What would you do if you were totally dependent upon a single monthly check of $250 to cover all your living expenses from rent, heat, electricity to food and then your check suddenly ceased arriving in your mail box without any explanation? What if you live on a reservation where there is 80-85% unemployment and your tribe is $60 million in debt? Add to the context the highest rates per population of child suicide in the world. Now imagine what goes through your mind when your single source of income becomes “invisible” and you already know you don’t have the gas to drive off the reservation to search for employment, you have no funds to find housing off the reservation, and you are the sole adult caretaker for your grandchildren. What is now going through your mind at this point?
The following information is directly from Anne Fields who has been in direct contact with people on Pine Ridge Reservation who are currently in precisely the situation presented above.
Anne Fields:
There is a new situation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota (and presumably on other reservations) that is very dire and perhaps life threatening.
I am a white grandmother who has spent a total of 18 months on the reservation, including four months teaching in the Early Head Start program. I have friends who are directly affected by the problem and who are growing more desperate each day. So far my efforts to find information or help for them have been unsuccessful.
Each month the Bureau of Indian Affairs has been providing General Assistance grants (see below) to many residents who are desperately needy. On Pine Ridge approximately 940 people receive monthly checks of up to $250. These checks are often their only source of income and their lifeline.
In December 2012 no checks came. I spent several hours on the phone with officials at the local, regional, and national levels trying to find out what had happened. Eventually I ended up at the BIA Division of Human Services in Washington where I spoke with Bevette Hern at 202-513-7608. She told me that there had been new software which had a glitch that was holding things up. She said it was now fixed and that the Treasury would get a file transfer shortly and that the Agencies should have the money by the end of that week. This did indeed happen.
But then in March 2013 again no checks ever came and there were no notifications to the recipients. The Post Offices were besieged by people looking for their money. No checks have arrived for April 2013 and folks are seriously cold and hungry. They do not know if the money will ever come again. They have had no information from the BIA.
In an effort to try to get some information regarding these crucial funds, I tried to call Bevette to see if this is a permanent situation, only to find that she is no longer working there (even though her answering machine still uses her name). I spoke with someone who would only give her name as “Roberta” and who said that she knew nothing about the details, only that the money available for “Welfare” has been cut back. She told me that I needed to talk to the BIA Great Plains Social Services in Aberdeen, SD. I called them at 605-226-7351 and spoke with “Patti.” She told me that Central Office has not received any funds so they have nothing to give out. She recommended that I talk to the folks in Washington–the same people who directed me to call her office.
I have written to South Dakota Congresswoman Noem and Senators Johnson and Thune for clarification, but as of now I have heard nothing back from any of them.
BIA Human Services handles 6 components of Financial Assistance, which consist of:
1. General Assistance
a) An applicant must meet the criteria contained in 25 CFR 20.300 (Who qualifies for Direct Assistance)
b) Apply concurrently for financial assistance from other state, tribal, county, local, or other federal agency programs for which he/she is eligible;
c) Not receive any comparable public assistance, and
d) Develop and sign an employment strategy in the ISP with the assistance of the social service
worker to meet the goal of employment through specific action steps including job readiness and job search activities.
So, what should Anne Fields and these 940 people on Pine Ridge Reservation DO to get some information from the BIA and/or the Federal Government? Any suggestions? Even if you have no notions about how to deal with this continuing situation, please take a moment to send this information via your favorite internet social network sharing options.
Most of us enjoy some positive news to break up the monotony of all the negative malarky–don’t we? The following update from the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary offers a glimpse of what humans can do to help our animal relatives. In this case it’s Mustangs. It’s a labor of love to give wild animals the opportunity to live and thrive in a world which currently seems to be all about destroying nature in so many ways.
February, 2013
SANCTUARY OFFERS
SAFE HAVEN FOR STARVING MUSTANGS
Saturday was a busy day at the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. For the past three weeks the Sanctuary has been host for several horses that were recently rescued by local authorities. We allowed these horses time to rest and regain their strength before it was time for them to move onto new lives.
As part of our mission to provide freedom for unadoptable wild horses, we are devoted to giving unwanted horses a “quality of life”. We are proud to have served as temporary hosts for these horses.
Truck and Trailers
Trucks and trailers lined up near the corrals in preparation to receive their precious cargo and take them to their new homes.
Time to load
After being sorted it was time to load the horses onto the trailers. The horses seemed to know better things awaited them down the road. Everyone loaded calmly and quietly in preparation for the ride to a better life.
Is hay served on this ride?
Noses and faces peek out of the trailer as everyone is secured for the ride.
Down the road..
To new lives! The owners anxiously wait as the trucks leave the Sanctuary.
