention registration information, call Marie at (605) 747-5756. Pre-registration is encouraged.

Registration forms can be found online at
www.nai-aa.com, or write:

NAI-AA CONVENTION
PO Box 1643
Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57101
informationnaiaa@yahoo.com

Road Trip: Episode 7 - The Night Market

Go watch it now!

POSTED "TOASTED"

I got a kick out of the first episode of 'Mad Men' which premiered on AMC last Thursday night. I think it fed right into my enjoyment of the time period as seen in "Good Night And Good Luck", the movie about Edward R. Murrow's clash with Senator Joe McCarthy.

And that first episode presented a very good example of why Toobworld should never be confused with the real world; that it's not supposed to be an exact copy of what happens in our world (when it comes to the small details, anyway).

Star-Ledger TV columnist Alan Sepinwall (link to the left, folks!) caught this example of the differences between the "Viewniverse" and the "Trueniverse":

"It's Toasted" was an actual Lucky Strikes slogan, but one that dates back to 1917. Over the run of the series, [Matthew] Weiner's going to be playing a little loose with this area, using actual brands but either inventing new campaigns or giving Don credit for other men's work.

So it may turn out that the 'Mad Men' at the Sterling Cooper Agency will take credit for such slogans as "Good To The Last Drop" and "It's grrrrrrrrRRRREAT!"

BCnU!
Toby OB

NOW IN ORACLE-VISION

While looking into more information about Larry David's vocal impression of George Steinbrenner on 'Seinfeld', I found this item at WikiSein:

In one episode, "The Wink", Steinbrenner mentions all of the people he fired, with him saying Billy Martin four times. He also mentions then-current manager Buck Showalter, then quickly clams up about it.

Though the show meant it as a joke, it turned out to be prophetic: just weeks after the episode aired, the real life Steinbrenner did not bring back Showalter as Yankees manager and replaced him with Joe Torre.

It wasn't the first time that Toobworld proved to be prophetic. The most famous example might be found in the 'Star Trek' episode of "Tomorrow Is Yesterday". Uhura tunes into a radio news summary which reports that the first manned Moon shot from Cape Kennedy with three astronauts is scheduled for Wednesday - the real Apollo 11 carrying three astronauts was launched from Cape Kennedy on 16 July 1969, a Wednesday.

At the time this episode aired, some conservative estimates by NASA held that it would be well after 1970 before man landed on the moon.

Sadly, on the day after this episode was aired, Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee tragically lost their lives in the Apollo 1 capsule.

BCnU!
Toby OB

ACROSS THE TOONIVERSE

The BET network will be presenting an animated sketch comedy series this fall called 'BUFU'. Not sure if it's an acronym, but it sounds dirty.

The show will be providing cartoon versions of such black notables as Tyra Banks and Gayle King, and Senator Barack Obama - who will have a politically incorrect puppet sidekick named Bam.

The producers of 'BUFU' claim they won't have a toon Oprah on the show, however. "We do not have a bit on Oprah," co-creator Ali LeRoi said. "Because we are afraid of Oprah."

BCnU!
Toby OB

In memory of Doc Rosen, final e-mail from Tsunami relief

July 23, 2007
Dear AIMsters,
As some of you have probably already heard, our dear friend and brother, "Doc" Ron Rosen, suffered a massive stroke on Friday, and passed to the spirit world yesterday morning. He is being taken to Crow Dog's Paradise this morning, on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota , for his final rest. Please keep Doc, his wife and his children in your thoughts and prayers, and please read the message from one of his colleagues in the message below this one.

As we all know, Doc was a member of AIM at least since his service as a medic in Wounded Knee in 1973. He was one of the few non-Indians who was considered a full member of AIM, having given and given to Indian people, without asking anything in return. Whenever we needed a medic in the streets for any AIM action, Doc was there -- ready to provide his services in the midst of tear gas or police clubs or arrests. Doc was a certified acupuncturist, and many of us benefited from his skills, which he often provided for free, or certainly at a reduced rate for Native people. He travelled regularly to Guatemala , to provide freed medical services to Indian communities there. In 2004, he went to the area in Thailand that was most heavily destroyed by the massive tsunami in that region. In addition, he served as a medic coordinator at the World Trade Organization protests in Seattle in 1999, and in Toronto in 2003. Needless to say, he was always integral to coordinating the medic trainings and teams for Columbus Day in Denver .

