All Notebook Entries

Update: Denver police pepper spray and beat activists

From Colorado Legal Eagles
info@coloradolegaleagles.org

For photos and more informaton, see:
http://www.coloradolegaleagles.org/

 DENVER -- Glenn Spagnuolo, one of the main organizers of Recreate 68, was interviewed on Peter Boyles on KHOW radio Tuesday morning about the pepper bullet incident on Monday. You can listen to the full interviews here:

http://www.khow.com/pages/boyles.html

Glenn said that the incident last night started around 5:30pm, whenheavily-armed police in SWAT gear began making random sweeps through Civic Center Park, harassing people sitting in the grass by poking them with nightsticks and telling them to get up and leave. Glenn complained several times to the protester's police liaison, and the police would stop the harassment, just to start it again a few minutes later. He said that happened about 4 or 5 times.

Update: Denver police stage bizarre behavior

by Brenda Norrell

Photo: An Aurora, Colorado, police officer draws his weapon on peaceful marchers, calling for freedom for political prisoners at the federal courthouse in Denver on Monday. Photo Brenda Norrell

DENVER -- It was an incredible morning in the streets of Denver, with the voices of the people spilling out through this city during the Political Prisoners March and Rally. It was clear that there is another divide underway, those who are in the Democratic National Convention with their expense accounts and those in the streets, lending powerful voices to define the future. With most US citizens in a state of post traumatic stress syndrome, the brave faced off with Denver police and marched through the streets this morning. What began as a small crowd near the Civic Center grew as hundreds joined the march through the heart of the city to the federal courthouse.

This is a bit off track for me, posting blog style. But I couldn’t resist weighing in on the latest flap in the pres race, when it turned to home ownership.

You see, I admit to being a homeowner — family and all. And my property taxes are, well, a pain in the posterior of my existence. But I pay them willingly (or they would take my house) in the belief, naively so, maybe, that the schools, city and county services they help to fund are important to fostering a better community.

Two things that tick me off on that front are fraud, waste and abuse on the part of the government entities collecting the taxes; and folks who find ways to skimp or otherwise cheat out paying their fair share. I don’t think I’m alone in that inclination.

By Brenda Norrell

Dakota women were arrested on Saturday, August 16, 2008 during a counter genocide protest. Dakotas from the Yellow Medicine Dakota Community, with their allies, countered the Upper Sioux Agency State Park's program. The genocide celebration was part of the Sesquicentennial of the state of Minnesota, portraying the 1858 1st Regiment.

Chris Mato Nunpa, retired Dakota professor, said, "My daughter, Waziyata Win, and my grand-daughter, Winuna were arrested. Fortunately, they both were released later in the day.

US/Mexico border wall increases risk to lives of Tohono O'odham during monsoon flash floods

Flash floods damage businesses and government offices in Arizona and Mexico after Homeland Security flaunts federal laws and builds border wall

By Brenda Norrell

LUKEVILLE, Ariz. - The risk to the lives of Tohono O'odham and other residents living on the Arizona and Sonora border due to monsoon flash floods has increased because of a newly constructed border wall. Homeland Security flaunted federal laws and the laws of nature to build the border wall in 2008.

In a report made public this week, the National Park Service details the ecological and infrastructure damage in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument caused by flood obstruction and debris accumulation along recently constructed portions of the border wall. Tohono O'odham and others reside in the area on both sides of the international border.

Finally, I can say thank you U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for showing that our U.S. government’s national security critical infrastructure is as weak as a "Samson without his hair."

Nevertheless, these two raids were nothing but a “show” to justify ICE’s immigration enforcement initiatives. I reviewed some of the news video clips from the Asheville, NC raid, and the ICE spokesperson, along with his peers looked rather non-enthusiastic, frustrated and bored. I know that feeling because it is exactly the way I used to feel in 1982 when we were conducting immigration employment raids in San Francisco, CA.

Darlene Fitzgerald Price for U.S. Senate 2010 – Former U.S. Customs Service Special Agent

FISH-IN: In the tradition of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, the Lakotah Republic will exercise its fishing rights

By Brenda Norrell

The Republic of Lakotah announced that Lakotah guaranteed their fishing rights under the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty will exercise those fishing rights on August 25, 2008.

In a letter to South Dakota Attorney General Larry Long, the Lakotah Republic reminded the official that, "all members of the tribes to the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty have the right to fish within the 1851 Treaty territory, which includes all of South Dakota from the east bank of the Missouri River."

By Brenda Norrell

SAN FRANCISCO -- Clyde Bellecourt spoke of the birth of the American Indian Movement forty years ago, remembering his mother's own legacy and also the time of the end for the priests who were controlling the Sundance, during the 40th Anniversary, "AIM For Freedom," photo exhibit.
During the culminating night of the exhibit at SomArts, July 30, Bellecourt shared his own journey and the birth of the American Indian Movement. He said his spirit name is Nee-gon-we-way-we-dun, "Thunder Before the Storm."