Still Waiting
We have six horses still waiting for their turn to begin new lives. This coming Saturday will be the day for them. Some of their “horsey friends” have left them and they seem unsure of what to do or where to be. We continue to provide clean water and hay as they grow stronger daily. Soon they will be in the hands of caring new owners.
Terri
Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary
605-745-5955
Won’t you help us continue to help Mustangs in Peril?
Recently I shared with some friendlies that I was reading Nick Turse’s Kill Anything ThatMoves, The Real American War in Vietnam. So far only one friendly has responded to my friendly email and that was basically to share the information that they had already read some of the many books on the Vietnam War–hence, implying that they weren’t interested in reading another tome. So I thought, yes, why indeed would anyone whose has attempted to make some sense out of a seemingly senseless waste of lives want to read Turse’s latest book? Why? I believe the answer involves the Vietnamese Civilians all too often callously dismissed as Casualties of War. Damn this sounds familiar. Care to insert Afghanistan Casualties of War? Iraqi Casualties of War? Pick any war and couple it with casualties. Civilians as totally expendable human resources is not a new concept. It’s been around a very long time. By the way, if you think this doesn’t pertain to you in any way, shape or form, please do think again. Why? Because unless you are part of the military forces you are indeed a civilian to be treated with absolute contempt by those with no regard for the tenets of the Geneva Convention–that nice little old-fashioned little agreement about how to treat people during any modern war. Somehow I doubt the Geneva Convention agreement is part of either a drone’s programming or of the human charting its course. It certainly has no value to those who send soldiers to wars. Hmm. Might it be helpful to consider the military forces at work in Vietnam as precursors to current drones? Perhaps. But there are serious limitations to drones conducting military strikes as drones are incapable of rape and torture. At least I think they are –so far. Have no doubt that some computer programmer somewhere is hard at work solving these drone limitations. Too bad that creative brainpower isn’t invested in something like combating pollution.
Now back to Turse’s tome which is all about the standard operating procedure of murder, rape and torture of Vietnamese civilians whose “hearts and minds” were supposedly being saved from the communist menace. Why read this book?
In Vietnam, where the “lives” of the deceased are believed to be inextricably intertwined with those of the living, it is thought that those who die a “bad death” may be forced to suffer as “wandering ghosts,” trapped in a limbo between our world and the land of the dead. In this shadow land, they forever reexperience the violence that ended their lives, unable to attain peace until the living truly acknowledge them and the fate they suffered.3 The idea of such wandering ghosts is an unfamiliar one for most Americans, but we should not be too quick to dismiss it. The crimes committed in American’s name in Vietnam were our “bad death,” and they have never been adequately faced. As a result, they continue to haunt our society in profound and complex ways. (p. 261)
Turse makes the case that it’s high time Americans quit turning a blind eye to the dark side of our history in war, politics and business. It’s time we all took a long hard straight on look at the military industrial complex that strives to rule the world with an iron fist. With knowledge, however nasty and unpleasant it may be, comes power. There’s a very important war emerging in the world involving everyone on the Earth. It helps to know one’s enemy. The enemy has left quite a few revealing footprints. Some of them lay in the history of the war waged on the children, women and men of Vietnam. There are older footprints, newer ones and ones currently underway. What will it take for “us” to change how we view casualties of war–and war itself? What will it take for “us” to refuse to play the game of murder, rape, torture of our fellow human beings just because some power-hungry egomaniacs demand we play? Don’t forget “we” are all totally expendable–our sons, husbands, wives, daughters, mothers, fathers, all our relations are absolutely of no account in the war games.
So yes, read Nick Turse’s book – and learn why the Winter Soldiers threw their medals at Congress. It’s not a fun read. It’s not enjoyable. It’s not a “feel good” book. It is an important book.
Sheelah McLean (left), Nina Wilson, Sylvia McAdam, Jessica Gordon
If you’re still wondering what has Canada’s First Nations “Idle No More” then brew some tea, get your seat all comfy and let the ladies do their thing–teach. Here’s a very accessible introduction to the issues. Canada’s Omnibus Bill C-45 has been passed by the senate. Guess what that means after Dr. Pamela Palmater lays it all out.
Sylvia McAdam, Jan. 6 Teach In, Calgary via placesintheforest
Sylvia McAdam presents Peaceful Women Warriors ~ Alberta
Nina Wilson interview with Trevor Grey Eyes News regarding C-45
In depth presentation about Canada’s First Nations issues. This is very clearly presented information and explanations.
Dr. Pamela Palmater ~ Alberta (part 1/4)– On the legislation/Harper/Indian Act/environment and more.
(part 2/4) Water issues, discrimination via the Canadian legal system, pipeline, treaty partners, reserve land, First Nations elections, protests, chiefs and more.
(part 3/4) Omnibus Bill C-45, treaty rights, jurisdiction, ”unlocking our lands,” education, who benefits from First Nations poverty and more.