Doc and his new wife, Carol, were married only a month ago, and all of our support for her will be appreciated. I believe that we should plan a memorial for Doc toward the end of the summer, to remind us of his commitment and dedication to the Movement, and to Indian people, and to continue his work. I will write more later. Below is a message from one of Doc's colleagues.
In Struggle,
Glenn Morris

From Diana Horowitz:Today is a deeply sad day for the acupuncture profession and for humanity. "Doc" Ron Rosen, OMD, L.Ac., passed away in the comfort of his home at approximately 11:00 a.m. this morning.

As an honored, adopted member of the Lakota tribe, Doc will be buried on the Rosebud reservation in South Dakota tomorrow (Monday, July 23rd) in the late afternoon/early evening. If you wish to attend the burial, please contact Joe Wollen for details at 720-234-0967. Meet up with them in S. Dakota, or join the departing entourage at 10:00 a.m., at the funeral home located at 17th Avenue and York Street in Denver.

There will be a memorial service/fundraiser/ celebration of Doc's life in Denver after August 6th. Details will follow. Doc is survived by his wife Carol (they were just married last month), sons Lonny and Ari, and his daughter Krystal. He did not have any health insurance. To make a contribution towards medical and funeral expenses, please send a check to:

Carol Garlington
1590 S. Dalia StreetDenver, CO 80222

Also, Doc had recently expanded his clinic at Colfax & York in Denver, and was in need of a few more holistic health care renters. Renting a treatment space would be a terrific way to help out Doc's family. Please call Maria Lee, L.Ac. at 720-275-1205 for more information.

Doc dedicated his life to helping all people in need, locally and globally, and regardless of their income level. He treated thousands of patients, and mentored dozens of fledgling acupuncturists over the course of his career. Doc was a co-founder of the Acupuncture Association of CO, and one the persons responsible for our professional licensure in the 1980's. Now is the time to return the generosity that Doc gave so freely. Let's band together as a community to commemorate Doc's extraordinary life, and help his family through this time of uncertainty and loss.

In sympathy,

Diana Horowitz, M.S., L.Ac.

Message from Carter Camp:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2007/07/doc-rosen-aim-and-wounded-knee-brothers.html

In Memory of Doc Rosen, who Carter Camp honors in his passing as "AIM and Wounded Knee brother."

Doc, who chose the path of love for humanity, passed to the Spirit World on Sunday following a stroke. Here's the last e-mail I received from him during his work in Tsunami relief in Thailand in 2005:

Feb. 12, 2005
It should come as no surprise at all for most of you but I am - and have been for the last several weeks- in one of the areas hit by the Tsunami. I tend not to keep in touch much and I want to just let eveyone know that I am OK and what it is I am up to. This is a bit rambling but I have limited time on computer and am just trying to get some of my thoughts down on paper.

I came to Asiawith ateam of Native American Doctors, EMTs, etc. Planned on heading for Bandeh Aceh. We were kept out of Aceh by the Indonesian military.Went to Southern Thailand, Phang Nga Province, Nam Kem. The people here are devestated. Homes gone Boats gone Children dead, Sisters, Brothers, Mothers,Fathers, Grand Children... all dead. You have heard/read/seen this and have moved on.

The people here are still afraid of the sea.
In this one village 4,000 dead out of 6,500.

I am doing PTSD work. Doing Magic /slight of hand for kidsThe kids flock around asking for magic tricks ... as do the adults.The other aid workers say some have not smiled in weeks but they are laughing as i do my slight of hand. Today an old man who lost his entire family -16 people- smiled at me and then he asked me to "do the rabbit trick".The Thai woman counselor said they thought they would lose him because he was not responding before this but now he is talking again and eating....They are so sweet and gentle. Many have lost everyone. Brother dead, sisters dead, mother and father dead it is the constant litany. I cry at night but only when alone.A little girl started calling me uncle
-her favorite is the magic coloring book.Did some recovery and some moving of bodies.The Thai counseling people say that the magic tricks are the biggest step the kids have taken towards normalization.I went on a tour of some refugee camps and orphanages doing magic and medical work.Did magic for a group of orpahans at a temple. Then we handed out toothbrushes and did some medical exams.Acupuncture and slight of hand as medicine for PTSD.Treating other aid workers as well.
We also build houses
BUT
The men can not work
They can not feed their families
They do not feel alive
and
Their entire culture is in danger of dying
The government does nothing for the poor family fishermen
They are talking about rebuilding boats but only for the big boat fisheries not the longtails
They need to have their fishing boats rebuilt or repaired.

