NASA discovers water on the moon!

NASA announced a spacecraft that purposely slammed into the moon has turned up evidence of water.

NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite probe discovered beds of water ice at the lunar south pole when it impacted the moon last month.

The LCROSS probe impacted the lunar south pole at a crater called Cabeus on Oct. 9. The $79 million spacecraft, preceded by its Centaur rocket stage, hit the lunar surface in an effort to create a debris plume that could be analyzed by scientists for signs of water ice.

Anthony Colaprete, LCROSS project scientist and principal investigator from NASA’s Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California:

Indeed, yes, we found water. And we didn’t find just a little bit, we found a significant amount

Scientists have long suspected that permanently shadowed craters at the south pole of the moon could be cold enough to sustain water frozen at the surface and have been analyzing a mile-high plume of debris kicked up by the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite.

(Water has already been detected on the moon by a NASA-built instrument on board India’s now defunct Chandrayaan-1 probe and other spacecraft, though it was in very small amounts and bound to the dirt and dust of the lunar surface)

NASA plans to return astronauts to the moon by 2020 for extended missions on the lunar surface.

Steven Tyler Leaving Aerosmith

After 40 years, Steven Tyler has quit Aerosmith by walking out on the “Crazy” rockers following a performance in Abu Dhabi last month, if band guitarist Joe Perry is to be believed.

The report comes just months after the singer spoke out publicly to dismiss reports the band was on the verge of splitting. In August, Tyler broke his shoulder after falling off stage while performing in South Dakota, and the group was forced to scrap the remainder of its summer tour.

Perry admits that following the accident he and Tyler didn’t speak for more than a month and Perry fears his pal has left the rock group after its performance as part of the Formula One racing season’s final weekend in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 30.

“Steven quit as far as I can tell. I don’t know any more than you do about it. I got off the plane two nights ago. I saw online that Steven said that he was going to leave the band. I don’t know for how long, indefinitely or whatever. Other than that, I don’t know,” he tells The Las Vegas Sun.

Perry claims the discord in the band can be attributed to Tyler’s failure to return phone calls: “Frankly, the last few months I’ve been wanting not to rock the boat. I don’t want him canceling any more gigs. We really wanted to do these last four. We just kind of didn’t want to call him out or anything and get him anymore pissed off, for whatever reason. So we just let things lie. So we did the gigs and, like I said, I got off the plane and saw this online. That’s how I know about it… He has had no contact with me or the other band members.”

Joe Perry says he’s determined to continue Aerosmith, even if its famous front man refuses to return.

“Right now I’m adjusting to how we’re going to go on…We’re just trying to – at least I am – trying to figure out what direction the band should take….”

UNA SAVING aim (STOP THE EXTRADITION OF DENNIS BANKS)

Militant Protest Mounts: “STOP THE EXTRADITION OF DENNIS BANKS”
(Oakland, Calif.) — It was more than a good feeling, rather, a rare, militant spirit of struggle and unity that pervaded Fremont High School’s auditorium last Friday evening as a large, multiracial crowd of over 750 turned out to “Stop the Extradition of Dennis Banks” and demand that all charges in the federal government harassment campaign against the American Indian Movement (AIM) co-founder and leader be dismissed. Sponsored by the Dennis Banks Bicentennial Legal Offense Coalition and the Student Coalition Against Racism, the gathering was a highly successful prelude to a massive march and rally scheduled to be held in San Francisco on April 3. Last Friday’s rally clearly displayed the growing, broad-based interest and support surrounding Banks’ fight to avoid extradition to South Dakota, where racist state officials have publicly issued death threats upon his life. Featured speakers at the rally were: Lehman Brightman, a leader of United Native Americans, Inc., against whom charges were recently dropped of “harboring” Banks; Clyde Bellecourt, an AIM co-founder; Miguel Angel, a Laney College professor representing La Raza Educators; and Elaine Brown, leading member and chairperson of the Black Panther Party. Rashaad Ali of the Student Coalition Against Racism served as the fiery and fervent moderator. In the early morning hours of January 24, Dennis Banks was arrested on a federal fugitive warrent when 40 FBI agents, armed with shotguns and M-16 rifles, surrounded Lehman Brightman’s El Cerrito residence. Banks had been sought by the authorities since August 5, 1975, for failure to appear for sentencing following a frame-up conviction on riot and assault charges in Custer, South Dakota. Leading off the program last Friday, Brightman focefully detailed the “double standard of justice” the Banks’ conviction represents. Briefly, Brightman explained an “incredible” sequence of events which began with the barroom murder of John Wesley Bad Heart Bull, a young Sioux man, by an arrogant White racist named Darald Schmidtz. Three days later, Schmidtz was arrested for second degree manslaughter, although there were six eyewitnesses to the slaying who all heard Schmidtz say he was “going to kill an Indian” a few minutes before he plunged a knife through the young Sioux’s heart. Schmidtz was later found guilty but only received a probation sentence. In protest of the sentence, a meeting was arranged in Custer, South Dakota, attended by several AIM leaders, including Dennis Banks, and Sarah Bad Heart Bull, the dead you youth’s mother. While Banks and the other AIM members were allowed into the courthouse meeting, Mrs. Bad Heart Bull was denied entrance. When she persisted to demand her rights, a White state trooper grabbed her and began to strangle her in front of several hundred shocked Indian supporters. When the Native Americans moved to protect Mrs. Bad Heart Bull, the state troopers attacked both the demonstrators and the group meeting inside. Before the incident was over, scores of Indian people were beaten and arrested. The Custer courthouse and chamber of commerce were also burned to the ground. As a result of the incident, Mrs. Bad Heart Bull was sentenced to one to three years in jail. She served six months. Dennis Banks, who admits to using a police bill club to break out a window and escape the tear gas filled meeting room, was sentenced to 15 years on the trumped-up charges. Labeling South Dakota “the Alabama of the North,” Brightman brought out several outrageous features concerning Dennis Banks’ trial in Custer, including: (1) That state Attorney General William Janklow, a known rapist of a 15-year-old Indian woman on the Rosebud Reservation, personally tried the case against Banks, intimidating his lawyer to the point that he resigned in the middle of the trial; (2)That murderer Darald Schmiditz, his wife and two cousins were seated on the jury to try Banks. Although Schmidtz and his wife were eventually removed, the cousins remained to return the guilty verdict. “Many young Indians in this country look upon Dennis Banks with great respect,” Brightman said in concluding his speech. “They look upon him as a man who stood up to the full might of the U. S. government and defied them …Dennis Banks is a symbol of strength…an honorable man.” Following Brightman, Black Panther Party chairperson Elaine Brown delivered a stirring solidarity message in support of the fight against extradition. Pledging to do “all that we can to see that Dennis Banks remains in some sort of asylum.” Elaine added that she fully understands the heart of the issue since, “We also had a member of our Party, Huey P. Newton, who had to do the same thing Dennis Banks did, who had to avoid the so-called court system and avoid certain death in the California prison system.” Saying that “The Black community of Oakland. I am certain, will become more involved in the issue of Dennis Banks,” Elaine explained the “natural coalition” between Black people and Indian people: “Not only did they come here and rip off this country from the Indian people, they also ripped off our territory and brought us here to work for them. The Indian people taught them what to do because they were too stupid to know how to work the land and then they broke our backs to do the work.” Continuing to stress the theme of a “natural coalition” that can survive the racism and divisiveness of the FBI and other government forces, Elaine added, “We must continue to build this coalition so that at least one state in this union can say, ‘Listen, we are going to provide an asylum for Dennis Banks. We will all be Lehman Brightman. We will all open our homes. We will open up this state so that Dennis Banks does not have to back to South Dakota to be killed…’ “We have the power,” Elaine said. “We the people are the majority …This is not just an `Indian issue.’ This is not a `White issue’ or a
– 15 –
`Black Panther issue.’ This is an issue of human beings who are beginning to struggle together, who believe in Power to the People.” Clyde Bellecourt, who spoke next on the program, eloquently presented the history of the American Indian Movement, while attacking the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Christian Church and the educational system as “three institutions that work day in and day out to strip Indian people of their language, their identity and their culture.” At the time of AIM’s founding on July 28, 1968, Bellecourt charged that the average life span for Indian people was 43.5 years (compared with the national average of over 70 years); that 82 per cent of all Indian people in America lived in substandard housing, with 76 per cent lacking running water; that the average Indian annual income was $1,500; and that the suicide rate for Indian people was seven times higher than the national average. “DIFFERENT” ORGANIZATION Bellecourt said that AIM was intended to be a “different” kind of organization, one in which “Indian people would make decisions for themselves” and that its founders would be “willing to give their lives” in the “militant struggle for self-determination and sovereignty.” During Bellecourt’s moving dialogue, he asked the audience to rise, and led by a group of young students from the AIM-sponsored Heart of the Earth Survival School, the AIM national anthem, a sacred Indian fire song, was presented. Receiving a standing ovation as he took the podium. Dennis Banks gave a brief address on the complexities of his case and the need “for the first time in this country’s history for non-Indians to stand in support of Indian people’s rights.” He added that AIM estimated that Califfornia Governor Brown had already received over 100,000 letters, telegrams and signed petitions opposing his extradition. Stressing the April 3 march and rally, Banks explained that he was not the only one seeking “sanctuary” since, “Poor people everywhere are seeking sanctuary from poverty. “People are running from poverty,” Banks said, “running from slum conditions, running from substandard housing and seeking a decent way of life.” That too, he said, would be a central theme of the April 3 demonstration. “For those of you who feel oppressed in this 200th anniversary of Ameirca,” Banks said, “think how we Indian people felt during the first 200. This is our second 200 years, you know. It’s been a long time.” CENTRAL DISTRIBUTION
8501 E. 14TH STREET
OAKLAND. CALIF.94621

Video of UNA SAVING aim

Leading off the program, Brightman focefully detailed the “double standard of justice” the Banks’ conviction represents.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=32386705

To VIEW More Videos of When UNA SAVED aim Contact:

Alex Cherian Film Archivist San Francisco Bay Area Television Archive J. Paul Leonard Library, San Francisco State University 1630 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132 Tel: 415-338-3896 / Fax: 415-338-1504 acherian@sfsu.edu

KQED News Collection

Brightman, 1/26/76 – KQN 2483
Dennis Banks, 2/9-10/76 – KQN 2493
Dennis Banks, 2/23/76 – KQN 2503

KPIX News Collection

Dennis Banks leaves El Cerrito Jail, 1/26/76 – KPIX 129681
March & Rally for Dennis Banks, 4/3/76 – KPIX 130535
Indians talk about Brightman/Banks developments, 2/16/77 – KPIX 135371
Dennis Banks, 4/25/77 – KPIX 136270
Dennis Banks responds to Governor Brown, 4/26/77 – KPIX 136287
Dennis Banks: Pre Trial, 11/09/77 – KPIX 138293
Governor Brown won’t send Dennis Banks to South Dakota, 4/19/78 – KPIX 140065

WFLD Channel 32 – CNN Headline News (Part 2, 1982) This aired on local Chicago TV early Saturday, November 27th 1982.

American Indian Movement leader Dennis Banks fights extradition from California to South Dakota by with the help of governor Jerry Brown.

http://www.fuzzymemories.tv/screen.php?c=2267&m=xx1980xx&p=26

President Obama signs memo on tribal consultation

Photo by: Preston Randolf
President Obama signs memo on tribal consultation
Friday, November 6, 2009
Filed Under: Politics

President Barack Obama signed a memorandum on tribal consultation at the White House Tribal Nations Conference, which took place at the Interior Department in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, November 5.
http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=electricbrave
The memo directs all federal agencies to submit a “detailed” tribal consultation plan in the next 90 days. A progress report will be due in 270 days.