(part 4/4) Resource Development by force, right wing media spin issues, social media, White Paper 2012, et al.
Anyone else get the sense that just meeting with Harper is not going to silence the drums of ”Idle No More” while genocide is committed via legislation?
Yes, this beauty came my way via an email to sign a petition and–well–it’s just too wonderful to not share with folks who understand the ways of the world as they’ve been–AND–that this insanity must stop! I think it’s a great ad because while the likes of Exxon have tons of cash to spread their view of how things “are” according to their well oiled brainpans, those who don’t exactly cozy up to their thinking aren’t exactly swimming in equal amounts of cash oceans for sharing a very different view of the status quo.
In other “news” which I’m still processing–I saw a video on Yahoo News about some whales trapped by ice (they’ve since found a way OUT) and the refusal of the Canadian government to render aid. Hmm. The fate of eleven killer whales isn’t of much concern to world governments–unless people start doing something about it and getting press coverage. Ouch, I think this could be applied to Indigenous/First Nations issues in Canada, the United States and pretty much around the globe. Shhh, hear that? Idle No More is dancing somewhere in the world to the beat of a very different drum.
Yikes, can I connect this thought dot with the Powertech Uranium Corporation? O hell yes I can! Do you see where this is going now? Yeah to more utter disregard for Earth, people, animals, and everything that does not bring in BIG PROFITS!
Is there a problem with some values?
Only if you’re thinking along the same interconnecting dot lines. Or perhaps some other routes too–routes that don’t lead to Wall Street, stock shares, investors and profits by any means no matter what the price in environmental degradation.
Exxon is probably well aware of this ad by now as it has 122, 457 views on YouTube thanks to the other 98% and Oil Change International. Hence, I’m sure they’re all primed and ready for PR spin. If they bother. Afterall it’s only a 30 second sound bite–just the sort of thing the multitasking population feeds on and tosses off while reaching for the next bite.
Oh and for some relief here’s some Cohen and The Last Trapper/Le Dernier Trappeur:
via KikeRio
It all works for me. Sorry if you’re confused by all these seemingly random “dots.”
Also, sorry to break the poetic streaming. Will resume soon.
The letter following my comments is from the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary pages on Facebook. Please help spread the news. I think they could use some major support. They’re fighting uranium mining. This post is my tiny effort to raise awareness. Thanks to Earth Tribe for its support.
Powertech Exposed –and the difficulty of commenting via a malfunctioning website: http://www.powertechexposed.com/ The uranium mining industry is not playing “fair”–because they know their mining is not wanted in the Black Hills -or anywhere else where the population is informed about the dangers of uranium mining and the environmental dangers it produces. Clearly some people learned nothing from the Fukushima disaster.
Please consider the dangers and consequences of the Dewey-Burdock project – From the desk of IRAM Program Director, Susan Watt
From the desk of IRAM Program Director, Susan Watt
January 1, 2013
Please, I would ask all of you to read and understand what is going on in the arena of the Uranium Mining.
This proposed project affects all of us. Please support our efforts by joining us and the community on Thursday Night, January 10, 2013 at the American Legion in Hot Springs, So Dakota for a Community Meeting at 6:30 pm.
- SW
# # #
REPOST – December 30, 2012
Cindy Bladey, Chief, Rules, Announcements and Directives Branch
Division of Administrative Services
Office of Administration, Mailstop TWB-05-B01M
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, D.C. 20555-0001
Docket NRC-2012-0277, the proposed Dewey-Burdock project, comments on the SEIS
Dear Ms. Bladey,
Twenty five years ago I founded the Institute of Range and American Mustang (IRAM) a 501 c 3 non-profit corporation. IRAM’s Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary is home to more than 600 wild horses on 13,000 acres of private range in South Dakota.
On this location one can find; 60 million year old remains from the Pleistocene era of plants and animals, Ancient Petroglyphs that date back hundreds of years, Native American Ceremonial Sites, Historic Pioneer homesteads, and hundreds of native species of plants and animals. IRAM is supported by the thousands of visitors that come to South Dakota each year to see the natural history of the local area. Besides a Wild Horse Sanctuary the historic significance of this region brings people and scientists from all over the world.
For hundreds of years, the Cheyenne River that runs through the Sanctuary was the first source of water for the wildlife that lived on the grassy prairies. Ancient man and the dinosaurs of the past traveled this waterway. Native Americans hunted the buffalo and then held their sacred ceremonies on this land.
Along with IRAM’s Board of Directors, I am greatly concerned over the proposed Powertech Dewey-Burdock project that is located within twenty miles of the Sanctuary. We feel that the SEIS was issued before all the relevant information was available.