The Tsunami Fishermens Relief long tail boat project is trying to do exactly that with local people and resident foriegners working together. (They need to raise $35,000 to repair or replace all of the boats of the fishermen who survived, but this is not a fund appeal)
Right now I am putting a lot of my efforts (outside of clinic hours and doing magic shows) into helping with construction of the dry dock. It is mostly just lifting, carrying, and hammering.
This project can give the people the tools to help themselves.

For me last Thursday was particularly emotionaly rough and I am not able to do any more for a bit and am now taking some time for R&R before I return to my Denver family.Said goodbye to all of the kids (lots of grownups too) and did some last slight of hand for themit makes me sad to have left themBack to USA shortlyEvery Thai person i meet (and lots of westerners as well) thanks me the need is so incrediblethe outpouring of help is also incredibleI am honored to have been working with these folks

Doc rosen
Phang Nga Province Thailand

Doc talks of his Katrina relief in 2005:

http://barhc.w2c.net/blog/index.php?/archives/82-Report-from-Common-Ground-Volunteer-Doc-Rosen.html

About Doc (2005)

Doc Rosen is a long time activist, and Movement Medical Trainer. In 1963 he was a local organizer for the March on Washington. He first joined the Medical Committee for Human Rights during the Selma-Montgomery Walk in 1965 where he was part of the first aid team. In 1968 he worked with Dr. King on the Poor Peoples Campaign. As a member of the National Executive Committee of MCHR, Doc was responsible for organizing and training teams of street Medics for hundreds of civil rights and antiwar demonstrations during from the 1960s,till the present day. He trained and helped lead the Medics for the anti-WTO demonstrations in Seattle and the anti-FTAA demonstrations inQuebec. He was the first medic in Wounded Knee in 1973, (and is still the Medic for the American Indian Movement) and spends part of the year on Rosebud, Pine Ridge and Big Mountain Reservations. He has regularly provided medical assistance for the families of Sun Dancers at Chief Leonard Crow Dogs in Rosebud since 1974and also helped Grandpa Fred Zephier, Celo Black Crow and the Big Mountain Dineh Nation during their Sun Dances. D oc is one of the founders of the Guatemala Acupuncture and Medical AidProject and travels regularly to the Guatemalan Rainforest where he workswith the Indigenous Maya, the survivors of La Impunidad (massacres of over240,000 Maya people). Dr. Rosen teaches the Promotores de Salud Acupuncture, sometimes traveling for days by jeep, mule, and even dug out canoe to reach the villages. Because of his activities he has been threatened repeatedly by the the Death Squads. Throughout the sixties and seventies Sifu Rosen was the Ring Doctor for dozens of Martial Arts Tournaments. Doc has been a student of Chinese Medicine since 1953, and has a practice in Denver CO. and has been elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. He is a past president of the Acupuncture Association of Colorado. In 2002 Doc with his son Ari set up and taught Street Medic trainings throughout both Eastern and Western Europe and helped create the European StreetMedics (Prague, Gdansk, London, Manchester, Amsterdam, DenHag, Helsinki, Barcelona, Strasburg, Lisbon, Paris, etc.) In October 2002 he began teaching the European No Borders Barefoot Doctor Program. Doc lives very simply preferring to put all of his resources into his pro-bono and Social Justice work. Dr. Rosen is the proud father of a 21-year-old son Ari, daughter Crystal, and GrandDaughter Roslyn (3months).