“History has shown that failure to include the voices of tribal officials in formulating policy affecting their communities has all too often led to undesirable and, at times, devastating and tragic results,” Obama stated. “By contrast, meaningful dialogue between Federal officials and tribal officials has greatly improved Federal policy toward Indian tribes.”

The memo also directs the White House Office of Management and Budget to submit a report on the implementation of the tribal consultation policies by the agencies. The report is due in one year.

The full text of the memo is quoted below:

November 5, 2009
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
SUBJECT: Tribal Consultation

The United States has a unique legal and political relationship with Indian tribal governments, established through and confirmed by the Constitution of the United States, treaties, statutes, executive orders, and judicial decisions. In recognition of that special relationship, pursuant to Executive Order 13175 of November 6, 2000, executive departments and agencies (agencies) are charged with engaging in regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration with tribal officials in the development of Federal policies that have tribal implications, and are responsible for strengthening the government-to-government relationship between the United States and Indian tribes.

History has shown that failure to include the voices of tribal officials in formulating policy affecting their communities has all too often led to undesirable and, at times, devastating and tragic results. By contrast, meaningful dialogue between Federal officials and tribal officials has greatly improved Federal policy toward Indian tribes. Consultation is a critical ingredient of a sound and productive Federal-tribal relationship.

My Administration is committed to regular and meaningful consultation and collaboration with tribal officials in policy decisions that have tribal implications including, as an initial step, through complete and consistent implementation of Executive Order 13175. Accordingly, I hereby direct each agency head to submit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), within 90 days after the date of this memorandum, a detailed plan of actions the agency will take to implement the policies and directives of Executive Order 13175. This plan shall be developed after consultation by the agency with Indian tribes and tribal officials as defined in Executive Order 13175. I also direct each agency head to submit to the Director of the OMB, within 270 days after the date of this memorandum, and annually thereafter, a progress report on the status of each action included in its plan together with any proposed updates to its plan.

Each agency’s plan and subsequent reports shall designate an appropriate official to coordinate implementation of the plan and preparation of progress reports required by this memorandum. The Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy and the Director of the OMB shall review agency plans and subsequent reports for consistency with the policies and directives of Executive Order 13175.

In addition, the Director of the OMB, in coordination with the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, shall submit to me, within 1 year from the date of this memorandum, a report on the implementation of Executive Order 13175 across the executive branch based on the review of agency plans and progress reports. Recommendations for improving the plans and making the tribal consultation process more effective, if any, should be included in this report.

The terms “Indian tribe,” “tribal officials,” and “policies that have tribal implications” as used in this memorandum are as defined in Executive Order 13175.

The Director of the OMB is hereby authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. Executive departments and agencies shall carry out the provisions of this memorandum to the extent permitted by law and consistent with their statutory and regulatory authorities and their enforcement mechanisms.

 

Hopi Bans Sierra, Other Enviros; Navajo Supports Move

By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
Gallup Independent

WINDOW ROCK – The Hopi Tribe has a message for Sierra and other local and national environmental groups: Keep out!

On Monday, by a resolution approved 12-0, the Tribal Council declared Sierra, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the National Parks Conservation Association and Grand Canyon Trust persona non grata, saying they and on-reservation organizations sponsored by or affiliated with these groups are no longer welcome on the Hopi Reservation.

The ban came in response to what Council said have been continuous, concerted and increasingly strident attacks from environmental groups “bent on advancing their interests and agenda at the expense of the Hopi Tribe and its sovereign interest.”

The resolution encourages all Indian nations across the country to evaluate their relationships with the environmental groups and to perhaps rethink those alliances to prevent erosion of their own tribal sovereignty.

Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., said Wednesday that he strongly supports the Hopi Tribe’s resolution.

“I stand with the Hopi Nation. Unlike ever before, environmental activists and organizations are among the greatest threat to tribal sovereignty, tribal self-determination, and our quest for independence,” Shirley said.

“By their actions, environmentalists would have tribes remain dependent on the federal government, and that is not our choice. I want the leaders of all Native American nations to know this is our position, and I would ask for their support of our solidarity with the Hopi Nation in the protection of their sovereignty and self-determination, as well as ours,” he said.

The Hopi Council said environmentalists have worked to deprive the tribe of markets for its coal and the revenue it brings to sustain governmental services, provide jobs for Hopis, and secure the survival of Hopi culture and tradition.

The resolution states that members of the groups “have manufactured and spread misinformation concerning the water and energy resources of the Hopi Tribe in an effort to instill unfounded fears into the hearts and minds of the Hopi public.”

They have acted with no regard for the tribe’s right to determine how best to develop and manage its natural resources and have shown no concern for the future welfare of the Hopi people, Council said.

On Sept. 25, Hopi Tribal Council members Everett Calnimptewa and Phillip R. Quochytewa Sr., members of the council’s energy team, blamed environmentalists for the closure of Mohave Generating Station in 2005 and told the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona that the same groups now want to shut down Navajo Generating Station.

NGS provides about $11 million a year in revenue for the tribe. Mohave’s closure has cost Hopi between $6.5 million and $8.5 million a year in revenue.

“The Mohave closure did little more than balance the politically expedient needs of these environmental organizations on the already impoverished backs of the Hopi and Navajo people … and did so without providing any reasonable means of replacing the tribal revenues lost to the closure,” the resolution states.

Lawsuits and federal and environmentalists’ actions threaten the economic viability of Navajo Generating Station, the tribe’s only remaining coal customer, and could lead to “total economic collapse of the tribe,” Hopi said.

Nada Talayumptewa, who chairs the Hopi Tribal Council’s energy team, said, “It’s time we take a stand. We need to make public that we don’t want the environmental groups coming in and causing trouble for the Hopi Tribe.”

Scott Canty, counsel for Hopi, said the environmental groups are going to oppose everything Hopi does. “This is a statement that the Hopi Tribe is going to fight back.”

But Alph Secakuku of H.O.P.I. – Hopi Organization of Political Initiative, a watchdog of the tribal government – said the current Council is illegal. “As far as H.O.P.I. is concerned, we don’t recognize the current Tribal Council and whatever enactments they put out are not legal and not binding.”

Hopi Chairman Benjamin Nuvamsa and Vice Chairman Todd Honyaoma resigned Dec. 31, 2008, ending a year of political turmoil. “The Constitution says that there shall be an election held to fill the unexpired terms, but they didn’t hold an election,” said Secakuku, representative of the Village of Sipaulovi. “We have an illegal Council that’s running the show. In essence, it is a coup.

“Everything that they’ve passed since Jan. 1, 2009, we consider that null and void because they’re not legally constituted,” he said. “The resolution that they passed did not go to any of the villages and does not reflect what the Hopi really want.”

He said the Hopi/Tewa people have always considered themselves to be the best environmentalists in the world. “We made a sacred covenant with Maasaw, our Supreme Being, to be good stewards of the Fourth World we live in today. We, as people, all have the responsibility of being caretakers of Mother Earth. You care for it and take from it only what you need, and it will provide for you.

“I never thought I would see the day when being ‘Hopi’ meant being anti-environment, pro-big corporate energy, and actually promoting pollution and global warming in favor of dollars (and) money.”

Secakuku said there was a conspiracy to remove former Chairman Nuvamsa, who was among a group of 35 Hopis and Navajos that went to Denver last December to protest the Office of Surface Mining’s proposed issuance of a life-of-mine permit for Peabody Western Coal Co.’s Black Mesa Project.

He believes Council’s action is politically motivated. “It has a lot to do with Peabody; it has a lot to do with the life-of-mine permit,” Secakuku said.

President Shirley said he and the Navajo Nation strongly support the positive goals of many environmental organizations. However, he said some Navajo environmentalists and non-Navajo environmental groups that support them work to the detriment of the Navajo people and the Nation.

“Environmentalists are good at identifying problems but poor at identifying feasible solutions,” Shirley said. “Most often they don’t try to work with us but against us, giving aid and comfort to those opposed to the sovereign decision-making of tribes. They support tribes only when tribes are aligned with their agenda, such as our opposition to renewed uranium mining in the Grand Canyon and on Native land.”

Shirley said environmentalist actions led to the demise of Navajo logging and closure of the Nation’s sawmill at Navajo, N.M., but did nothing to replace the 600 jobs lost.

“Environmentalist actions led to the closure of the Mohave Generating Station and the shutdown of the Black Mesa Mine but did nothing to replace the 400 paychecks that were lost or the tribal revenue that was not replaced,” he said.

‘Next Step’ from Ben Carnes, LP DOC Leadership Team

Friends,
This message is from Ben Carnes, Support Group Coordinator and National Spokesperson

I wish to offer my personal thanks to everyone for your continuous work and dedication. I was at my computer Friday morning when my google alert brought me the first news of the denial, and then I received an email from Wanbli containing the same news. It was like the dam busted, I received several hundred within the first hour and a half from many of you expressing your sense of outrage at the injustice done to Leonard.

One of my friends wrote something to the effect that a new movement was born today. I really want to see this and so does Leonard, I know we can all agree the White House needs to feel it.

So what is it going to take? It is going to take everything we got – 101%! And trust me – this kind of commitment demands sacrifices and you will be challenged for your stand on this principle. When Leonard was convicted, the late Lew Gurwitz stated, “This is a case that is not going to go away!” Lew lived his words traveling and sleeping in his car to create the awareness of this case. When he passed on, his brother Shep took up the cause. There are many of us who have been here supporting Leonard for years.

Last year, we made a commitment to do what we can to bring Leonard home before his birthday next month. We have less than three weeks to really put our hearts into this, and some of us have personal responsibilities and burdens to overcome and it comes down to making some hard decisions. It isn’t going to be easy. So as a National Branch Support Group Coordinator, I want to ask everyone if they would consider again forming a branch support group in your area. We have a lot of organizing and networking to do with the clock ticking.

We have to overcome the media turning a blind eye to Leonard’s plight. They are more than happy to spread detrimental news of his parole, as you have noticed recently. Let’s turn this into something positive for us, each of you can write letters to the editor in your local respective paper. Sit down and write a letter expressing your disgust and outrage.

As most everyone has heard, the White House phone lines were shut down today immediately after the news came out. The fact they shut down the lines is proof of how they were overwhelmed. You know that was brought to the presidents’ attention. I hope he leaned back in his chair and looked out the window of the Oval Office, and really thought that day about Leonard Peltier. And how much he obviously means to the people to shut down his hi-tech phone system.

And relatives, we only flinch! We’ve known the system has not treated Peltier fairly in the 33 years of his imprisonment. Imagined what would happened if we shouted? So yes, we need a revitalized and disciplined movement, not only for Peltier or other native prisoners, but also for all of us.

Once, we were a movement of people who traveled around the country to help put out fires of racism, greed and abuse. We have learned a lot from those days of protesting, civil disobedience or conducting roadblocks and occupations of government offices some valuable lessons. We also know that we are now in the day of hi-tech surveillance capabilities and out of control police powers. We don’t need more people going to jail. The government is doing a good job as it is, so be mindful of what you do and say, but always speak from the heart and act with your conscience. Don’t allow oppression to silence your voice of dissent – not now.

When there is a call to action, we can be more effective in organizing in our own communities, you know what resources are available to you there and it is going to take solidarity actions across this country, including developing media contacts, mainstream/alternative, in your locale. That is a good place to start because we will grow in numbers quickly, whereas, if we attempted to travel across country at great expense, then we may cut our participating numbers down dramatically.