The Cultural and Historic impact that will result from this proposed project have not been considered properly. The relevant information is still not available. The SEIS should not have been issued until a thorough study of the cultural and historical sites on the proposed project area was completed.
The SEIS “dilutes” impacts by saying that the impacts are “small” because only part of the project area is involved. The impacts are large to the affected areas, and that is what should be considered. The Cheyenne River and its water shed are within a few miles from the proposed mining area. Our house wells and livestock wells all share the same aquifer that is to be used to inject the waste water from the project.
The SEIS only includes the impacts of a 100-year flood, and some facilities are allowed within the 100-year flood boundaries. A 500-year flood should be considered. No facilities should be allowed within the 100-year flood boundaries. Vigorous, overland and stream flooding is common in the Black Hills.
The SEIS says that impacts are “small” in a number of instances because Powertech Uranium has said it will do certain things if problems develop. The SEIS should not consider only the “best case” impacts, but should consider impacts if the problems found at other ISL projects develop. The public and the environment should be protected from worst case impacts.
Besides over 600 wild horses, IRAM also has a herd of Red Angus Cattle and over 100 domestic horses, chickens, turkeys, and peacocks. We are greatly concerned over the potential exposure to radiation for all of these animals.
The SEIS lists a number of things that Powertech should do before it starts its operation, such as air dispersion modeling, livestock radiation sampling, pump testing, creating well field operational plans, and setting up emergency procedures for truck accidents. These activities should be completed before a SEIS is issued, so that the public can have full information on which to base its comments, and so that the NRC can have full information on which to base its ratings of various impacts.
Due to the high desert environment, this area is very susceptible to lightning strikes and wild fires. This summer alone there were months of fires in the local area of the proposed mining.
The environmental impacts of wildfires, which are common in the immediate area of the proposed project, should be considered, including potential impacts if a fire strikes mining, pipelines, overhead power lines, and processing buildings.
The SEIS does not acknowledge environmental justice, cultural, and historical concerns that include Lakota treaty rights to the proposed project area and the fact that a number of Native American tribes consider the Black Hills to be sacred.
Bald eagles, sage-grouse, whooping cranes, and black-footed ferrets are all threatened or endangered wildlife species that could be negatively impacted by the proposed project. Wildlife is simply expected to disperse and go elsewhere. This creates undue hardship on sensitive species.
All ponds, including radium settling ponds, and areas where wastewater is applied to the land are threats to wildlife, particularly birds.
Public hearings should be held after full information is available on the proposed project. Hearings held elsewhere during the writing of the NRC’s Generic Environmental Impact Statement are not adequate to this specific project.
Because the state no longer has regulatory authority over ISL mining, the federal government’s plans for monitoring the project should be clearly explained in detail, so that the public can determine whether monitoring will be adequate.
All data provided by Powertech Uranium should be independently verified. It is not in the public interest to have the proposed project’s benefits and problems judged based almost entirely on data provided by the company seeking a permit.
The applicant has never mined uranium. They do not have anything close to the resources necessary to create a mine. The inexperience of the company and its lack of funding are important variables in the company’s ability to manage the environmental aspects of the proposed project and should be discussed in the SEIS.
The SEIS indicates that 30% of the water treated through the reverse osmosis process will become waste. The impacts of the removal of this water from local aquifers should be discussed much more clearly.
All of the above facts about the Dewey Burdock project and the SEIS clearly affect the Institute of Range and American Mustang Programs and Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary. The Uranium Mining would endanger the wildlife, the mustangs, the water supplies, the land and all the people that are on the land.
This matter of allowing Uranium Mining and using the water from an already delicate ecosystem must be considered and analyzed from all dangers and risks. Science tells us what a situation is but it is up to the humans involved to make the decisions. Once this area is exposed the Uranium Mining there is no turning back the clock to undo the mistakes.
Our policy at IRAM is that man is the caregiver of the Earth and all of its beings and no one has the right to contaminate or pollute the environment. There are no second chances at life if the water, land, wildlife, people and history of an area are destroyed by Corporate Greed.
There is something very great at stake here in the Black Hills of South Dakota and we ask you please to consider the dangers and consequences of the Dewey-Burdock project of what it can and might to do to the very water we drink and the land we live on.
Sometimes in life the risk is just not worth taking. Please help us keep our land and water safe.
Just in case anyone, besides moi, was wondering if this bamboo billboard project would get lift off–here’s the news: O yeah it’s fully funded. Go Glassman! Go! It’s about time for some positive news and this is a sweet piece. Perhaps the era of the urban forest is in the works. I wonder how long it will be before birds commence nesting?
Violating copyright births bad karma---imagine a mad hacker you'll never see coming--nor catch going. Respect = my work is my work and your work is your work.
Everything posted here is my work, copyrighted, unless otherwise noted. Comments aside. Om
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