Here is something from the O Read DailyDoc Rosen needs your help.Doc is a very experienced and dedicated medic. He was the first ofthe medics at Wounded Knee in 1973 when AIM (American IndianMovement) held off the federal government for 71 days! He is a renowned doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which has usedsuccessfully for treating Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome( PTSD) andother trauma related psychological damage. He is also skilled in setting up, training local people and running clinics in remoteregions. For many years he has been involved in doing exactly thatin Guatemala, and Chiapas where the indigenous people have beenunder attack by the state for decades. As a "StreetMedic" andanarchist for 40 years, he has been involved in providing medicalsupport for street confrontations including the Black Panthers,women's Reclaim the Night marches, and the anti-globalizationmobilizations of Seattle and Quebec City.
"I am currently trying to fund raise the cost ofmy trip to help with the Tsunami relief effort as part of a group ofNative American Medical Workers. We will be working directly withthe people affected. Besides treating people for the after effects ofinjuries and the PTSD/CIS that is effecting millions in that region I hopeto be able to set up clinics and a teaching program for a corps of Health Promoters who will be recruited from the local populace and trained tohelp their own people. We are going to Thailand and later i hope to BandehAceh.""Those of you who know me may be asking why I would go where so much mainstream help is already going? or Why focus on this when everyday thousands of children die from the direct effects of poverty andthe wars supported by US policies kill thousands more.""250,000 known dead from the Tsunami. Did you ever wonder why somany of those folks had built on the flood plain? The vast majorityof those killed by the Tsunami were those same people who are alwaysmost at risk, the people economically oppressed by the industrialist/materialist system and displaced by wars.""Most of the relief efforts now under way are tied to or going through the very Governments that have created or at least colludedin creating the conditions that placed these people in the path ofthe Tsunami to begin with."
Doc spends 4 - 5 months a year working pro-bono in the developing world teaching Promotores De Salud (often in conflict zones) and working as a Street Medic and does not have the money for the fare or the supplies himself.
(from 2005)