Antonio Morales, Maya Mam, community organizer assassinated, fought GoldCorp's Montana mining in Guatemala

By Brenda Norrell

Antonio Morales, Maya Mam, Guatemalan indigenous leader from the Committee of Campesino Unity, was attacked and assassinated on Thursday, August 7, 2008, morning as he returned to his home in Colotenango, Guatemala.

Morales was a national leader of the CUC, CNOC and Maya Waqib Kej, three of Guatemala's most important indigenous organizations which have actively opposed large scale mining projects, hydroelectric projects and the privatization of water, according to Tim Russo of Free Speech Radio.

Introduction

This Narco News report is about two tragic shooting incidents involving two U.S. Customs Service (“Customs”) Inspectors who got shot and wounded on April 17, 1997 at the Calexico, CA International Port of Entry, and the killing of a U.S. Customs & Border Protection (“CBP”) Special Agent assigned to the CBP’s Office of Internal Affairs, Miami, FL on August 5, 2008. This author intend to bring a comparison of the two incidents and the different attention they received from the top agency’s heads under two different U.S. Presidential administrations under former president William Jefferson Clinton and president George Walker Bush.

Things haven't been going very well for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) over the last year. Missile attacks, bombardments, killing of several leaders, the death of Manuel "Sureshot" Marulanda Vélez, desertions, that Dutch girl who left her diaries lying around and of course the sneaky plot to free Ingrid Betancourt and a couple of US mercenaries.

Opinions differ on what plans the US-Colombia axis may have with the rebel force. Raúl Zibechi writes on the website of the Center for International Policy:

By Brenda Norrell

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. -- Bending under pressure from the Bush Administration, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed an earlier decision which halted plans to make sewer water into snow for San Francisco Peaks, sacred to 13 Native American Nations.

On San Francisco Peaks, medicine men hold ceremonies and gather medicine plants for healing.

See Part I of this story here:

The connection between former Kyrgyzstan president Askar Akayev and John McCain may seem oblique by the shallow, personality-driven reporting standards that dominate coverage of a presidential election. But dig a bit deeper, and that connection proves far from superficial.

Syracuse University’s Research Center: incriminating data on DHS-ICE’s deceptive practices available

“Only a handful of agencies said they have conducted annual audits to ensure their fleets are the right size. The Department of Homeland Security said it hasn't conducted a department-wide audit since the agency was created five years ago. The agency said it is “working toward that end” but doesn't yet have the resources to analyze its 41,000-vehicle fleet.” http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20080731-1039-unclesamscars.html

By Brenda Norrell

Today is a day of mourning for the U.S. media. In case you missed its passing, columnist Roberto Rodriguez' article "Questions journalists never ask," serves as a memorial. Rodriquez' column also points out that it wasn't just the integrity of the U.S. media that died, but U.S. democracy, now on the fast track to Nazi-style dictatorship. The Bush administration and its team of multi-national corporate profiteers continue co-opting the U.S. Congress, military, police and commerce.

By Brenda Norrell

OAK SPRINGS, Ariz. -- Navajo Michelle Cook, 23, from Oak Springs, Arizona, recently served as a peace delegate to Iran, with the intention of doing what she could to prevent the United States from declaring war on Iran. While in Iran, she found people much like Navajos at home. Cook was selected by the Fellowship of Reconciliation to participate as a civilian diplomat on a Peace and Friendship Delegation to Iran. This fact-finding mission was to shed light on and prevent a potential war between the United States and Iran.

A fictitious case scenario: a bus transporting 20 alleged professional Mexicans football players had crossed the Nogales, Arizona border destined to the University of Arizona (UA) where they are going to play at the UA's stadium. However, after all 20 Mexican nationals checked in at one of the UA's dorms, a 911 call is placed to the local police department stating that the alleged 20 football players are actually ruthless drug cartel members in possession of explosives, bombs, fully-automatic weapons, are in possession of 1000 pounds of cocaine, used fraudulent immigration documents to come across, and have taken 10 students hostages. It is unknown what their demands are. Based on the above information, which law enforcement agency do you believe will be in charge in coordinating the safe release of all 10 students, the arrest of all violators and the seizure of all contraband? Actually, the FBI, ICE, DEA, ATF, the Tucson Police Department, The UA's Campus Police (if any), the Pima County Sheriff's Department, or the Arizona Department of Public Safety can be in charge and take control of the command post. Why I list all of these agencies? They all have jurisdiction over certain illegal aspects of the case.

I learned that the government of Ecuador and City Oriente have come to terms, cancelling City's oil contract.

Background on the topic is here.

The price is fair to both parties--probably about a quarter of the value of proven reserves which is good for Ecuador but enough to pay for time, expense and investment with a reasonable profit for City Oriente.

