Thursday, July 30, 2009
Prisoners of a White God
Czech anthropologist Tomas Ryska's film about the nation of Akha reveals the role of Christian missions in the new slavery of tribal peoples.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Opposition Rising
As President Obama took office, there was a flurry of speculation about the possibility of an attempted assassination by white supremacists. Seven months later, public resentment is more focused on our nosediving standard of living. Obama's defenders still harp on racism as the obstacle to achieving his allegedly benign agenda, but if vigilantism like we saw in the 1990s resurfaces, it will likely be fueled by economic misfortune.
Even with a now perfect record of hypocrisy by the Obama administration on all issues of progressive importance, the only opposition rising is likely to come from the millions thrown out of work, homes, and society by his support for scandalous schemes like the bank bailout. If history is any lesson, some of those millions are bound to vent their rage in unpleasant, even lethal ways.
Anticipating a resurgence of the militia movement as American society continues to fall apart, we offer a previous report on vigilantism, an analysis of Right-Wing Terrorism and a briefing that puts the Far Right into perspective.
Even with a now perfect record of hypocrisy by the Obama administration on all issues of progressive importance, the only opposition rising is likely to come from the millions thrown out of work, homes, and society by his support for scandalous schemes like the bank bailout. If history is any lesson, some of those millions are bound to vent their rage in unpleasant, even lethal ways.
Anticipating a resurgence of the militia movement as American society continues to fall apart, we offer a previous report on vigilantism, an analysis of Right-Wing Terrorism and a briefing that puts the Far Right into perspective.
Living on Guard
In The Religion of Fear, Jason C. Bivins examines conservative evangelical culture as it intersects with America's love affair with spectacular violence and the popular culture of fright that has given birth to "a rich and powerful fear regime".
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Tribalism
Tribalism seems to be a hot topic in the blogosphere as of late. As the ongoing conflict between industrial and indigenous societies escalates, it is good to remember who initially attacked whom. Conflict resolution requires acknowledging past wrongs by making amends in the present. Until industrial societies stop attacking tribal peoples, nothing fundamental can be achieved by international institutions.
Obama Ugly American
Despite a track record as one of the worst violators of human rights in the hemisphere, President Uribe of Colombia has been blessed by President Obama with promises of increased military aid. As Real News correspondent Forrest Hylton reports, the announcement that US armed forces will soon be moving into Colombia to establish four bases, is rightly seen as a direct threat to neighboring Ecuador and Venezuela.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Facing History
Modern states built on theft of indigenous homelands all exhibit psychoses due to an inability to face up to and make amends for genocide and ethnic cleansing. Israel is presently the most blatant example, but Canada and the United States are still evading this obligation. Along with Australia and New Zealand, Canada and the US comprised the only four countries in the UN to vote against the 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. As the indigenous of Palestine struggle to survive the malign neglect of a superimposed state, so, too, do the indigenous of North America. Maybe when America faces up to its own history, it will no longer be inclined to fund Israel’s denial of theirs.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Journey of Man
Tribal heritage — including original languages, songs, dance and art — contain within them the stories of the journey of man. More than anything else, they are essential to what it means to be human.
Erosion of this identity through diaspora, industrialization and colonization has diminished our collective humanity. The recovery of this heritage in the Americas and elsewhere has begun to heal the historical cultural traumas, and indeed, formal tribal engagement with international institutions like the EU, UN and OAS, has demonstrated the benefit of formerly excluded traditional knowledge to the survival of humankind.
Even for Euro-Americans, discovering tribal heritage can be an enriching and enlightening experience. One which illustrates the importance of autonomy in such things as education and governance for ancient nations like Sami, Scotland, Pais Basque and Slovenia. Celebrating diversity in tribal heritage is the foundation of multiculturalism; mandating the homogeneity of industrialism is not only anathema to indigenous values, it is also suicidal for all humankind.