Commentary, Julienne Xene Cross, Standing together as a Great Nation

A pen conquered us and a pen can wipe us out as a Nation

by Julienne Xene Cross

We, Indigenous People of North America, “Indian Country”, are inherent speakers for our Mother the Earth. We need to come together with one heart and mind to protect the future of our Great Nation.
When the United States drafted the Constitution, the word conquered written gives the U.S. Congress the authority to take our land without being indebt owed to Tribes. Since Europeans set foot on our lands to this date not one contract, treaty, law or promise has been honorably fulfilled with our Nation.
We as a Nation know that it is the habit of the United States to deceive. They are a society of lawbreakers, laws of their own making. The United States Government run by the rich untouchables of the world do not plan for their unborn children as we as Indian people do. It is our daily habit as Indian people to mention our future generations in our ceremonies. We do not send our elderly to nursing homes. We honor our veterans who have served in the defense of our lands for the United States Government at our pow-wows. We should not forget our past and remember our ancestors who died for our survival. We live our lives daily honoring our unsung heroes in the present. We must come together now as one for the future of our Nation.
It is of great importance that we begin to plant seeds now instead of waiting for the bread to be set on the table. Tribes, Bands, Nations, Indigenous Peoples, Indian Country and their relatives need to stop being distracted by the morsels (casinos) that our Governments and the Bureau of Indian Affairs throw at us.
In the United States, senators are giving commencement speeches at Universities talking about alternative fuels. In North Dakota and Montana on the plains are some of the riches fields of grasses for these fuels. Coal is going to begin to be in demand and it is on our lands that they will be harvesting these fuels. Tribes must not sign any more contracts with States.
The Mohawk Nation has been writing about a Super-Highway that George W. Bush and Rudy Giuliani have already contracted with the Canada and Mexico. This super-highway will run right down the center of Turtle Island and will be the route of free trade between countries. This highway will run right over many of our lands. These trucks will be carrying our resources for foreign trade. Tribes have an inherent interest to write into their Constitutions their rights to their natural resources, air, water, earth and all of the written and unwritten stories, songs and customs of their on unique heritage, your Cultural property rights. Some Tribes have already done so than it would be good to contact other Tribes by way of moccasin highway or faster yet internet assisting other Tribes with this knowledge. It is time to awaken the sleeping giant that is our Great Nation.
Recently, at 34th The Traditional Circle of Elders and Youth held by Harry Beauchamp Sr. and other tribal members at the Assinibione Reservation of Fort Peck Montana many Nations combining knowledgeable tribal leaders met from all corners of North America. From Greenland where the staff has gone for the next conference in 2008 to the Mayans who brought their two hundred year calendar predicting the 2012 effects of global warming. Many tribes validate the changing of the winds. Testimony on the Assinibione Reservation, mentioned they had never seen their prairies so green.
The Chief Greenland Manu said, “We the Indian people at the top of the world are the only people that could survive in this land. From ancient time, our hunting grounds of tundra and ice have provided for us. Now we rarely see a Knorr whale of a beluga whale. Our trails of ice become soft and dangerous.”
Oren Lyons, Chief of the Onondaga Nation shook my hand as he arrived from Sweden to the meeting in Montana and said “It is worst than we are being told.” Again, the United States and its affiliates are deceiving us. They are predicting a 20-30 year effect of global warming. At the Conference of Indian Elders and Youth with first hand knowledge from Manu, we must consider 10 years or less.
Oren Lyons also mentioned that fifty percent Africa is a Nation of parentless children. Dysfunctional Nations including Middle East and Asia will become dangerous to our Nation once the disease, famine, and children raised in war become adults. This reality to our Nation needs to be an issue and considered seriously today and not when our lives and our children’s children lives are in danger. The world is changing fast and Nature can again as it was before Columbus is our means in survival. We must again blend in with the laws of nature.
Tribes must protect their natural resources and utilize all tribal members from the old to the youth in the retraining of growing and naturally preserving foods provided by our great mother the Earth. Allotted Tribal land should be utilized to grow food uncontaminated by the chemical poisons. The Pueblo people have a method of storing foods for four years taking the latest crops first. Seed stores, wild rice, berries, molasses, nuts etc. etc. etc. By harvesting these natural crops on your lands, they will renew themselves and multiply in the coming years. Part of these crops can be sold to incorporate future financing and finance future growth while bringing our tribal elders and youth together teaching and learning our traditional ways.
Are the Algonquin people aware that white society is trying to hybrid the wild rice of our people? Betty Laverdure of The Turtle mountains Plains Pembina Band that Einstein predicted that when bees no longer existed it would be the end of humankind mentioned it at the Elders Circle. It could be the possibility of the cross sectioning of our natural flowers and possibly the unnatural airwaves from cell phones and satellites. Nevertheless, it would be wise of tribes to begin to harvest honey with the learning and investing in manmade hives on tribal lands. What would be the affects of hybrid wild rice?
The Chief of the Seminole Billy, said that we are drinking purified water made from the urine of the white man when we buy and drink bottled water. Tribes need to begin protecting their water and testing and using their own water resources. All natural tap water sources are tested more than bottled water. It would be wiser to drink and protect our own tap water in the future more vigorously and make it our law.
Tribes need to begin to implement alternative energy sources such as solar and wind energy. These two factors are vital and plans should be made with timelines with completion for important focal points within the tribal system. Tribes must remember you are not a myopic island. What happens to one tribe will begin a domino effect that will affect all of Indian Country.
Trees and clear-cutting must be replaced and replanted this will encourage animal inhabitation and promote the oxygenation for human and animal alike. This system will also offset the effects of global warming.
Tribes that have methods for fuel renewal and recycling should notify other Tribes so that we can be a part of the solution and not part of the problem for each other. There is so much more and many more minds that walk upon our people. This is your calling for your voice I welcome you to send this letter to every available media.
Within the near future a common web source will be developed that all Nations will be encouraged to cooperatively communicate ways and means. Their will be another longest walk for 2008 to Washington D.C., I encourage tribes to send delegates as well as promote the largest and most diverse membership attendance as humanly possible from one end of North America to the next. It will be planned Oct 10, 2007 and a city event schedule will be posted timely. More information can be obtained at E-mail jimbosimmons@treatycouncil.org or http://www.treatycouncil.org/.

Chi-Migwitch!
Julienne Xene Cross
Lac du Flambeau, W.I. -54538-

E-mail address: julienne_x@hotmail.com

Poster: Longest Walk/http://www.longestwalk.org