Those of us who have been doing the work had to start alone or we might have had help, but we all started somewhere. We had to, just as we have to keep building this up. So for now, go to www.whoisleonardpeltier.in

fo and fill out the application to form a Leonard Peltier Branch Support Group (city or state), and then Monday morning, your first action is to ring the phone off the hooks at the White House, and start recruiting your friends and other organizations to follow this course of action. Do this as often as possible throughout the day, everyday.

We’ve been saying that we wanted to start a prairie fire of outrage to the Oval Office of the White House for Peltier, and now we have cause. Leonard Peltier should not have to spend one more birthday in prison for something the government admits they cannot prove.

Offer your prayers to the Creator to give you guidance, then join this international movement for our brother and lets bring him home.

Email completed application: bencarnes@eaglecouncil.com & wanbli@gvtc.com.

We’ve got some work to do now.

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse and Leonard Peltier,
Ben Carnes

Free Peltier Now

New Mexico Film Office & IATSE Local 480 Kick Off Tour to Meet with Native American and Hispanic Residents

I

For Immediate Release                      Contact: NM Film Office

June 8, 2009                                     (505) 476-5600

New Mexico Film Office & IATSE Local 480 Kick Off Tour to Meet with Native American and
Hispanic Residents

SANTA FE-The New Mexico Film Office is teaming up with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 480 for a series of presentations designed to inform Native American and Hispanic residents about potential careers in the movie industry.  The first five presentations begin this Thursday, June 11^th and will include the personal stories of current employees in the industry, as well as discussions about training opportunities available for New Mexicans.

“We are working to make sure that all New Mexicans have a chance to be a part of this exciting and growing industry,” said Lisa Strout, Director of the New Mexico Film Office.  “Through these presentations we are reaching out to interested Hispanic and Native American New Mexicans who may not otherwise be exposed to the opportunities that are available.”

“The state’s efforts to build the state’s movie industry have helped boost the economy and provide good jobs for all New Mexicans,” said Jon Hendry, business manager for IATSE Local 480. “Our members are giving back to their communities by educating others about the business and helping to keep the momentum going.”

The first series of these presentations will be held in communities across central and northern New Mexico:

• Thursday, June 11^th 2:00p – Navajo Nation visit @ Shiprock | PHIL Theatre
• Friday, June 12^th 2:00p – Acoma/Laguna visit @ Sky City Cultural Center
• Saturday, June 13^th 2:00p – Espanola visit @ NNMC Nick Salazar Center for the Arts
• Wednesday, June 17^th 7:00p – Navajo Nation 2^nd visit @ NMSU-Grants Martinez Hall
• Friday, June 19^th 3:00p – South Valley visit @ National Hispanic Cultural Center
• For additional information, please contact trish@nmfilm.com or (505) 476-5611

Hollywood workers moving out of Calif. and into New Mexico

Look out Local 480 members, as if it was hard to find a job in the movie biz , Now we are going to be on the lower list of higher, why is that we have to build something for everyone else in the world to take over. As a Native American in the movie biz. We never get a chance to take part in the the decision of what jobs are available. Now we are attacked once again by the West and the East.

News:

LOS ANGELES — A 25-year veteran of the film industry, William Gilpin lived in Los Angeles his entire life until he moved to New Mexico at the end of 2007. The construction coordinator works on cable network AMC’s hit series “Breaking Bad,” about a chemistry teacher who turns to a life of drug-dealing after being diagnosed with cancer.

Like many TV production workers, Gilpin, 55, followed the jobs that left California and relocated to states that offered generous tax breaks to lure film shoots. New Mexico offers a tax rebate of up to 25 percent of qualifying production expenses, including actors’ salaries.

“I came here on a distant location to do a TV series, not planning to move,” Gilpin said. “But I realized, you know, what a good place to be.”

Gilpin also said fewer competitors in the New Mexico film industry means more work for him.

“In New Mexico, there’s three of me in my position,” Gilpin said. “In Los Angeles, there’s 500.”

Last year, a growing number of TV and movie productions were shot in states other than California, up 2.5 percent from 2007, or 45 productions, to 1,842, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. Meanwhile, Golden State productions fell 9.3 percent, or 49 productions, to 480.

The infrastructure of movie making is starting to form permanently in other states. A $146 million studio complex is being planned outside Detroit, and studios and post-production facilities are going up or already exist in Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Florida.

“There are now full studios available in the states that offered large incentives,” said Paul Audley, president of Film LA Inc., an organization that tracks Los Angeles area location filming. “It’s created an exodus of talent — not actors, but production people.”

Sean Clouser, a native Californian with nearly 20 years of film industry experience, was surprised to find himself moving to Michigan last fall after working as a construction coordinator on the independent film “High School.” Michigan offers up to a 42 percent tax credit.

Clouser, 41, said he was attracted by the cheaper cost of living and by locals’ friendliness and doesn’t plan to return to the fast-paced life he left behind. There’s also a lot of work from films being shot locally and in surrounding states.

Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., estimated that for every midsize film with an average $70 million budget that leaves California, the state loses nearly 700 indirect jobs and $10.6 million in sales and income tax.

Autopia Planes, Trains, Automobiles and the Future of Transportation Zipcar iPhone App Makes Car-Sharing A Breeze

Zipcar has joined Apple to make getting a car as easy as using your phone. The pioneering car-share company has developed an iPhone app you can use to choose, reserve and locate a car on the go – a brilliant move, considering one-quarter of the company’s subscribers have an iPhone in their pocket.

The app tells you what cars are available and uses GPS and Google Maps to direct you to it once you’ve made a reservation. Should the car you’re looking for be lost in a sea of cars in a parking lot, the app will help you find it by sounding the car’s horn. That’s also handy for finding your ride if you’ve forgotten where you’ve parked it.

“These days it’s all about going mobile,” Luke Schneider, Zipcar’s chief technology officer, told Wired.com. “This is the first of several plans we intend to roll out in the coming months that will help make the Zipcar experience readily available to more people and better than it was.”

Zipcar is the largest car-sharing service in the world, with locations in 49 U.S. cities in addition to Vancouver, Toronto and London. The company believes the app, which will be available later this summer, will allow it to expand its service and make car-sharing a breeze.

“There is a synergy between the two brands,” Schneider said. “Both companies aim their products at a highly educated clientele. Before partnering with Apple, we polled a bunch of our customers and found out that about 25 percent of them are iPhone users.”

That number, like the number of Zipcar subscribers, is expected to rise. The new app was announced at the World Wide Developers Conference on Monday, when Apple said it will slash prices on various iPhones and add vehicle-friendly apps like GPS navigation and hands-free dialing. Schnneider says the price cuts and new apps will help Zipcar by making the iPhone available to more people.

“There are currently 15 million people within a block of a Zipcar service station and about 47 million iPhone customers,” he said. “We therefore estimate that our car sharing network could potentially increase to 32 million customers in years to come as a result of our new partnership and expansion into new markets.”

Photo: Flickr / Benjamin Pender. Screenshots: Zipcar

$134.5 BILLION worth of US bonds seized from smugglers at Swiss border

Two Japanese smugglers were busted on the Italian-Swiss border with a suitcase whose false bottom was stuffed with $134.5 billion in US treasury bonds, including two one billion dollar Kennedy bonds (a denomination used for national currency reserves). Either these guys are the world’s dumbest, most ambitious counterfeiters, or they’re the biggest currency smugglers ever caught.

It gets better: Italian law says that the penalty for currency smuggling is 40% of the seized cash, and that 40% (US$28 billion) will take a huge bite out of Italy’s public debt.

If the certificates were real, for Italy it would be like hitting the jackpot. The fine alone would amount to US$ 38 billion, five times the estimated cost of rebuilding quake-devastated Abruzzi region. It would help Italy’s eliminate its public deficit.If the certificates are fakes the two Japanese nationals could get a very lengthy jail sentence for fraud.

As soon as the seizure was made the US Embassy in Rome was informed. Italian and US secret services were called in to assist the Italian financial police.

Some important international financial newspapers had already reported on the existence of ‘funny money’ circulating on parallel, i.e. unofficial, financial markets.

US government securities seized from Japanese nationals, not clear whether real or fake (via @stacyhebert)

Green energy investments surpass carbon-based fuels

RECORD INVESTMENTS: Achim Steiner, U.N. under-secretary general, says that even with this record, it is obvious the economic crisis has taken a toll. (Photo: ZUMA Press)

Global investments in renewable energy overtook those in carbon-based fuels for the first time in 2008, attracting a record $155 billion, a U.N. report said Wednesday.

Of that sum, $36 billion was invested in producing clean energy in emerging economies such as China, an increase of 27 percent compared to 2007.

And $105 billion was spent directly developing power generating capacity from wind, solar, small-hydro, biomass and geothermal sources.

The 2008 investment was more than four times higher than that in 2004 according to the report Global Trends in Sustainable Energy Investment 2009, prepared for the U.N. Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Sustainable Energy Finance Initiative.

Wind power attracted the highest new investment with $51.8 billion, although solar energy made the largest gains, 49 percent, up to $33.5 billion. Biofuels registered a 9 percent fall to $16.9 billion.

But amid the global recession, new investments in green energy in the first quarter of 2009 fell by 53 percent to $13.3 billion compared to the same period in 2008.

“Without doubt the economic crisis has taken its toll on investments in clean energy when set against the record-breaking growth of recent years,” said Achim Steiner, U.N. under-secretary general.

Some signs of an upswing in activity has been seen in 2009 but the sector could fall behind the levels seen in the previous two years, the authors warned.

Stimulus packages put together by governments to shore up their economies are helping to boost the sector with many of them pumping funds into green projects and research into renewable energy sources.

“However, the biggest renewables stimulus package of them all can come at the U.N. climate convention meeting in Copenhagen in just over 180 days time,” said Steiner, referring to the U.N.-hosted climate change conference in December.

“This is where governments need to seal the deal on a new climate agreement — one that can bring certainty to the carbon markets, one that can unleash transformative investments in lean and clean green tech,” he added.

The United States and China have led the field putting up some $67 billion each into sustainable energy. But more could be done, argued Michael Liebreich, chairman of New Energy Finance.

“There is a strong case for further measures, such as requiring state-supported banks to raise lending to the sector, providing capital gains tax exemptions on investments in clean technology, creating a framework for Green Bonds and so on, all targeted at getting investment flowing,” he said. ”What’s most important is that stimulus funds start flowing immediately, not in a year or so.”

Copyright 2009  AFP Global Edition

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Spaceport America is launched: Officials mark beginning of construction

Conquistadores face a new frontier. Modern-day adventures broke ground Friday at Upham, N.M., for Spaceport America, the first commercial spaceport to take people into outer space. Roberto Valdez, of Espanola, leads a group dressed as conquistadores who came with Don Juan de Onate to the new frontier of New Mexico in 1598. (Norm Dettlaff / Sun-News)

UPHAM, N.M. — Against the slate-blue backdrop of the San Andres Mountains, officials on Friday symbolically marked the start of construction on Spaceport America and launched a new era of adventure for mankind: commercial space travel.

Spaceport officials have said they expect the $200 million project to wrap up in 18 to 24 months, and an official with the space flight company Virgin Galactic said it could send the first tourists into space in two years, depending on how quickly technology develops.

Gov. Bill Richardson said the spaceport is possible because of investments on the part of the state and Virgin Galactic, which is putting about $250 million into creating the spacecraft that will be used.

“We took a risk, we gambled and we won,” he said.