Erosion of this identity through diaspora, industrialization and colonization has diminished our collective humanity. The recovery of this heritage in the Americas and elsewhere has begun to heal the historical cultural traumas, and indeed, formal tribal engagement with international institutions like the EU, UN and OAS, has demonstrated the benefit of formerly excluded traditional knowledge to the survival of humankind.
Even for Euro-Americans, discovering tribal heritage can be an enriching and enlightening experience. One which illustrates the importance of autonomy in such things as education and governance for ancient nations like Sami, Scotland, Pais Basque and Slovenia. Celebrating diversity in tribal heritage is the foundation of multiculturalism; mandating the homogeneity of industrialism is not only anathema to indigenous values, it is also suicidal for all humankind.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Demonic Deliverance
In Sex With a Demon, Talk to Action's Bruce Wilson examines exorcism as practiced by the Palin GOP. As Wilson walks us to Wasilla to look at the new Medieval evil, one thing stands out: fornication is the devil's playground; only demonic deliverance can save the righteous. What a great warmup for the Rapture.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Atleo National Chief
Shawn Atleo, son of fellow CWIS Associate Scholar Richard Atleo, has been selected National Chief by the Assembly of First Nations in Canada.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Nakba
Israel bans teaching history of the State of Israel from the Palestinian perspective.
Obama Protects Cheney
Obama Justice Department protects Dick Cheney. DOJ claims US Presidents and Vice Presidents are above the law, even when committing crimes against humanity.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Welcome Muzzlewatch
Muzzlewatch, a project of Jewish Voice for Peace, tracks efforts to stifle open debate about US-Israeli foreign policy. A public service that is long overdue.
Usual Fraud
Black Agenda Report looks at the real Obama health care plan. As usual, it's a fraud.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Reward and Punishment
It was reassuring to see the California legislature following Pelosi's lead in rewarding the rich and punishing the poor. For a while, amid the Hope and Change electoral BOMFOG, we were afraid we might need to radically alter our social analysis. To our great relief, this has not transpired.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Living with Nature
The two oceanic entries to Washington state's interior are Cape Flattery in the north, and Cape Disappointment in the south. Inside Cape Flattery lies the Salish Sea, including Strait of Juan de Fuca, Strait of Georgia, Hood Canal and Puget Sound. Inside Cape Disappointment lies the Columbia and Snake Rivers.
At the time Lewis and Clark traveled down the Snake into the Columbia, wild salmon traveling up these two rivers annually numbered some sixteen million. Several million more spawned in the rivers emptying into the Salish Sea.
As a result of numerous massive dams built in the 1930s and 1950s, most of the salmon runs passing Cape Disappointment have dwindled or gone extinct. Likewise the runs passing Cape Flattery, due primarily to excessive logging and unconscious urban development.
Added to this challenge for recovery of salmon in the rivers and sea of Washington, is the industrial use of pesticides for agriculture in the eastern interior, and the historical accumulation of PCBs and other petroleum products in the Salish Sea basins. More recently, the leakage of radioactive waste into the Columbia River from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has already affected the genetic makeup of contaminated salmon.
Since environmental awareness within the dominant industrial society first blossomed in the 1970s, small steps have been taken to reverse some of this life-threatening toxic dumping, but the hard work lies ahead. Ironically, the choice now seems to be between flattery and disappointment; the technical fixes have all failed, and the only solution left is the one the indigenous peoples of the region have advocated from the outset--live with nature, not against it.
At the time Lewis and Clark traveled down the Snake into the Columbia, wild salmon traveling up these two rivers annually numbered some sixteen million. Several million more spawned in the rivers emptying into the Salish Sea.
As a result of numerous massive dams built in the 1930s and 1950s, most of the salmon runs passing Cape Disappointment have dwindled or gone extinct. Likewise the runs passing Cape Flattery, due primarily to excessive logging and unconscious urban development.
