A great day to read the news online

By Brenda Norrell

It is a great day to be alive and read the news. We all have to wonder if anyone will spend a dime to buy a newspaper again with so much incredible free journalism online. As I was out covering the Free Palestine rally in Tucson today, I checked my e-mail. There was Kahentinetha's latest column from the Mohawk Nation News, detailing the $40 million that Canada spent for a covert operation in 2004 to splice the Mohawks, beginning with an attack on their police station. The documents were gained after years of efforts to obtain them by way of freedom of access to information.
In the e-box, there were also requests from readers around the globe, all wanting to know more about the Republic of Lakotah. So here's one of the recent online articles, "Connect the Dots" by Hickory Hendrickson:
"I had a phone conversation with the web-master for the Republic of Lakotah in which we discussed an individual who was logging in to the Republic of Lakotah forum under one name and posting a new topic. The same IP address would then log right back on under another username and argue with himself. He did this constantly for hours."
http://www.nolanchart.com/article1365.html
There you have it, a great day to read the news. Brenda

University of Arizona students rally for Palestine

Photo: Protesters gathered outside the federal building in downtown Tucson today calling for an end to the occupation of Palestine and food for the hungry there. Photo Brenda Norrell

As the human rights abuses, violence and deaths continue in Palestine, the United States gives Israel over $10 million a day -- money that could be used instead for people who are hungry, sick, wounded, tortured and cold

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

TUCSON -- University of Arizona students are rallying for Palestinian human rights today and marched to the federal building at noon, Monday, January 28, 2008.
The Voices of Opposition began with an information booth at the center of campus this morning. Justin Mascouf was among the students who said that Americans are misinformed about Israel and Palestine.
"The most important thing for Americans to know is that most of the foreign aid is going to Israel," Mascouf said.
Further, although supplies were able to reach Palestine last night, Mascouf said that the preceding days showed the truth about where Egypt's alliances are. "People had to break through the wall for supplies, food and medicine."
Skylar Hijazi said there is a misconception in the United States that opposing Israel's actions in regards to Palestine represents antisemitism.
"This about people," added Steven Thorpe. "People are dying unnecessarily."
Hijazi pointed out that the ongoing collective form of punishment of all Palestinians is torture. "We are condoning torture," he said, referring to the United States' role in the widespread suffering in Palestine.
Referring to the United border wall under construction south of Tucson on the Arizona/Mexico border, known locally as the US Apartheid Wall, Hijazi said, "Walls in general are bad news."
In the pamphlets offered today at the University of Arizona campus, the group points out that Palestinians continue to suffer because of censorship.
AP is the major source of news in the United States. "Virtually all of AP's news reports about the Israel-Palestinian conflict go through its bureau in Israel," the group's pamphlet states.
Further, the media has censored the fact that there are 8,000 Palestinians in prisons who are routinely tortured and many have not been accused of a crime. The Geneva-based Defense of Children and Save the Children reported that 373 children under the age of 18 were being held in Israeli prisons in 2004.
The most heinous of crimes committed by Israeli soldiers is censored by AP. On October 17, 2004, an Israeli soldier shot a 14-year-old Palestinian in the stomach for no reason. An AP cameraman sent video footage of the unprovoked shooting to the bureau in Israel. The AP Israeli Bureau erased the footage.
The U.S. gives Israel over $10 million per day.

(Watch brief video of rally at the Tucson federal building/Video by Brenda Norrell)

Tucson: Sheriff Joe Arpaio Go Home!

Protest in Tucson in opposition to the racism and vigilante patrols of Maricopa Co. Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Photo Brenda Norrell/For photo reprint permission: brendanorrell@gmail.com

Racist Arizona sheriff protested for vigilante patrols

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Minutemen dragnet for people of color