Some people expressed disappointment that a planned flyover by WhiteKnightTwo — the carrier vehicle for Virgin Galactic’s spaceship — didn’t take place. It was en route to New Mexico from its California base when pilots decided to land it in Phoenix because of a technical concern.

But spaceport officials announced that the plane would fly over the Las Cruces International Airport at 9:30 a.m. today. The public can attend.

Speakers said the project would be not only a platform to launch tourists into space, but also an avenue for developing new technologies and science that will benefit humanity.

Spaceport Authority Executive Director Steve Landeene said the possibilities include space-based telecommunications and solar power.

“This is reality, and it will happen,” he said. “The people who say it can’t happen — that’s the wrong type of attitude.”

The spaceport, situated southeast of Truth or Consequences, will feature a runway, terminal, hangars and supporting infrastructure.

The groundbreaking began with 10 members of the group Sociedad de la Entrada, which re-enacts events from New Mexican history, marching through the desert in Spanish conquistador costumes. After speeches by officials, a road-grader ceremonially cleared the first patch of dirt. Then Richardson scooped a miniature shovel of dirt and placed it in a model rocket, which was launched into the sky.

The people attending were enthusiastic and snapped photographs.

Jerry Johnson of Alamogordo said those photographs would be important someday, after the spaceport is established.

“If you got tape of what things looked like today, 10 years from now, people won’t believe it looked like that,” he said.

But support wasn’t entirely unanimous.

Roberto Valdez of Española, a member of Sociedad de la Entrada, said he has doubts about the project, mostly because he believes other industries that have been established in New Mexico — he cited the movie industry, the nuclear industry and the national laboratories — have exploited the state’s resources and brought little benefit to native residents.

“I remain skeptical about the spaceport,” he said. “As the saying goes: ‘Behind every spearhead, there’s a shaft.’ Behind every endeavor, somebody gets the short end of the stick.”

Spaceport officials estimated about 460 people attended the groundbreaking. They were shuttled in from Truth or Consequences and Las Cruces in tour buses.

Diana M. Alba can be reached at dalba@lcsun-news.com; 575- 541-5443

By the numbers
# $200 million — cost of building Spaceport America.
# 18 to 24 months — expected length of time to construct the project.
# 10,000 feet — length of the runway to be built at the spaceport.
Source: New Mexico Spaceport Authority

LEONARD PELTIER PAROLE HEARING SET JULY 28, 2009

Leonard Peltier’s first full parole hearing was held in 1993, at which time his case was continued for a 15-year reconsideration. Mr. Peltier has recently applied for and been granted a parole hearing. The hearing is scheduled for July 28, 2009. All supporters are encouraged to step up their efforts in support of parole for Leonard Peltier.

Below is our suggested letter for you to send. It is critical that everyone write – no matter where you are in the world. Please invite others you know to write letters as well.

Thank you. Your voice has never been more important for Leonard than now. He needs you – your heart, your writing…

Pray or whatever your practice with the Creator is – for Leonard and freedom….the time has come, for our action, and his freedom.

The Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee
————————————————————————————————————————-
United States Parole Commission
5550 Friendship Blvd., Ste. 420
Chevy Chase, MD 20815-7286

(Insert Date)

Re: LEONARD PELTIER #89637-132

Dear Commissioners,

I am writing in behalf of support for Parole for Leonard Peltier. While I am aware of the seriousness of the conviction, I am also aware that people have the ability to go forward out of the past and give to the larger society. I believe that is the case with Leonard Peltier.

I ask you to consider the humanitarian work he has done during his 33 years of incarceration. More than most people can ever do who are not locked up.

I ask you to consider his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize for the 6th straight year. There are those who make light of this, but who else among us have had that honor.

He consistently donates his art work for charities such as battered women’s shelters, halfway houses, alcohol and drug treatment programs, and Native American scholarship funds.

Mr. Peltier has won several awards including the North Star Frederick Douglas Award; Federation of Labor (Ontario, Canada) Humanist of the Year Award; Human Rights Commission of Spain International Human Rights Prize; and 2004 Silver Arrow Award for Lifetime Achievement.

He has expressed sadness for the tragedy that occurred that day at Oglala and pain for the families of the two agents and the Indian man that died that day.

Thirty-three years is a long time. I ask you to look with empathy upon a 64 year-old man who, over the 33 years, has done so much good while in prison, and I think has the ability to do even more good for the community if he were to be allowed parole.

While I know of the misconduct by government officials in his case, I will not bring details up because I am certain that you are aware of the misconduct, and will consider that as you have the discretion to rule above or below the guidelines. I would hope that you will exercise that discretion in favor of Leonard Peltier. It seems to me it would be a gross miscarriage of justice if he were left to die in prison.

Please grant parole.

Respectfully,

Your Name

“Rez Bomb” A Native American Tragedy NEW RELEASE

Rez Bomb Starring Tamara Feldman, Trent Ford, Russell Means and Chris Robinson from Scottish director Steven Lewis Simpson and set on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (the poorest place in the US)

“gripping and disturbing — twist on Romeo and Juliet with a dash of Tarantino”

“this edgy and explosive film rocks as a nail-biter” The Times Colonist

REZ BOMB TO PLAY BILLY MILLS HALL ON PINE RIDGE MONDAY THE 29TH JUNE
We are planning on screening Rez Bomb at Billy Mills hall in Pine Ridge
village on Monday the 29th on the big screen.

The main screening is at 8pm but we may do additional screenings at 2.30pm
and 5.00pm. Tickets are $4.

DVD’s shall also be on sale at the event and shall be discounted by $2 for
those holding a ticket for a screening. They can also be purchased at
www.rezbomb.com

Foundation gives $1.6M for volunteer plan

updated 10:44 a.m. MT, Tues., June 23, 2009 //

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. – The W.K. Kellogg Foundation says it’s giving $1.6 million to support activities in President Barack Obama’s nationwide service initiative United We Serve.

The Battle Creek-based foundation said Monday it’s donating $400,000 each to activities in the states of Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and the city of New Orleans.

The foundation says it will “directly fund grass roots nonprofit organizations and state service commissions to enable them to ramp-up volunteer activities” to back United We Serve. It says it’s now identifying those groups.

Obama is urging people to aid the nation’s economic recovery by volunteering at schools and hospitals and aiding community programs ranging from tutoring to park cleanup.

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High Court Rules Against Clean Water Protections, But Hope is Not Lost

High Court Rules Against Clean Water Protections,
But Hope is Not Lost

On June 22, the Supreme Court ruled that the Clean Water Act allows a mining company to pump hundreds of thousands of gallons per day of toxic waste slurry into a pristine lake in Alaska. Over the next decade, 4.5 million tons of solid waste will be dumped into Lower Slate Lake, killing nearly all the aquatic life and essentially burying the entire lake.

This misguided ruling has implications for clean water all over the country, potentially opening the floodgates to allow more pollution into other lakes, rivers and streams nationwide.

But hope is not lost. Despite the Supreme Court’s decision, there is much that can still be done by officials of President Obama’s administration to protect our waters. We’re going to continue to fight in the courts and in Congress for stronger clean water protections, but you can tell these officials right now that they can act immediately to protect clean water and assert his commitment to a cleaner, healthier environment.

Ask Obama administration officials Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator, and Nancy Sutley, Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), to immediately rescind the memo written by the Bush administration in 2004 that allowed waste to be dumped directly into lakes, streams and rivers without meeting strict EPA pollution standards. Also, ask them to initiate a process to undo a 2002 rule that redefined industrial waste as “fill,” and paved the way for this “fill” to be dumped into our waters.

With swift action, President Obama’s administration can guarantee clean water protections and ensure a cleaner, safer and healthier environment. Let these officials know that clean water is important to you and your community!

HP, Lenovo and Dell penalized for breaking their green IT promises

We’re giving HP, Lenovo and Dell–the world’s biggest PC makers–a penalty point in our updated scorecard for backtracking on their commitments to eliminate PVC plastic and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) from their products by the end of 2009.

Staff at HP’s Dutch headquarters were greeted on arrival by Greenpeace activists confronting them with pictures of the pollution HP’s toxic products cause in Asia and Africa. The PC giant has already received a public reminder of the need to reprioritize toxic chemical phase out, when activists returned “toxic laptops” to the company’s Chinese headquarters on July 1.

Hold them to their word

We will keep up the pressure on HP and other companies who fail to live up to their voluntary commitments.

There are no excuses for backtracking, and no reason for these companies not to have PCs free of PVC and BFRs. PVC contaminates humans and the environment throughout its lifecycle; during its production, use, and disposal it is the single most environmentally damaging of all plastics, and can form dioxin, a known carcinogen, when burned. BFRs are highly resistant to degradation in the environment and are able to bio-accumulate (build up in animals and humans) and can be released from products during use, leading to their presence in household dust and resulting in increased human exposure.

In 14th place HP continues to lag behind other PC brands in the ranking, having postponed its 2007 commitment to phase out PVC and BFRs from its computer products (excluding its server and printer lines) from 2009 to 2011. Unlike Dell and Lenovo, however, HP is not even putting PVC- and BFR-reduced products on the market.

Nokia remains top with 7.4 out of 10, and Samsung (2nd) and Sony Ericsson (3rd) catching up with 7.1 and 6.5 points respectively. LGE, Toshiba and Motorola move up the ranking to take 4th, 5th and 6th place. Sony drops down from 5th to 12th position, as it has not kept pace with progress made by other companies, especially on e-waste recycling performance. At the bottom Lenovo also drops down due to further weakening of its commitment on toxic chemicals phase-out.

Apple makes BFR-free and (almost) PVC-free computers

Apple’s new computer lines, virtually free of PVC and completely BFR-free, demonstrate the technical feasibility and supply-chain readiness of producing alternatives to these hazardous substances. Dell, Lenovo and Acer have also stayed ahead of HP, putting models on the market that are free, or at least significantly reduced in their use, of PVC and BFRs. Dell recently engaged in a public spat with Apple over Apple’s claims to have the greenest family of notebooks.

It’s ridiculous that some companies, such as Dell, are busy challenging Apple’s advertising claims when Apple is clearly leading its competitors on toxics phase out. All PC companies should be concentrating on matching or beating Apple’s lead on this important issue.

There’s no excuse now

We’re calling on companies to eliminate BFRs and PVC from their product range. These substances are harmful throughout the entire lifecycle of a product; phase-out reduces pollution during the production and disposal of electronics and makes products capable of being recycled in a responsible manner.

It’s technically feasible, and consumers want it too, but above all the electronics industry needs to clean up urgently as a matter of principle. Their e-waste is poisoning the poor.

Download the report

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Leonard Peltier JULY 2 UPDATE

Greetings friends,
We need to keep up our efforts in this critical period before the parole hearing! A couple of thoughts:

Certainly if you are able, we hope that you will join Leonard Peltier supporters at Lewisburg on July 28th! How amazing for Leonard to know that during his meeting with the board, many of you will be outside the prison in solidarity with our brother.

If you cannot go to Lewisburg – organize an event in your area – a vigil to be in solidarity with those in Lewisburg. We would love to see rallies going on from mid July on thru the 28th. July 18th is a Saturday – might be ideal.

BUT FIRST – Please contact the LP DOC just in case there is something already organized in your area from one of the support groups – they are an incredible voice for Leonard. Ask for Ben or Wanbli and they will be able to put you in touch with a support group in your area. www.whoisleonardpeltier.in

fo or call 701 235 2206.