Added to this challenge for recovery of salmon in the rivers and sea of Washington, is the industrial use of pesticides for agriculture in the eastern interior, and the historical accumulation of PCBs and other petroleum products in the Salish Sea basins. More recently, the leakage of radioactive waste into the Columbia River from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation has already affected the genetic makeup of contaminated salmon.
Since environmental awareness within the dominant industrial society first blossomed in the 1970s, small steps have been taken to reverse some of this life-threatening toxic dumping, but the hard work lies ahead. Ironically, the choice now seems to be between flattery and disappointment; the technical fixes have all failed, and the only solution left is the one the indigenous peoples of the region have advocated from the outset--live with nature, not against it.
Destroying Democracy
Tom Burghart takes a look at the CIA assassination programs, and reveals why America can never become a democracy while secret agencies like the CIA and NSA exist.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Sacred Trust
Coast Salish Gathering, a united effort of the 66 tribes of the Salish Sea ecoregion, is making headway on their sacred trust to protect the aboriginal resources and way of life. Check it out.
Gesture of Reciprocity
When the Bush administration yanked federal recognition from the Chinook Indian tribe shortly after using their leaders in a photo op at the White House to celebrate the bi-centennial of the Voyage of Discovery, I wondered what travesty they would think up next. As it turns out, later in 2001 the Bureau of Indian Affairs did the same to the Duwamish Indian tribe, the original inhabitants of Seattle. Today, the BIA has the chance to reverse these injustices to the first people of Washington and other states, not only as a matter of honoring America's promises as expressed in treaties, but perhaps more importantly, as a gesture of reciprocity toward the aboriginal nations that welcomed explorers like Lewis and Clark and the land-hungry settlers who followed.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Overcoming Exclusion
Overcoming exclusion in education is the subject of a report by UNICEF and Minority Rights Group International. The report takes a detailed look at how minorities and indigenous peoples are excluded from educational opportunity, and suggests how to surmount this human rights tragedy.
What is at Stake
Alice Kessler at Equality California writes a clear-headed explanation of the gay marriage dilemma. While we all wait to see this civil rights issue cleared up by federal courts, it is good to remind ourselves what is at stake. The ability to make decisions for a hospitalized loved one, or to be a benefiting spouse under Social Security are but two of many legal privileges denied same-sex spouses; nothing could be more unequal.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Politics as Theatre
Mother Jones magazine examines the superficiality of liberal Americans in the Sotomayor hearings. Wooed by the appearance of diversity that mesmerizes Obama supporters, Sotomayor cheerleaders neglect her hard line, right-wing stance against justice. As the next member of the US Supreme Court, this fatal flaw is hardly something to cheer about, unless one is a mindless consumer of politics as theatre.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Shoring Up Showboating
Michael J. Smith covers the attack on science by Democratic Party "think tanks" covering for the party's failure to effectively address climate change. Reminiscent of the Republican purges of honest scientists from the previous administration, the present frauds perpetrated by the Democratic Congress are a sad reminder they both work for the same boss. Unfortunately, that boss lives on Wall Street, not main street.
Psychic Sacrilege
As icons of the American experience, the tribes that defeated the Seventh Cavalry still play a central role in our mythology and psychic evolution. Attacked by the US Army for demanding illegal settlers and other thieves after gold in the Black Hills leave their reservation, the Sioux tribes have fought many battles to survive the ongoing American onslaught. Long after the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the indigenous plains warriors are still reviled by American society, not so much for killing Custer, but for maintaining devotion to spiritual over commercial values. In the consumer nation of America, nothing is more sacrilegious than authentic religion.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Out of Bondage
In her article Out of Bondage, attorney Martina E. Vandenberg discusses the participation in human trafficking by Defense Department and State Department contractors. Engaged as support personnel in international peace-keeping operations such as Bosnia, US contractors have been documented as end users in the slave trade for sex and forced labor. To date, no prosecutions have taken place for this violation of US law.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Getting Real
As dominant society venues for participation in UN climate change talks go virtual, indigenous peoples are getting real. Jay Taber, Rudolph Ryser and Renee Davis provide historical perspective on the anticipated conflict between indigenous and industrial values at the upcoming UN conference in Copenhagen this December.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Discursive Democracy
If democracy is a discursive process, we need more interactive media. Some activist organizations now have blogs where readers and writers can interact, discuss and share ideas, yet most thought-leading organizations still broadcast but don't receive. Given the exclusivity of mainstream media, we desperately need venues for challenging and improving our points of view; otherwise we retreat to insular comfort zones, which in the end subvert solidarity.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Taking Down the System
Writing in Orion magazine, Derrick Jensen argues that piety is a dead end. Saving the planet, he says, requires taking down the system.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Fighting Obama
Massachusetts Attorney General takes on Obama Administration for continuing discrimination against gays.
Thursday, July 09, 2009
Anti-Indigenous Axis
The crackdown on Uyghurs in China, like the systematic brutality of Israel toward Palestinians, betrays the promise of universal human rights adopted by the United Nations in 1948. More recently, subsuming freedom to power betrays the specific extension of human rights to indigenous peoples by the UN in 2007.
While international law is on their side, indigenous peoples only hope in surmounting the anti-indigenous axis of state institutions, markets, and transnational criminal enterprise, is pan-tribal global solidarity, with support from civil society.
As the leading member of the anti-indigenous axis, the United States has already sided with China and Israel in crushing self-determination. As conflicts over resources related to energy and climate change escalate, murderous regimes like Colombia, Nigeria and Indonesia can count on the US for money and arms to continue the genocide of indigenous peoples.
While international law is on their side, indigenous peoples only hope in surmounting the anti-indigenous axis of state institutions, markets, and transnational criminal enterprise, is pan-tribal global solidarity, with support from civil society.
As the leading member of the anti-indigenous axis, the United States has already sided with China and Israel in crushing self-determination. As conflicts over resources related to energy and climate change escalate, murderous regimes like Colombia, Nigeria and Indonesia can count on the US for money and arms to continue the genocide of indigenous peoples.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Hate Hyperstructure
Center for New Community examines the racism behind the anti-immigrant network in the US, exposes its funding, and reveals the hyperstructure of its faux grassroots organization.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Spirit of Humanity Dead in Water
As the Peace and Freedom Party of California notes, the spirit of humanity is dead in the US media and halls of Congress when it comes to human rights in Israel. Even the detention of a former member of Congress and an Irish Nobel-laureate by the Israeli military provokes not a peep from the puppets of the US ruling class.
Exercising Treaty Rights
The Umatilla tribe in Oregon has reached an agreement with the US Forest Service to graze tribal cattle on lands governed by their treaty rights. As the first such agreement in the country, we expect other tribes to develop their economic rights on federal lands as well.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Powering Down
Le Monde diplomatique looks at the false promise of biotech, and the sobering reality of powering down.
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Cashing In on Climate Change
The upcoming issue of Rolling Stone magazine looks at the role Goldman Sachs has played in creating economic havoc over the last two centuries. As the favored financier of President Obama's career, the heavyweight of capitalism is now positioning itself to capitalize on yet another Ponzi scheme: carbon-market trading. Using taxpayer funds from the banking bailout scandal it in large part caused, Goldman Sachs is prepared to take advantage of this golden opportunity to cash in on the climate change crisis.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Mobilizing Disaster
Guernica magazine interviews Fatima Bhutto about her family's corrupt dynasty in Pakistan, and how American-style democracy merely serves to keep people down in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and by implication, the US.
Netwar at the UN
Real News looks at the netwar between the UN General Assembly and the economic elites like Britain, Canada and the US over the global financial crisis.
Subverting the Constitution
Chris Rodda reports on Christian fundamentalist brainwashing in the US military and ROTC as a tool for subverting the US Constitution.