By Brenda Norrell

TUCSON -- Protesters sent a loud message to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio today to "Go Home!" and take his practices of racism, xenophobia and vigilante patrols with him.
Protesting outside the Sheraton, where Arpaio was the speaker at the Pima County Republican Women's Club luncheon, border rights activists and other local residents called for an end to the reign of Arpaio's repression and lawlessness.
Arpaio's practice of racial targeting of people of color and the addition of Minutemen to patrols were two of the reasons that Pima County residents sent a loud message to Arpaio today. Tucson is located in Pima County, southeast of Phoenix and Maricopa County where Arpaio carries out his vigilante raids.
Derechos Humanos/Coalición de Derechos Humanos delivered a letter to Pima County Republican Women's Club.
"As members of the Pima County community, we are here today to question your decision to invite Sheriff Joe Arpaio to speak at your event. As you should be aware, Sheriff Arpaio bears much responsibility for the extremely volatile racial atmosphere in Phoenix and its outlying areas.
"We cannot permit this environment in Pima County, and are shocked that you would proudly applaud the efforts of the self proclaimed 'America’s Toughest Sheriff' on your website.
"During his tenure, Sheriff Arpaio has engaged the Arizona taxpayer, and the rest of the state of Arizona, in enforcement and political measures that have not only created great racial divisions, but have cost Maricopa County more than $41 million dollars in court fees, lawsuits, attorneys’ fees, settlements, judgments, photographs of himself, videos of himself, and maintaining his personal public relations staff.
"Did you know that Sheriff Arpaio has arrested hundreds of workers, and together with Andrew Thomas, has charged mothers and fathers, survivors of U.S. and global economic policies with being co-conspirators to their own smuggling, resulting in hundreds of felony convictions and prison time at taxpayer expense?
"Did you know that Sheriff Arpaio has created private posses, where he has permitted Minutemen to join his sheriff deputies in wholesale racial profiling and repression, resulting in an explosive situation in Phoenix neighborhoods?
"Did you know that Sheriff Arpaio has been involved in the violation of the constitutional rights of the readers of the Phoenix New Times by demanding the identity of everyone who had visited the paper’s website and arresting the newspaper’s leaders when they publicized what had happened?
"Sheriff Joe Arpaio is not welcome in the city of Tucson, where many of us continue to work for a community that is diverse, respectful, and appreciative of each other’s differences. We will not permit hatred and xenophobia in our community of Tucson. We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Phoenix who must stand up for human rights on a daily basis."
Meanwhile, immigrant rights attorney Antonio Bustamante is building a racial profiling case against Arpaio. Bustamante is collecting first-hand accounts from witnesses who state that they have been unfairly stopped and arrested by Arpaio's deputies.
Michael Lacey, creator of Phoenix New Times, spent a night in jail in October after exposing Arpaio's "fishing expedition" which involved a grand jury seeking a list of New Times' online readers and even their shopping habits.
Photos of today's protest of Arpaio in Tucson:
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

Reporter's Notebook

Today, the Sheraton Tucson Hotel and Suites on E. Grant security forces get an "F" for refusing to let this reporter sit on a bench. After I identified myself as a news reporter, the security forces said I wasn't allowed on their property.
But next door, Buck and Lil's BBQ, was very welcoming. Thanks Buck and Lil for a place to sit! Brenda Norrell

Choctaw Ben Carnes: The border, treaties, prisoner rights and the Ghost Dance

Thoughts of Racism, Politics and Spiritual Sovereignty

Choctaw Ben Carnes discusses border arrests, sovereignty, treaties, prisoner rights and the Ghost Dance

By Ben Carnes
I find it very sad that my relatives from the South are being hunted down and sent back home. Oklahoma had recently passed a law prohibiting aiding any “illegal immigrants” with food, shelter, or work, or even a ride to work. The Indian way is to provide our relatives who visit with food, water and the comfort of shelter. In an indirect way, our way of life is being criminalized in our homelands, like in the 1800’s when they imposed the Code of Religious Offenses ...
In heeding the words of Thomas Banyacya and the Mayan Calendar, it may not be such a bad idea for the Ghost Dance to make its return in the form as it was presented to Wovoka. Not the versions in which people believed that if the dance was done, the whites would disappear and our ancestors would return, along with the buffalo. It has always been difficult for me to believe the Creator would show us a ceremony to eradicate our relatives. From what I have understood about Wovoka’s vision is that the dance was to bring peace and understanding to all people.
My idea of sovereignty based upon a spiritual way of life. Through this way of life, I have found a stronger connection to the Creator and Mother Earth...
Read entire commentary, first published in the zine, Caban Unzeen
http://censored-news.blogspot.com/2008/01/choctaw-ben-carnes-border-treaties.html