For our supporters outside the United States: gatherings at U.S. embassy sites would be powerful. We would like these to occur mid-July -July 18th is a Saturday so might be good for people because of work etc. Please let me know details by July 20th, so we can let our legal team know this information well ahead of the hearing: where, how many people attended, and a light overview of what happened. (July 20 deadline)

And if for some reason you just can’t…hold a good thought for our brother that day. Keep the energy flowing for freedom. July 28th is World Day of Prayer for Leonard – join us in whatever your practice is that day – keep all the thoughts flowing to him that day…thank you. Hold a sign on a corner in support, gather with friends at a coffee house with a sign for Leonard, whatever you can – and know there will be millions of people around the world doing exactly the same all day on the 28th…Invite people to join us…now is the time for freedom!

Know that you are all very important and every thought is an action, every letter important, every message valued by all of us – but most of all Leonard. Thank you. Peace… Billie

Message from Leonard

Greetings my friends and relatives,

I want to start off this statement or speech or whatever you want to call it by saying again as I’ve said before thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting me and for standing up for right wherever you are. I can’t express to you in words how extremely grateful I am not just to the people of America but to the people all over the world who have supported the cause of Indian people and myself.

I know a lot of you have given up a lot to help so many in my predicament. Daily I am made aware of political prisoners around the world. Many who have been killed or tortured or who knows what for trying to right the wrongs in their area, country or nation. I have been asked to make statements in support of other movement people around the world from time to time, South America, Europe and other places. People who love freedom, people who love the earth, people who love their family, people who love the freedom to make their own choice with their own resources, and all indigenous people- we share a common bond. The bond of brother and sister hood, the bond of believing there is a greater power than ourselves. And I don’t mean some government power; I mean the greatest power in all the universe the Creator Himself.

We also as human beings upon this earth have to recognize that there have always been those who suffer from an illness called greed. They have an appetite for gaining material wealth that is never satisfied. They have an appetite for land that is never satisfied. And the most common symptom of their illness is indifference to the suffering they cause with their quest. These people are the ones that have identified themselves as our common enemy. It is so terrible that under the guise of religion and shouting freedom they pit one people against another. This isn’t something new. All down through history it has taken place. All down through history there have been men, spiritual men, holy men, great thinkers and philosophers who have tried to unite us against this common enemy.

Today my brothers and sisters I want you to know that if nothing else if we don’t unite against the destruction against the Mother Earth we will have a common future that is void of clean air, clean water, and basic freedoms. We must reach our hands out to embrace others to the cause of life. We must do our best from where ever we are with whatever tools available to enhance and further our quality of life. We must find a way to break down the barriers that divide one people from another. We must find the things we have in common and find ways to solve our differences as basic humanity. We must evolve to a higher level of thinking or to as you might say a traditional level of thinking which obviously is superior to what they call progress today. Our traditional values taught us to live in harmony with Earth the greatest manifestation of the Creator that we have to relate to. Our
traditions taught us to respect our bodies the greatest gift we have or possess as an individual. Our traditions taught us to preserve the environment for our children and all our future generations. As a member of the American Indian Movement these values are what we were about. Poverty isn’t solved by money poverty is solved by attitude. The problems we have today among all our people are caused by attitude. They are caused by an attitude that was given to us in boarding schools and on reservations that were nothing more than concentration camps in the past. They are attitudes by people who came to us talking to us about God and wanting us to embrace their version of religion and as one brother said once, “They told us to bow our heads, and when we looked up our land was gone, our culture was gone, our children was gone, our way of life was gone.” And now the air itself is
dwindling.

I have been in this cage for some 34 years and though I have been caged I have sought the spirit in prayer of our brother the eagle, I have sought to have an overview of things for as anyone can see I don’t have the freedom to examine life from a close perspective. And from this distant view, abstract view, this detached view, at times I get to see the destruction and divisiveness that these political powers that have scattered us for so long have involved themselves in promoting among our people. I don’t know if it is because I am older now or because my future is so uncertain or if through some spiritual inspiration I deeply want to say so much. I deeply want to move you to do something to save our earth and our children and our children’s future. I didn’t get to raise my children; I haven’t got to really know them or my children’s children. I may never get to, but I
love them all just the same. And I love life as much as anyone on the outside. And I don’t know how long I will walk this cage. Some days I feel quite healthy and energized and some days I feel like the 64 year old man that I am. I’m always hopeful that I will be free at some point, perhaps in the latter part of July after my parole hearing, and perhaps I won’t. The people that hold me, the FBI and the conglomerate corporations that have for so long controlled the resources of this country and others and for so long have done their best to stifle, to denigrate, and to vilify the voice of the oppressed are some of the most formidable well funded political people on Earth. I was told that the FBI themselves are some 10,000 strong.

I am but a common man, I am not a speaker but I have spoken. I am not all that tall but I have stood up. I am not a philosopher or poet or a singer or any of those things that particularly inspire people but the one thing that I am is the evidence that this country lied when they said there was justice for all. I am the evidence that they lied when they extradited me from Canada. I am the evidence that they can lie at your trial, they can manufacture evidence at your trial, they can intimidate witnesses at your trial, they can have back room conversations and agreements with the judge at your trial. I am the evidence that the attitude, the powers that be still hold us in a grip. They hold us in an emotional grip. They hold us in a poverty grip. They hold us in a cultural deprivation grip. I could go on and on about the things that go on that weigh so heavily against our people but
the bottom line is my case is well documented by court after court after court, by hearing after hearing after hearing, by statement after statement after statement. And we as a people are the evidence that this country fails to keep its treaties, this country fails to keep its word. This country has failed to follow its own Constitution – the treaty between the people and the government. We are that evidence. I am nothing more than evidence. That is why people all over the world and here at home have supported the cause of justice in my case. In my particular situation I can’t say that there will ever be any level of justice.

They cannot give back the 34 years of life that have been taken from me. They can not give back the life of Joe Stuntz that they took June 26th 1975. They cannot give back the lives of the 60 something people that they directly or indirectly caused the death of. They cannot give back the thousand upon thousands of Indian people that were killed and abused since the inception of this government. But the one thing we can do, we must do, is find a way to change their attitude. My brother Leonard Crow Dog once said, “If you want to change the white man you have to change his religion.” And religion is a word that means how you do something on a regular basis; most generally it is associated with your spirituality. Perhaps with global warming as it is and the changes in the weather patterns and the questionable future that faces the earth, they will start to listen. Maybe they will
reach back and embrace the words of our people foretold again and again. We must live the way that the Earth will renew itself every spring. We must help them reach back. We must speak to them at every opportunity. We must make an effort to reach back ourselves to our own cultural values. And in doing so we can start to solve the many destructive challenges we face. We must more than ever before find a way to heal the wounds of our children and prevent the social illnesses that are so prevalent across our reservations and communities. We have the tools, we have the teachings, we have the philosophies, we have the culture, we have the artists, we have the singers, we have the philosophers, I could go on and on but in essence what I am trying to say is it is imperative that we bring together all our resources to enhance the future for our children in a way that they themselves can
further the healthy teachings of our culture and way of life; and in doing so I have no doubt that we can change the world.

If I am freed next month or if I die in prison remember my words and remember we are evidence that the Creator made a beautiful people a people that respected the Earth and nature and each other. We are evidence on every level of goodness that when the Creator made us He meant for us to be free. All our traditions have taught us this way. And even this very form of government that exists today was copied from our people. Our people with our foods, our medicines, belief in freedom and right to choose have influenced the world. Its too bad they didn’t adopt a healthy attitude that we had toward the Earth or an attitude of respect for us the first keepers of this portion of the Earth. If there is something about me that this government can point at and say is wrong or any person say is wrong I will by my own choice, if it proves to be fact, seek to fix it myself. But I also want to
remind them the policies that have been in place for so long have made us what we are today. The policies that have been in place for so long, have created another reservation called Iraq and another reservation called Afghanistan, and the list goes on and on, you see what’s happening over there is what happened here and all down through North and South America.

I am just a common man and I am evidence that the powers that put me here would like to sweep under the carpet. The same way they did all of our past leaders, warriors and people they massacred. Just as at Wounded Knee the Fifth Cavalry sought its revenge for Custer’s loss and massacred some 300 Indian men women and children then gave out 23 Medals of Honor and swept the evidence of their wrongdoing aside. Perhaps this statement is somewhat more lengthy than the others I’ve made; perhaps it is some things I should have said before and perhaps more, if so I hope you will forgive me. I recently was thought to be having a heart attack because of pain in my chest. After having been beaten and kicked and stomped in the last year, I am not quite sure what was causing the pain. I had never been beaten, kicked and stomped like that before. And also I have never been 64 years old
before. The one thing all this did for me is it really brought home my sense of mortality. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in this prison. And I don’t want you to spend the rest of your life in some prison of the mind, heart or attitude. I want you to enjoy your life.

If nothing else give somebody a hug for me and say, “This is from Leonard.”
In the Spirit of Crazy Horse

Leonard Peltier

UPDATE JUNE 23, 2009

We have learned that Leonard has passed his treadmill test and his heart appears to be all right. We thank you for your efforts to secure health care for our brother.

LP DOC Board & Advisors

JUNE 19, 2009 – Legal has informed us the PAROLE HEARING has been moved to the next day – JULY 28th.
*********************************************

HOTEL TO GIVE SPECIAL RATE TO PEOPLE ATTENDING PAROLE HEARING VIGIL AT LEWISBURG

Days Inn will give a discount to any one if they say they are there for the Peltier parole Hearing Vigil.They are 1 mile from the prison – phone number is 570.523.1171.

PAROLE HEARING LETTER TEMPLATE

United States Parole Commission

5550 Friendship Blvd., Ste. 420

Chevy Chase, MD 20815-7286

(Insert Date)

Re: LEONARD PELTIER #89637-132

Dear Commissioners,

I am writing in behalf of support for Parole for Leonard Peltier . While I am aware of the seriousness of the conviction I am also aware that people have the ability to go forward out of the past and give to the larger society. I believe that is the case with Leonard Peltier.

I ask you to consider the humanitarian work he has done during his 33 years of incarceration. More than most people can ever do who are not locked up.

I ask you to consider his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize for the 6th straight year. There are those who make light of this but who else among us have had that honor.

He consistently donates his art work for charities such as battered women’s shelters, half way houses, alcohol and drug treatment programs, and Native American scholarship funds.

Mr. Peltier has won several awards including the North Star Frederick Douglas Award; Federation of Labor (Ontario, Canada) Humanist of the Year Award; Human Rights Commission of Spain International Human Rights Prize; and 2004 Silver Arrow Award for Lifetime Achievement.

He has expressed sadness for the tragedy that occurred that day at Oglala and pain for the families of the two agents and the Indian man that died that day.

Thirty-three years is a long time. I ask you to look with empathy upon a 64 year old man who over the 33 years has done so much good while in prison, and I think has the ability to do even more good for the community if he were to be allowed parole.

While I know of the misconduct by government officials in his case, I will not bring details up because I am certain that you are aware of the misconduct, and will consider that as you have the discretion to rule above or below the guidelines. I would hope that you will exercise that discretion in favor of Leonard Peltier. It seems to me it would be a gross miscarriage of justice if he were left to die in prison.

Please grant parole.

Respectfully

Your name

**********************************************

UPDATE JUNE 10, 2009
DC RALLY
This group is asking for Leonard’s release as their 2nd demand. Please check out the web site about baking bread in our nation’s capital – The Change We Knead Now.

http://www.washingtonpeacecenter.net/node/1735

FUNDING APPEAL

Dear Friends,
Often I am asked the simple question – ‘how’s Leonard?’

On any given day the answer can be much the same – he’s in good spirits, thankful for the many brothers and sisters of all nations who care about him. He shares with us about his latest painting, or the latest letter he has received that so often gives his heart joy.

But then, there is the answer between the lines. He rarely talks about it, but we only have to explore beneath his courageous exterior to know his heart – a heart that longs for freedom. A heart that longs to feel the sunlight on his skin, the wind against his back. To hear a bird sing or walk along the plains. To be home…

We are in a time that is unparalleled for his case. We have a new president who has studied Leonard’s case in law school; a president who has already exhibited that he is not afraid to make decisions which some might deem politically risky. And we now have the date set for the parole hearing. Perhaps this really is a season of change.

The work of the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee is vast. Our staff and board work closely with the legal team. We are committed to raising awareness about Leonard’s case and the true facts. The LP-DOC wishes to share the beautiful message of Leonard’s art work, which stands as a testimony to what one can do under the most adverse of circumstances. Most of all, we do all we can at the many advocacy levels to support our brother, our friend and bring him home.

Today’s economic reality has also had an impact on our work. We are watching all expenditures, cutting travel and even some support to staff. As we live into these difficult times, we are determined to rise to a new level of efficient, proactive advocacy to secure freedom for Leonard Peltier. We can only accomplish our many goals with you as a partner, walking this journey with us.

Please, if you are able, sit down and write out a check to the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee today, or establish a monthly automatic withdrawl from your bank account to the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee. Help us to affect profound and lasting change – freedom! Thank you. Please help in any way you can.

In the Spirit of Crazy Horse,
Billie K. Fidlin

Chair, Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee

LP-DOC
PO Box 7488, Fargo, ND 58106
Phone: 701/235-2206

Fax: 701/235-5045

E-mail: contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info

**********************************************
Check out YouTube Videos – there are 3 total – entitled:
Free Leonard Peltier Rally Feb 6th, 2009 Boulder, CO pt.1 of 3 – then search out for parts 2 & 3.

ACTION ITEM POSTED TO GROUP 03.21.09
Elected members of Congress will return to their home states for Spring Recess April 4 – 19th. After April, next break will likely occur at the end of June, but check your local reps’ offices for dates. Now is the time to schedule a meeting to talk with your state senator or congressperson about Leonard’s case. We have an opportunity to ask our representatives to take a position on Leonard’s release. This is the time!

Seize the opportunity to educate the many new ‘freshman’ members of Congress who may not know the specifics of the case or even about Leonard Peltier. Meet with those who are sitting on the fence. Others who are long time supporters need to be asked to become Leonard’s champions in this important year. You might want to frame your request for a meeting with a phrase similar to “How may we work together to seek justice for Native Americans? How may I help you in your role as a leader?”

The ASK – Have your representative write a personal letter to President Obama urging the immediate release of Leonard Peltier.

Talking points:

1. Leonard’s served over 33 years in prison.
2. The government has conceded that it does not who shot the two agents.
3. The government is still fighting vigorously to prevent the release of thousands and thousands of pages of documents under FOIA–documents that should have been turned over to defense attorneys years ago.
4. Leonard will turn 65 on September 12th and he is not in the best of health.
5. Leonard was brutally attacked on January 13, 2009 by two other inmates and prison officials did nothing to prevent the attack from happening.

ACTION ITEM POSTED TO GROUP 03.18.09
Hold an awareness event on June 26th, or contact your local LP DOC Support Group to see about the event they will have – please let me know what you’re doing – worldwide – large event or small – up to you! Awareness of LP’s case will mean everything this year…

————————–————————–——————

NOTE TO GROUP MEMBERS – If you wish the ability to have indepth conversation regarding the Peltier case etc – please request me as a ‘friend’ so that we may work within the guidelines of Facebook. Thank you.

MEDIA RECOMMENDATIONS: Books: In the Spirit of Crazy Horse – by Peter Matthiessen & Prison Writings by Leonard Peltier. Very definitive. Also – the documentary Incident at Oglala. The DVD can be purchased on Amazon and likely other places. These 3 are necessary sources of information…let us know if you need any help.

UPDATE: On January 30th, word was received that Leonard has been transferred back to Lewisburg for his safety. This is an amazing turn of events. The move is tempoary and our work must continue to ensure both his safety and a move to an institution that is reasonable and just.

In early January 2009, American Indian prisoner, many say ‘political prisoner’ Leonard Peltier, was transferred from the federal penitentiary at Lewisburg, PA to the penitentiary at Canaan, PA. The next morning, the 64 year old Nobel Prize nominee was attacked by fellow inmates, also Native American. Bruised, bleeding and injured, Peltier has no definitive recall as to why he was assaulted.

Leonard Peltier was convicted in the seventies of the murder of 2 FBI agents during the firestorm of bullets, at Oglala, on the Pine Ridge Reservation – native soil, not U.S. soil. He was tried after the government failed to convict two other individuals. A Native American died in the gunfire as well that day. No one has ever been arrested or tried in that death.

No evidence exists to conclusively state Peltier is guilty. Mr. Peltier has now been in prison for over 33 years.

The gaping lapse in credible evidence, the only ‘witness’ discredited by her own admission, and a non-ballistic match are just some of the details that have surfaced over the years which discredit Leonard Peltier’s conviction. To the layperson seemingly any of these details would set Peltier free. Of course it would be helpful if any of these details could be given full audience to a parole board, clemency hearing or president considering pardon. This has not happened. It remains to be seen in his upcoming parole hearing if any new evidence will be allowed.

Leonard’s Peltier’s Health Alert / URGENT

From Kari Ann Cowan – Leonard’s niece (my comments follow):

I received a disturbing call from Leonard today. He is now having blood in his urine and he desperately needs to have an oncologist examine him. A general practitioner operating in the prison system is not sufficient; he needs to be seen by a specialist.

Your support with letters and phone calls to the proper officials is greatly needed at this time. The urgency is due to his previous scare of cancer. Only a specialist can determine the state of his health. According to his medical he is supposed to receive an exam every three months, but according to Leonard he has only been seen once a year. How can this be?

As everyone knows one examination can give you warning, anyone who has had a prognosis or scare with prostate cancer, you need to see an oncologist and be examined regularly. He has never received proper medical attentions for his medical problems, unless this problem is addressed by his supporters he will not get this matter taken care of. As we found when he did not have his diabetic supplies last year, until the outcry was so great. Then they could not deny him.

Please ask the warden at Lewisburg Prison to give Leonard Peltier the proper medical attention he has the right to.

Warden Bledsoe ~ Warden for Lewisburg Prison
The prison number is: (570) 523-1251 Fax: 570-522-7745 E-mail address: LEW/EXECASSISTANT@BOP.GOV Lets get him the treatment he deserves.

Kari Ann Assistant CoordinatorLeonard Peltier Defense Offense Committeecontact@whoisleon

ardpeltier.info

From Billie – I spoke with Leonard late this afternoon – he had still not seen any medical personnel. He was experiencing some discomfort at that time. Blood in urine is a warning sign that should never be ignored – even if it happens only once it is a sign of some kind of issue. Kari Ann is correct – he needs to see a physician and soon, and he needs to have a PSA test. I have called the prison already, and calmly spoke with 2 individuals. With your help we will get him medical care – thank you…

Natives create human aerial message

Natives create human aerial message

By ELECTRICBRAVE

Wed, Jul 08 2009 at 1:15 AM EST

Photo courtesy Lou Dematteis/Spectral Q/Redux

Arctic Native peoples gather on the tundra in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge near Arctic Village, Alaska, calling for permanent protection of the refuge and urgent action on climate change May 30. The human banner reads “Save the Arctic” with an image of a caribou in the center.

Groups call for permanent protection of Arctic refuge and urgent action to address climate change

By Staff reports

Story Published: Jun 8, 2009

Story Updated: Jun 19, 2009

ARCTIC VILLAGE, Alaska – The Gwich’in Steering Committee and representatives of communities of Alaska Native peoples from across the region laid their bodies on the tundra May 30 to form a giant “Message from the North” to the world, and especially to leaders at the Bonn Climate negotiations, which started June 1. The human aerial image, created with aerial artist John Quigley spelled out “SAVE THE ARCTIC” and featured people arranged into the shape of a caribou on the Arctic Village landscape.

The message was a call for permanent protection of the Arctic Refuge and urgent action to address climate change. Gathering in their homeland, in what is arguably one of the most central and charismatic landscapes in the climate change debate, the Gwich’in and their allies challenged leaders to follow science and not politics, and to push for strong carbon emissions targets.

The event was part of a weekend long “Celebration of Land and Life,” marking 20 years of holding a line in the sand, protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil drilling. Ironically though, the threat of rising temperatures and a global climate crisis has become another critical threat to the region, and though no drilling has occurred there, the area is seeing some of the most extreme impacts of climate change and global warming.

“The people of the north are among the first to be experiencing the devastation of climate change,” said Sarah James, spokeswoman for the Gwich’in Nation. “We are calling for permanent protection of the Arctic Refuge and to immediately address the impacts of climate change.”

Artist John Quigley created the aerial image in collaboration with the Gwich’in Steering Committee and 350 as part of the launch of the global “tck tck tck” campaign, and Human Voices Now Campaign.

“We must act to support the Gwich’in so that they don’t end up the human rights casualties of climate change,” Quigley said. “The Arctic Refuge and the people and animals who live here are the canaries in the coal mine of the climate crisis and it is critical that we act quickly to stem overall emissions worldwide to address the impacts of climate change and rising temperatures in their region. This is a call for people around the world to join in a visual declaration to urge leaders to immediately adopt a treaty that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and stabilizes the climate at a carbon dioxide level of 350 ppm (parts per million), and to help the Alaska Native peoples to protect their livelihoods, their way of life and the lands they call home.”

Plans are underway to deliver this “Message from the North” to the world leaders gathering in Bonn for a round of preparatory talks in the lead up to the heavily anticipated UN Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen in December.

The Gwich’in have joined in an unprecedented partnership with the “tck tck tck” campaign, which brings together an unprecedented alliance of faith groups, NGOs, trade unions and individuals at this crucial time to call for a new international treaty that will save the planet from the dangerous effects caused by climate change.

As world leaders prepare to strike a climate deal in Copenhagen in December, “tck tck tck” will harness the voices of the people to demand an ambitious, fair and binding new international agreement that reflects the latest science.

Background
Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has been a major debate over the last 20 years. The Arctic Refuge has been described as part of America’s last great wilderness. The coastal plain of the refuge contains the most biological diversity of the entire circumpolar north. Birds from all 50 states and six continents migrate there for nesting and staging.

This area is the last portion of the North Slope of Alaska that is currently unavailable to oil and gas development. Gwich’in experts and caribou biologists have concluded that allowing drilling in the Arctic Refuge coastal plain will detrimentally impact the porcupine caribou herd. The caribou instinctually migrate up to 3,000 miles to the coastal plain safe from the predators in the foothills of the Brooks Range, where they can graze on highly nutritional vegetation and the ocean provides vital insect relief.

Protecting the calving and nursery grounds is a human rights issue for the people of the Gwich’in Nation, a right guaranteed by the International Covenant on Human Rights that states, “In no case may a people be deprived of their own means of subsistence.”

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Video: Michael Jackson’s eco-swan song

MIchael Jackson’s close friend, Deepak Chopra, talks about a song he was cowriting with the King of Pop before he died, one that Jackson called his most important contribution to the environment.

Tue, Jun 30 2009 at 11:30 AM EST

Read more: CELEBS, VIDEO

Also on MNN:

• Black or white (or green)?: Michael Jackson’s eccentric housekeeping habits.

• Green believer: Jackson was eco-friendly long before it was cool.

• Revisiting Neverland: The sad state of a once over-the-top estate.

The part about Michael Jackson’s final song — one about the environment — starts at the 3:15-minute mark:

Watch interview

Archbishop Desmond Tutu supports Leonard Peltier

08 July 2009

Dear Parole Commission

RE: LEONARD PELTIER

I am contacting you to express my views and support of Leonard Peltier and his upcoming review for parole. I feel that based upon the morals, integrity, and support of humanitarianism of the United Sates, the matter of Leonard Peltier’s parole and release are of paramount significance.

I feel that it is relevant point out that Leonard Peltier has been incarcerated for thirty-three years based upon what your own courts have admitted was fabricated evidence, both withheld, and then later discovered to be tampered with and questionable. These very courts have admitted that Leonard Peltier did not commit the murders of FBI agents at Pine Ridge Reservation in 1976. It is clear Leonard Peltier was upon the peoples at Pine Ridge during that time.

Because of these facts, I feel that the system has failed and continued incarceration of Leonard Peltier is a sad commentary on the US government and the humanitarian values America profess to have.

I express a deep hope that your commission will grant and release to Leonard Peltier. Thank you for your time.

God Bless you.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

VIGIL OF SOLIDARITY

VIGIL OF SOLIDARITY

BEING HELD THE DAY OF HIS PAROLE HEARING!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 7 AM-7:30 AM EST
Corner of Route 15 & William Penn Road, Lewisburg PA
By the entrance of the Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary

~The Parole Commissioners will see the support for Leonard as they enter the prison~

<><><><><><><><><><><><><>

<><><><><><><><><>
AIM WESTIn conjunction with VIGIL OF SOLIDARITY,

American Indian Movement (AIM) – West will also host a
www.aimwest.info
Sunrise Ceremony & Rally at 6 AM – 3 PM PST
SAN FRANCISCO at the Federal Building, 450 Golden Gate Avenue

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Join us in solidarity, for Leonard, with his family, relations, friends & supporters from around the world! As we pray for open minds & the healing of America to begin! Keep checking the LP DOC web site for information regarding other gatherings if you are unable to attend one of these: www.whoisleonardpeltier.info

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The opinions expressed by MNN Bloggers and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not reflect the opinions of MNN.com. While we have reviewed their content to make sure it complies with our Terms and Conditions, MNN is not responsible for the accuracy of any of the information supplied by our bloggers.

Comments

JULY 16 UPDATE Leonard Peltier’s Parole

Friends,
I thought you might like to listen to the interview Wanbli did with Leonard’s attorney, Eric Seitz, who will be handling the parole hearing which is coming up on July 28th. The link is:

LISTEN

Within the interview, Eric highlights several action items we can be doing now, in these final days before the hearing:

1. Lay a good foundation to create favorable public opinion for Leonard to be paroled with everyone you know.

2. You can google archived editorials from the NY Times, Post and Boston Globe on granting Leonard parole. THEN – take these to your local newspaper, ask them to publish an editorial ASAP regarding granting parole. If you achieve this, please let us know, so we can let our legal team know.

3. Get your elected officials to weigh on on granting Leonard parole. Ask them to write a letter and fed ex to the LP DOC (address is on the www.whoisleonardpeltier.in

fo site). We will then get the letters to the attorney.

Obviously the time frame is critical. Thank you, thank you for your efforts. We are more optimistic, and with good reason, than we have been in 20 years. This is the first time Leonard has truly, absolutely qualified on all criteria for parole. We must be realistic, but there is reason to believe the climate for parole is more favorable now than in the past.

We are so grateful for your support. Leonard is more grateful that you can possibly know. We tell him your efforts – he hears the messages you send us. He knows the massive nature of support. Now, we must make the parole board know…with your help we will achieve that.

Peace,
LP DOC Leadership Team

Live @ Lewisburg 07/28/29

Free Leonard Peltier ON JULY 28th, 2009, it is time!

Wanbli will be broadcasting live from Lewisburg on the 28th – mid-day EST for several hours, likely starting around 11:00 am.

www.therealpublicradio.net

Also – check out wanbli on MySpace – again, his MySpace sites will have the latest information on Leonard, along with the LP DOC web site & Facebook. Wanbli, along with Ben Carnes, coordinates the support group efforts for the LP DOC, along with being a national spokesperson.

We do want to acknowledge and thank the many sites who link our information. This show of solidarity has been a source of great joy for Leonard…everyone – thank you!

6 more days left for Leonard Peltier

Today is July 22st…6 more days til the hearing on July 28th. Kari Ann Cowan, Leonard’s niece and LP DOC staffer asks that we call the White House comment line and advocate for parole for Leonard. Just leave a message stating you are in support of parole for Leonard Peltier.

202 456 1111

Regarding next week – I will be out of town, but I am assuming I will have access to a computer one way or another, and will update you, especially on the 28th, as I have information. If I cannot get internet access, and you do not hear from me, please check the LP DOC web site for updates at www.whoisleonardpeltier.in

fo. Always a good idea anyway, as the LP DOC web site usually has the latest information out first. Staff at the LP DOC talk with Leonard each and every day.

The time for freedom is now…I know many people are lighting candles, burning sage etc for Leonard. Thank you friends…Peace.

Thank you for your support. It is needed now more than ever. You all have been extraordinary and please know we, and especially Leonard, are filled with gratitude for all you have done for him.

Breathe…we are about to make history…
Billie & the LP DOC Leadership team

Leonard Peltier’s Parole Hearing Update

As attorney Eric Seitz has said regarding parole, the Peltier case is one of “original jurisdiction”. That classification is the result of a number of factors–including the seriousness of the “offense,” the fact that Mr. Peltier is serving life sentences, and also because this is such a high-profile case.

Procedurally, this means the examiner made a recommendation sometime following the hearing on July 28. The application for parole was then forwarded to the regional commissioner apparently, who also reviewed the case and made a recommendation (the same as a vote, in this instance). The case was then forwarded to the four sitting executive commissioners in Washington (or Chevy Chase, MD, right outside of DC). The parole decision will be made by majority vote.

According to parole guidelines:

“Upon receipt of an original jurisdiction case, the National Commissioners, where feasible, shall process the case within 21 days. Cases shall be voted on sequentially.”

It isn’t known when the National Commissioners received the Peltier application for parole or when the 21-day clock began running. Also, generally, reference by the government of “days” means business days, not calendar days.

It isn’t known how many parole applications were received prior to Peltier’s application or if a backlog exists at the U.S. Parole Commission.

It isn’t known if all four National Commissioners are available for the review and a vote at this time. It’s August and, traditionally, Washington pretty well closes down during the month of August. Members of Congress return to their home districts for the month and they and the President generally vacation during this period. Government bureaucrats often do the same.

Our point: There are many unknowns. But this is something we DO know. There is great potential here for there to be a delay — intentional or not — with regard to the parole decision. The words “where feasible,” tell us so.

That’s why everyone has to keep up the political pressure.

We know you’ve written letters, made calls, sent e-mails. First, thank you. Thank you very much for all you do on Leonard’s behalf.

But now you have to do it again. And again. And again. Please. Do it and keeping doing it until Leonard Peltier is home with his family.

Call the White House Comment Line: 202-456-1111 or 202-456-1112;

AND

Fax a letter to the White House: 202-456-2461;

AND

E-mail the White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/.

Take all three actions every single day.

And the message?

Mr. President. Free Peltier NOW!

Again, thank you.

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PAROLE HEARING LETTER TEMPLATE for Leonard Peltier

PAROLE HEARING LETTER TEMPLATE

United States Parole Commission

5550 Friendship Blvd., Ste. 420

Chevy Chase, MD 20815-7286

(Insert Date)

Re: LEONARD PELTIER #89637-132

Dear Commissioners,

I am writing in behalf of support for Parole for Leonard Peltier . While I am aware of the seriousness of the conviction I am also aware that people have the ability to go forward out of the past and give to the larger society. I believe that is the case with Leonard Peltier.

I ask you to consider the humanitarian work he has done during his 33 years of incarceration. More than most people can ever do who are not locked up.

I ask you to consider his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize for the 6th straight year. There are those who make light of this but who else among us have had that honor.

He consistently donates his art work for charities such as battered women’s shelters, half way houses, alcohol and drug treatment programs, and Native American scholarship funds.

Mr. Peltier has won several awards including the North Star Frederick Douglas Award; Federation of Labor (Ontario, Canada) Humanist of the Year Award; Human Rights Commission of Spain International Human Rights Prize; and 2004 Silver Arrow Award for Lifetime Achievement.

He has expressed sadness for the tragedy that occurred that day at Oglala and pain for the families of the two agents and the Indian man that died that day.

Thirty-three years is a long time. I ask you to look with empathy upon a 64 year old man who over the 33 years has done so much good while in prison, and I think has the ability to do even more good for the community if he were to be allowed parole.

While I know of the misconduct by government officials in his case, I will not bring details up because I am certain that you are aware of the misconduct, and will consider that as you have the discretion to rule above or below the guidelines. I would hope that you will exercise that discretion in favor of Leonard Peltier. It seems to me it would be a gross miscarriage of justice if he were left to die in prison.

Please grant parole.

Respectfully

Your name

**************************

********************

How Leonard Peltier Could Leave Prison by August 18

Harvey WassermanAuthor of SOLARTOPIA! Our Green-Powered Earth Posted: July 30, 2009 01:13 PM

For a formidable and growing global community of supporters, the prospect of Native American activist Leonard Peltier finally leaving prison inspires a longing that cuts to the depths of the soul.

So Peltier’s first parole hearing of the Obama Era — on Tuesday, July 28 — inspired hope of an intensity that will have a major impact on the new presidency. A decision must come from the Federal Parole Commission within three weeks. His attorney is calling for a surge of public support that would create an irresistible political climate for Leonard’s release.

The relationship between Peltier and those who have followed his case over the decades can be intensely personal. His imprisonment has come to stand not only for five centuries of unjust violence waged against Native Americans, but also for the inhumane theft of the life of a man who has handled his 33 years in jail with epic dignity, effectiveness and grace.

Peltier’s latest parole hearing convened at the federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where he is currently held. According to Eric Seitz, Peltier’s Honolulu-based attorney, Peltier spoke for more than an hour “with great eloquence” about the nature of his case, his imprisonment and his plans for freedom. “The hearing officer seemed to listen carefully,” said Seitz. “We thought it went very well.”

The decision on Peltier’s parole will be made by the four sitting members of the Federal Parole Commission whose offices are in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Commissioners Isaac Fulwood, Jr., Cranston Mitchell, Edward Reilly and Patricia Cushware are all Bush appointees. One seat is vacant; Fulwood was elevated to the Chairman’s seat in May by President Obama.

According to Seitz, the hearing was taped by an officer charged with reporting to the Commissioners within 48 hours. The Commissioners are required to render a decision within 21 days—by August 18. Should they rule in his favor, Peltier could walk out of prison very soon after the decision is issued.

Should the Commssioners turn down his parole application, Seitz says the appeal would go to the federal district court in Harrisburg. The report of the hearing would become available to Peltier and the public.

Seitz said he spoke to the record for about 20 minutes on the legalities of the case. He said Peter Mattheissen, author of In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, explained the history of the 1970s incidents that led to Peltier being accused of murdering two FBI agents. Crazy Horse is the definitive account of the origins of the case and of the climate of violence and repression imposed on the native community at the time of the killings. Seitz said Mattheissen emphasized “the many reasons to have misgivings about whether the system performed well and fairly in Leonard’s case.”

Mattheissen was joined by Dr. Thomas Fassett of the United Methodist Church, who testified, said Seitz, “to the negative impact of Peltier’s 33-year imprisonment on the world’s view of how the US government treats its native population. Leonard’s case is viewed in the larger community both nationally & internationally as a major embarrassment…as a gross injustice…a black mark.”

The testimony was accompanied by thousands of letters, with signees including South African Bishop Desmond Tutu, US Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), and actor Robert Redford, whose film Incident at Ogalala is the definitive documentary.

Cynthia Maleterre of the Turtle Island Clan then outlined how Peltier could meet the requirements of parole in his home community in North Dakota. Restored to his Chippewa-Dakota homeland, Maleterre explained that Peltier would have housing, a job and be surrounded by family, including great-grandchildren he has never seen.

Seitz said testimony opposing parole came from a representative of the FBI, sent by Director Robert Mueller, a holdover Bush appointee, and from the former director of the Minnesota Bureau. Two sons of Jack Coler, one of the FBI agents killed in the Ogalala shoot-out, also argued against Peltier being freed, as did a former agent named Ed Woods.

Seitz said that all those opposing parole argued Peltier should spend the rest of his days in prison, and did not deserve a new trial.

But Seitz was “guardedly optimistic” about a favorable decision from the Parole Commission. He said that a “good rapport” had been established with the hearing officer, and that the new chair of the commission is generally held “in high esteem.”

President Barack Obama does have the power to grant clemency, but Seitz said prisoners apply only when all other avenues have been exhausted. Usually, says Seitz, “presidential pardons do not come until the Chief Executive is leaving office.”

Seitz says letters to the Parole Commission and to local newspapers, calls to Congressional Representatives (202-224-3121), talk show hosts and other forms of public pressure are now of the utmost importance. The hope, he says, lies in creating a “public environment favorable to release.”

As Leonard Peltier approaches his 65th year—having spent half his life in prison—every day is now critical to lifting this burden from our collective souls.

For more information go to http://www.leonardpeltier.net.

Leonard Peltier Parole Denied

“BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley says imprisoned American Indian activist Leonard Peltier has once again been denied parole. Wrigley says the next scheduled hearing for Peltier is 2024, when Peltier would be 79 years old. Peltier is serving two life sentences for the execution-style deaths of FBI agents Jack Coler and Ronald Williams during a June 26, 1975, standoff on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He was convicted in Fargo, N.D., in 1977. He has claimed the FBI framed him, which the agency denies, and unsuccessfully appealed his conviction numerous times. Peltier had a full parole hearing for the first time in 15 years last month at the Lewisburg, Pa., federal prison where he is being held. Defense attorney Eric Seitz declined comment on the U.S. Parole Commission decision Friday, saying the Justice Department had not informed him. (Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 08-21-09 1247CDT |”

Leonard Peltier’s Case: Official word from LP DOC

The Bush Administration holdovers on the U.S. Parole Commission today adopted the position of the FBI that anyone who may be implicated in the killings of its agents should never be paroled and should be left to die in prison. Despite judicial determinations that the unrepentant FBI fabricated evidence and presented perjured testimony in Leonard Peltier’s prosecution; despite a jury’s acquittal on grounds of self-defense of two co-defendants who were found to have engaged in the same conduct of which Mr. Peltier was convicted; despite Mr. Peltier’s exemplary record during his incarceration for more than 33 years and his clearly demonstrated eligibility for parole; despite letters and petitions calling for his release submitted by millions of people in this country and around the world including one of the judges who ruled on his earlier appeals; and despite his advanced age and deteriorating health, the Parole Commission today informed Mr. Peltier that his “r elease on parole would depreciate the seriousness of your offenses and would promote disrespect for the law,” and set a reconsideration hearing in July 2024. This is the extreme action of the same law enforcement community that brought us the indefinite imprisonment of suspected teenage terrorists, tortures, and killings in CIA prisons around the world and promoted widespread disrespect for the democratic concepts of justice upon which this country supposedly was founded. These are the same institutions that have never treated indiginous peoples with dignity or respect or accepted any responsibility for centuries of intolerence and abuse. At his parole hearing on July 28th Leonard Peltier expressed regret and accepted responsibility for his role in the incident in which the two FBI agents and one Native American activist died as the result of a shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Mr. Peltier emphasized that the shootout occurred in circumstances where there literally was a war going on between corrupt tribal leaders, supported by the government, on the one hand, and Native American traditionalists and young activists on the other. He again denied — as he as always denied — that he intended the deaths of anyone or that he fired the fatal shots that killed the two agents, and he reminded the hearing officer that one of his former co-defendants recently admitted to having fired the fatal shots, himself. Accordingly, it is not true that Leonard Peltier participated in “the execution style murders of two FBI agents,” as the Parole Commission asserts, and there never has been credible evidence of Mr. Peltier’s responsibility for the fatal shots as the FBI continues to allege. Moreover, given the corrupt practices of the FBI, itself, it is entirely untrue that Leonard Peltier’s parole at this juncture will in any way “depreciate the seriousness” of his conduct and/or “promote disrespect for the law.” We will continue to seek parole and clemency for Mr. Peltier and to eventually bring this prolonged injustice to a prompt and fair resolution.

Executive Clemency for Leonard Peltier

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

Leonard Peltier, an innocent man, was convicted for the 1975 shooting deaths of two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. U.S. prosecutors have repeatedly admitted that they did not and cannot prove Peltier’s guilt and the appellate courts have cited numerous instances of investigative and prosecutorial misconduct in this case. As late as November 2003, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals acknowledged that “Much of the government’s behavior at the Pine Ridge Reservation and its prosecution of Mr. Peltier is to be condemned. The government withheld evidence. It intimidated witnesses. These facts are not disputed.”

The courts claim they lack the power to right this wrong. But, as President, you can.
In this case, your concern should be for equal treatment. From the time of Peltier’s conviction until the mid-1990s, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the average length of imprisonment served for homicide in the United States ranged from 94 to 99.8 months. Even if you were to take Peltier’s two consecutive life sentences into account at the higher end of this range, it is clear that Peltier should have been released a very long time ago. His continued imprisonment after over 30 years appears to be nothing less than revenge for a crime Mr. Peltier did not commit. Personalized and politically motivated vengeance of this kind cannot be tolerated. The concepts of justice and good government require that you act to correct this wrong.

Peltier has served his time. Even by the government’s own definition, he has already been imprisoned for a lifetime. In that time, he has missed the simplest things of ordinary life�having dinner with friends, taking walks in the woods, gardening, children’s laughter, dogs barking, the feel of rain on his face, the sound of birds singing… winter and summer and spring and fall. He has missed seeing his children and grandchildren grow up. They suffer, too. Mr. Peltier is now a great-grandfather. How many more generations must suffer this tragedy?

After careful consideration of the facts in Mr. Peltier’s case, we have concluded that Leonard Peltier does not represent a risk to the public. First, Mr. Peltier has no prior convictions and has advocated for non-violence throughout his prison term. Furthermore, Mr. Peltier has been a model prisoner. He has received excellent evaluations from his work supervisors on a regular basis. He continues to mentor young Native prisoners, encouraging them to lead clean and sober lives. He has used his time productively, disciplining himself to be a talented painter and an expressive writer. Although Mr. Peltier maintains that he did not kill the agents, he has openly expressed remorse and sadness over their deaths.

Most admirably, Mr. Peltier contributes regular support to those in need. He donates his paintings to charities including battered women’s shelters, half way houses, alcohol and drug treatment programs, and Native American scholarship funds. He also coordinates an annual gift drive for the children of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservationa successful program that, in 2006, expanded to include other reservations throughout the country.

Leonard Peltier is widely recognized in the human rights community for his good deeds and in turn has won several human rights awards including the North Star Frederick Douglas Award; Federation of Labour (Ontario, Canada) Humanist of the Year Award; Human Rights Commission of Spain International Human Rights Prize; and 2004 Silver Arrow Award for Lifetime Achievement. Mr. Peltier also has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize six times.

Leonard Peltier is over 60 years old and his health is deteriorating. He has suffered a stroke which left him partially blind in one eye. For many years, Peltier had a seriously debilitating jaw condition which left him unable to chew properly and caused consistent pain and headaches. Today, Mr. Peltier continues to suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure, and a heart condition. He risks blindness, kidney failure, stroke, and certainly premature death given his diet, living conditions, and health care.

We, the undersigned, say enough is enough, Mr. President. Do the right thing. Grant Executive Clemency to Leonard Peltier right away.

Thank you for giving fair consideration to Leonard Peltier
.
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DJ Tribe

DJ Tribe new album “Gaia Evolution” on Gaiapod.com featuring new hit single “You are the angel” and also our honor song to all the “Sistahs”

DJ Tribe new album “Gaia Evolution” on Gaiapod.com featuring new hit single “You are the angel” and also our honor song to all the “Sistahs”

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Earth summit at the United Nations, we are in allot of trouble America, we have sold our children a place of illution and sadamy to consume our own young. Now we have only one choice, take back the world of Indifenous culture and gift it back to the people and it’s balance of nature. Now we stand alone as a broken country with one garden left with out chemicals and imbalance. Make a stand for our future, religion is not our saving grace. Money is not the forgivness we come to expect on healing global warming. Once we take back our own conscious and breath in the family code. We will see a day with out dispair and distrust. One two and three, it is time to let it be.

Sundance Chief hunger strike

SUN DANCE CHIEF FASTS AT WHITE HOUSE FOR LEONARD PELTIER: SEEKS MEETING WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA

As a result of Peltier’s recent parole denial, Ben Carnes, Choctaw Nation, and a Sun Dance Chief, states he will go to Washington, D.C. to stand and fast in front of the White House between September 5th – 12th, in hopes of securing a meeting with President Obama.

Earlier this year, the LP-DOC sent a letter to President Obama to discuss the case of Leonard Peltier, but the reply from the White House declined to invite members of the committee for a meeting.

Leonard Peltier has been an international symbol of American injustice based upon critical questions surrounding his conviction in 1977 in the deaths of two FBI agents. Amnesty International has designated Peltier as a political prisoner and a U.S. prosecutor has admitted in court during an appeal hearing that he did not know who killed the agents and cannot prove who did. A federal judge who heard this statement was unable to afford any relief wrote a letter to Sen. Inouye to ask the president to grant clemency.

Carnes is a recipient of the 1987 Oklahoma Human Rights Award for his stand against forced hair cutting of Native prisoners. He has been asked to speak before congressional committees and has served with numerous human rights, interfaith and Native organizations. He has worked tirelessly on behalf of Peltier for over 28 years, and first became a national spokesperson in 1991. He is also national support group coordinator and advisory board member for the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee.

“The basis of Peltier’s denial by the parole commission is one of hypocrisy. It is also beyond belief that the chair of the US Parole Commission, Issac Fullwood, who is lectures on ethics in law enforcement, would turn a blind eye to the FBI’s abuse of the investigative process. And Ms. Patricia Cushwa, commission member, and Chair of the Maryland parole commission recently supported a pardon for a man who had been executed, because there were questions about the case.” said Carnes. He said that there are questions about Peltier case that remains unanswered, and with this denial, the parole commission have made Peltiers life sentence a sentence of death as he won’t be eligible for parole for 15 years when he is 79 years old. Peltier will observe his next birthday on September 12 when he will turn 65. He has already served 33 years in prison.

Supporters are calling for a world wide 24 vigils on September 11th – 12th to begin at 8:45 AM.

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FROM THE LP-DOC:

We call upon all supporters to organize solidarity events and actions in conjunction with Ben’s solitary prayer fast in DC on September 12th.