By Brenda Norrell

I didn't see it coming. After 25 years of writing American Indian news, I didn't really expect to be blackballed and censored out of the business. But, then again, any journalist writing serious news in the United States should expect to be censored. There are some hot topics that get U.S. journalists fired, including investigating the war in Iraq. U.S. Presidents realize the power of words and song to move the masses. It was Buffe Sainte Marie's "Universal Soldier," during the Vietnam War that led to her being blackballed and censored out of the music business in the U.S.

OPEN LETTER TO U.S. SENATORS CHUCK SCHUMER AND HILLARY CLINTON

Honorable U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton: The parents of Miladin Kovacevic’s victim, Bryan Steinhauer need to be told the truth; that the main reason Miladin Kovacevic is long gone and a fugitive from justice is because our mismanaged and dysfunctional federal agency, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) failed to do its job. It is possible if the alien defendant’s name would have been Jose Lopez, native and citizen of Mexico, arrested for the crime of being an illegal alien, ICE would have immediately responded. My apology for making this assertion but unfortunately, this is how ICE is currently operating. ICE, according to its website has 26 listed “leaders” – when you compare the ICE’s leadership cadre with other major federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Secret Service and others, ICE rank number one in the numbers of leaders (Senior Executive Series) managers has at its headquarters.

Now and then, you see national headlines news made by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) employment enforcement raids and the number of criminal and administrative arrests they made.

Fo the average American citizen these are good news. ICE is doing an "outstanding job" in removing more and more illegal alien workers and "express-shipping them" to their country of origin.

This is a reporter's notebook in the real sense-- raw notes, to be turned into an article next time I have Internet.

The routes for the Peace and Dignity Journeys runners for Central Arizona beginning today, Saturday, July 26, are listed below. Another route ran from Wheatfields on the Navajo Nation south this week through Apache lands. A route in New Mexico is scheduled to arrive in Las Cruces today, Saturday, July 26, 2008. Jose Malvido, northern coordinator for the Alaska to Panama route, said there are several routes of runners now running through New Mexico and Arizona on their way to Vicam Pueblo in Mexico and ultimately Panama.

Panama's Supreme Court took a decision the 17th of this month in a libel case brought by HSBC bank USA/Panama against a Canadian expatriate that has far reaching consequences for the country's (in)famous banking and corporate secrecy which has made it a money laundering and tax dodging haven over the years.

The decision will hit hard in that - substantial - part of the offshore finance business where secrecy is essential for survival: (drug) money laundering and (corporate) tax evasion. Investigations and arrests of narco kingpins invariably lead to Panama where drug trade profits are laundered and then hidden in numerous corporate structures. The real estate construction boom thrives on dirty money, and the DEA described the industry as follows:

La Habana 22 de julio 2008

The United States has one of the highest levels of press freedom in the world. We know this because four different press freedom organizations say so. The fact that all four receive generous funding from the U.S. government doesn’t seem to matter.

Fidel told Frei Betto in an interview that he considered freedom of the press to be nothing more than freedom of ownership, and this is true: money is power, and the U.S. press has the power to choose our political leaders for us. Just ask Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards and Ralph Nader, and they will tell you how they were disappeared from the 2008 presidential race as quickly and definitively as any Soviet leader who fell into disfavor with Stalin.

La Habana 21 de julio 2008

On the occasion of the 19th anniversary of the triumph of the Sandinista revolution, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez warned that the world crisis would continue to grow and said that the greatest crisis is the lack of common sense on the part of those who rule the world, citing a letter written to him by Fidel Castro.

Before an estimated 450,000 people, Chávez sent a message to the next leaders of the United States, saying,

“We don’t want war, we want a peaceful change to search for deep and true peace for our people. We don’t want more destabilizations,” he said.

La Habana 19 de Julio 2008

The offices of Granma, are neither large nor elegant. They have the Spartan look one expects of the “Official Organ of the Communist Party of Cuba.” Granma is the least pretentious national daily in a world full of pretentious newspapers. On Friday it devoted one of its sixteen pages to Fidel’s reflection and another to the text of decree No. 259, signed by President Raúl Castro, dealing with the distribution of unused land for agricultural production. This may not seem like big news, but with the new prioritization of food security and incentives offered, many ordinary people are interested in taking up farming.

Kahentinetha Horn, publisher of Mohawk Nation News, filed a complaint with the United Nations, following the attack on her and Katenies at the border. Kahentinetha suffered a trauma induced heart while handcuffed in a police stress hold during the attack by special forces at the Canadian border. Katenies, editor of Mohawk Nation News, was beaten and jailed. The Mohawk grandmothers live in fear for their lives after exposing the truth of Canada's genocide of First Nations peoples, including the genocide of uranium mining, the murder of innocent children in residential schools, the seizure and rape of Indigenous Peoples lands and digging up the graves of the ancestors for housing, industrial development and the NAFTA highway. The complaint to the United Nations sent today follows: