Wampum

Last year, I spent so much time sifting through the Abramoff documents released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that I think they're all permanently burned onto my brain tissue. Thus, when I was reminded in Marcy's comments that US Attorney Margaret Chiara was a supporter of the Gun Lake Band of Potawatomi Indians attempts to take land into trust for the purposes of developing a class III gaming presence in Michigan, bells went off in my head.

See, one of Jack Abramoff's treasured clients were the Saginaw-Chippewa tribe, also located in Michigan. The Sag-Chip had developed a very successful gaming operation, and were very protective of it, so much so, they were willing to pay Jack wicked amounts of money to screw any Johnny-come-lately tribes out of a their own gaming franchises. Of course, Jack knew how to play, and soon there-after, significant contributions from the Sag-Chip made their way into certain politicians coffers. Those same politicians just happened to develop a sudden severe aversion to any expansion of gaming in a particular locale, in this case Western Michigan, and letters were astroturfed to each and every senior member of the Department of Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs, including our friend, J. Steven Griles, who recently plead guilty to lying to Congress regarding his relationship with Jack Abramoff - a relationship which centered around Griles' assistance at Interior on behalf of Abramoff's clients - including the Sag-Chip and their desire to derail the Gun Lake casino.

Earlier today, Murray Waas published a piece in the National Journal which details a confidential memo from Gonzales delegating extraordinary "human resources" powers to aides Kyle Sampson and Monica Goodling. The purported goal of the new powers was to allow Sampson and Goodling to ferret out those non-Senate confirmed political appointees not sufficiently Bush loyal, and to replace them with honest-to-goodness Administration lemmings. The number and scope of such fire and hire power is remarkably stunning, particularly within such key departments as the DoJ's Criminal Division. A few months back, as the US Attorney scandal broke, I wondered about possible repercussions in such departments as the Public Integrity Section, which oversaw the Abramoff investigation, and had been plagued by high turnover in its senior-most position (a non-confirmed political appointment.) Just recently, with little of the pomp and circumstance typical of this Administration, a new head was named, William Welch II, a former assistant US attorney from, of all dull and non-Abramoff-tainted places, Springfield, Massachusetts. However, while the appointment was recent, Welch's presence in Washington was not, as he had been tapped by the DoJ in September of 2006 for a six-month stint to purportedly help "clean up" some of the backload. The acting head of the Public Integrity Section, who had previously been deputy to the prior department leader, was passed over for Welch and his six-month tenure. In light of what we've currently learned from Waas, it appears Welch possessed the necessary attribute, Bush loyalty, which earned him the job. One can only assume that the Deputy and Acting Head of PIS did not.

So what does this all have to do with US Attorney Margaret Chiara? US Attorney, as I mentioned previously, cannot initiate anything more than a very basic investigation of a public official without the approval and assistance of the Public Integrity Section. Thus, Chiara, was clearly aware of Abramoff's "intervention" in the Gun Lake gaming process, via Steve Griles and perhaps other public officials, such as Congressman and Abramoff contribution beneficiary Peter Hoekstra (R-MI). From a 2006 Indian Country Today article:

Hoekstra received $2,000 from indicted former Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff's firm after asking former Interior Secretary Gale Norton in December 2002 to extend a comment period on Gun Lake's environmental review for its land-into-trust application.

In the fall of 2006, it was clear that Abramoff was getting way too comfortable with federal investigators (namely, the acting head of Public Integrity) and Steve Griles was in the sites of the same department for lying to Congress. Either of those two could easily bring down the house of cards, should the state US attorneys decide the risk of prosecuting a public official be worth the price. Margaret Chiara, in supporting the Gun Lake tribe against the likes of Hoekstra and MichGO chair and head of the Michigan GOP, Peter F. Secchia, had shown her true colors, and it was up to the Administration to take care of the situation. Was the addition of Chiara at the late date, particularly after she contacted William Mercer, whose former boss, Conrad Burns, was also in jeopardy regarding the Sag-Chip/Gun Lake scandal, having not only taken contributions from the Sag-Chip, but authoring legislation to appropriate money for Sag-Chip schools (money that was supposed to go to poor tribes, not highly successful gaming tribes, like the Sag-Chip.)

Just how did William Welch win the support of Sampson, Goodling and their handlers in Karl Rove's office? While Welch, a native of New England, seems as far from the purge of mostly Southwestern USAs as possible, I did find one small hint in a single mention of his position prior to Springfield - as Assistant Attorney in Nevada, working with none other than Daniel Bogden. Except Welch wasn't in the Las Vegas office, which handed the state's criminal and corruption cases - he was in the Reno office, which oversaw mostly Indian and federal land cases, and unusual training ground for a Massachusetts attorney. Ironic, too, that Bogden's name was added to "the list" soon after Welch arrived in Washington. Around the same time Margaret Chiara was targeted for termination as well.

Maybe it's all just coincidence.

Posted by EBW at 09:14 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Taking containers to water and filling them is something that is comforting. I suppose it means how we live, in camps, is continuous, ongoing, not bounded by the capacity of the tank filled by a hose, before going "camping". I don't know why it is so comforting, or why I think about my parents and their parents and their parents, Indian and non-Indian, urban and rural, depression poor and not, but I do. Today, like any other watering day, the containers and I got to the water and ... there was a desert tortoise grazing on the few blades of grass that grow in the gravel near the pump. Kezzie and I sat down to watch it, then she scampered off to tell Gracie the news. Gracie and Kezzie returned a few minutes later and joined me sitting with the tortoise.

The word in Abenaki is dolba or tolba I said.
Dolba Kezzie and Gracie repeated back to me.
In French the word is tortue I said.
Tortue.
In Talagi it is sa-le-gu-gi for our kind of turtle, the bitter, I don't know what we call these ones.
Sa-le-gu-gi.
No fidgeting, no touching, sit quietly and watch respectfully, turtle is a spirit person.

Later in the day we came across a pair of chukar partridges (exotics imported from China as upland game birds), a snake about 4' long, and lots of blooming cactus and sage.

Recently the question of indigenous mumble and environmental literacy was put to me, and I think about it a lot. Rather than write junk however, I think I'll go back out and look for the tortoise.

To learn more about the critical habitats of the desert tortoise, click here.

Posted by EBW at 04:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

It's refreshing, neh?

Kudus to Marcy Winograd (Progressive Democrats of Los Angeles) who carried the water in California.

Also noted: John Edwards came into the press room alone Sunday after his speech, went straight to the podium, and asked simply: "Questions?" That's good style and it shows comfort in the exercise. The speech was good too. Pity we weren't there, as we were accredited, along with about 50 other bloggers.

A note on the three basic choices:

1. fund the war an additional twelve months with out-by conditional on some "milestones",
   
2. fund the war an additional two months, the Murtha bill,
   
3. the about-to-be-vetoed Pelosi-Reid bill
   

The first places the Congressional authority in the hands of others. This has been the fundamental problem of leaving the out-by issue to some exotic Iraqi political appointee, who does not have to face the voters, American or Iraqi. The Constitution does not allow the transfer of war making powers (Article I, Section 8) to foreign princes or puppets. It is form with the capitulation, not only of the substance of the particular, but the capitulation of the general principle of co-equal branches of government. A "Bozo NoNo" for Democrats and Republicans who might teach civics.

The second is a better alternative, neither transferring to the Executive, or some foreign third-party, Congressional authority, nor accepting the Executive's demand for twelve months of unconditional funding.

The third is the best alternative, leaving the Executive nothing after the veto but the utter, absolute authority of the Congress over Article 1, Section 8 issues.

I'm glad to see John Edwards asking people to sign a petition to encourage Democrats in the House and Senate to stick with the Pelosi-Reid bill.

I've signed it.

Posted by EBW at 01:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

There's a great discussion going on over at the Next Hurrah, where Marcy Wheeler (emptywheel) of Plame Fame has been looking into the possible import of fired Michigan USA Margaret Chiara's position as head of the Native American Issues Subcommittee at DoJ. Make sure you read the comments as well (particularly since I've been actively opining away!)

While I'm clearly Indian-centric on many issues, I'm not convinced that all the USA firings are related to Indian Country. But I think a number of them, particularly in the Southwest, clearly are, and now Chiara could be added to that list.

Posted by MB Williams at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Its not the most common representation of Golda Mier, but it is the last representation of Golda Mier as Prime Minister of the {Zionist Entity|Jewish State|State of Israel}. "Forced to resign in June 1974 due to the Yom Kippur war fiasco, despite her acquittal by the Agranat Committee from direct responsibility for the war" concludes the official Prime Minister's Office biography entry.

The 34 Day War began on July 12th, 2006. It was only 42 Wednesday's ago that Olmert was invincible. At this point, the only thing keeping him formally in the office of Prime Minister is the reluctance of his peers to face the electorate.

Oddly, that make me think of Yellow Dog Democrats and Geo. W. Bush this evening.

Posted by EBW at 01:38 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The record high for Las Vegas on this date was 96, set in 1981.

Today's forecast high is 97. And I don't want to hear anything about how it's "a dry heat."

[Note: This was posted by me, MB, on EBW's computer, mine still being in the shop and all.]

Posted by EBW at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

To buy one of these now takes $1.37. Today's Le Monde pulls no punches. The decline of the dollar is Bush-inflicted.

Posted by EBW at 12:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

People will be reading A failure in generalship long after Bush vetos the out-by bill.

I'm reading it.

Something else to think about.

For the first time in the history, systems of American nuclear strategic complex appear on the European continent. For us it is the same as the deployment of 'Pershings' -- the threat is absolutely the same.

Posted by EBW at 12:04 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Riverbend and her family are leaving Iraq.

Yes. It is time to impeach Dick Cheney.

Posted by EBW at 11:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

RESOLUTION

Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United
States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

1         Resolved, That Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of
2   the United States, is impeached for high crimes and mis-
3   demeanors, and that the following articles of impeachment
4   be exhibited to the United States Senate:
5         Articles of Impeachment exhibited by the House of
6   Representatives of the United States of America in the
7   name of itself and of the people of the United States of
8   America, against Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the

Its wicked heady reading. The complete text of the resolution is here, at the website of Congressman Kucinich (D-OH).

Posted by EBW at 09:22 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Speaker Pelosi's obtained passage of an out-by bill. Now its Majority Leader Reid's turn.

Posted by EBW at 10:42 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Lefty blogs abound are crowing over the news that Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi is the latest corrupt Republican to be exposed, and, even better, the case may be related to the US Attorney purge, as Arizona's USA, Paul Charlton, was one of those fired last December. The facts surrounding the Renzi situation are somewhat complicated, but here's the gist: Renzi's former business partner owned 400+ acres of land along the environmentally-endangered San Pedro River which Renzi suggested be part of a federal-private land swap, a swap which would allow relatively unrestricted private industry copper mining by Resolution Copper Co., a joint venture between Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, in the Apache Leap area of Arizona. Once Renzi made the suggestion, his partner was able to sell the land at a premium, to investors, which included former DoI secretary Bruce Babbitt, interested in its use in a different land swap.

Still following all this? A more in-depth discussion from last year can be found here.

Renzi was the original sponsor of the legislation on the Resolution Copper land swap, but by mid-2006, he'd developed a case of cold-feet, as the San Carlos Apache Tribe expressed concerns that the transfer of the federal land into private hands would curtail their access to ancestral sacred sites and acorn gathering areas. While industry and most state and local politicians urged the tribe to accept the purported concessions by Resolution, tribal leaders refused to move on the subject until after tribal elections in November. Industry became more anxious that the deal was falling through, and the US Chamber of Commerce penned this attack on Renzi in August, 2006, stating in part:

Renzi needs to take the lead again and get the issue moving. Apache concerns should be addressed to get the bill rolling in the House, and Renzi's meeting today with Rickus offers the opportunity to do that.

Renzi is the logical representative to carry the bill in the House. But if he can't bring himself to act in Arizona's best interest, he should step aside and let another House member - perhaps Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., - take the leadership role.

The choice is his.

Two months later, and just a few days before the November election, a Resolution lobbyist leaked to the media that the US Attorney's office in Arizona was investigating Renzi and the land-swap deal. Renzi was in a tough re-election fight, and even rumors of a pending indictment could clearly cost him his seat. Ironicaly, after the information on the investigation became public, momentum on the case seemed to lose steam. And then came the US Attorney firings, which included Arizona USA Paul Charlton. From the AZ Republic, I came across these interesting paragraphs:

Two weeks after Arizona U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton was ordered to give up his post, he sent an e-mail to a top Justice Department official asking how to handle questions that his ouster was connected to his investigation of Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz.

Charlton, one of eight federal prosecutors forced to resign last year, never received a written response....

When the first list of U.S. attorneys targeted for ouster was drafted, Charlton's name was not on it. But his name was on a subsequent list, drafted in September. Although the Renzi inquiry was not yet public, it is likely the Justice Department was aware of the investigation, said a former U.S. attorney who is familiar with the protocol when a sitting lawmaker is involved.

The Wall Street Journal updated the story recently, and even today, added more info, including news that the Arizona USA office had initiated the case back in June, 2005, but were delayed by inaction from the DoJ's Public Integrity section - a group on which I've written previously, as all USA corruption probes must be approved by Public Integrity in DC. Unfortunately, that office has gone through a few chaotic years, with five new directors since 2002.

I'm still getting caught up to speed on the whole issue, but I'm not particularly sure what to make out of the theory that the Bush Administration had Charlton canned for pursuing an investigation of Renzi, especially during a time that Renzi was, with his threatened withdrawal of support for his own land-swap bill, in fact acting against the interests of the resource extraction industry, and hence, this Administration.

I do find it intriguing that while both John McCain and John Kyl formally suggested a Hopi woman for Charlton's replacement, the Bush Administration has rejected the suggestion, and placed the first Assistant US Attorney as acting US Attorney. At least until the Gonzales flap blows over and they can get back to stacking the US Attorney deck with partisans and ideologues.

Posted by MB Williams at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Completely unplanned, but two stunning red rock canyons in one week, each aptly named "Red Rock Canyon".

From here in California:

To here in Nevada:

We're about three miles from the Las Vegas metro area, which I think is the closest we've camped to actual "civilization" in many months. But other than the spotlights in the sky at night, there's no indication that just outside of the canyon is a sea of neon.

Posted by MB Williams at 01:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

If you think you're paying attention to the ground game, then reading Marc Lynch on how the OpFors are splitting out on a strategic fundamental is what you've been doing for two weeks now.

Or, you could let David Petraeus blow smoke up your nethers. The latter was hoped to bring sensible CI from Leavenworth to Baghdad, but he's persistently calling all the OpFors "AQ", which means he can't tell time in Arabic.

Posted by EBW at 09:31 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

As I mentioned in earlier posts, we're being chased out of Death Valley today due to rapidly rising temperatures. But I didn't really offer much explanation, as everyone knows that Death Valley is just wicked hot, right? Well, generally, yes, in the summer - but in April, not so much.

The temperatures since we've arrived have actually been slightly above the upper 70s typical of late April. Yesterday, the mercury hit 88, as did it the previous day. But it's not those temps which are driving us out - today's high is forecast 96, tomorrow, 101, and by Sunday, 110. The record for April 29th is 109, set in 1967.

We're not just talking hot. We're talking wicked hot. Just so you all know we're not complete wimps.

Posted by EBW at 09:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

My computer (a freakin' HP, in case anyone wants to know what brand not to buy) is having the same problems my last HP had, i.e., the power connection port has ceased to connect to power. I now have 19% of my battery left, and being in Death Valley, won't be near an appropriate fixer-uperator in the immediate future. But I did, before I go dark, want to upload some pics from today's travels, described en brief by my spouse in an earlier post.

So, here's the Joshua tree/juniper/pine border I found so intriguing (and maybe our resident Mojave expert, cough, Chris, cough, can comment on such).

And here are two of the kids (Sam and Kezzie) playing in the snow at the pass (8500 feet).

And here is the road to apparently nowhere. Yes, I admit, I finally, being paralyzed by fear, had to exit the vehicle and descend by foot, at least 2000 ft. My legs and buttocks are not particularly thrilled (do you know that it's just as difficult to walk down a steep gravel road as walk up...at least, that's my story this evening, and I'm sticking to it!)

Sadly, lack of supplies, malfunctioning (f*cking) PC and heat are driving us out of Death Valley tomorrow. But we will return.

NB: I do have a post in the pipeline (which will clearly now have to wait) on yesterday's grand adventure, the 26 mile trek through petroglyph-laden Titus Canyon. We'd hoped to redo it tomorrow, but, alas, temps aren't cooperating. But, honestly, it really isn't that great a site, so those of you Googling in, should just go someplace else. Like, say, Golden Canyon or Salt Creek. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Posted by MB Williams at 12:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Josh Landis has coverage of the Syrian legislatives. I recommend it to anyone who found my coverage of the Iranian municipal election, or the earlier presidential and Seventh Majlis contests even slightly illuminating. Here's the link and link.

Posted by EBW at 12:02 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The Joshua Trees on the Darwin Plain were worth the drive, and there, lying innocently on the map, was a little connecting line ... that took us over the Inyo range at Cerro Gordo, altitude 8,500', and down a wicked precipitous drop to the Owens Valley, altitude 3,560. Why there was cell service in the Darwin Plain remains an unsolved mystery.

The kids were happy to play in the snow, and the mix of pine, juniper, and Joshua trees in the canyons going higher into the Inyo range was interesting. A wild burro and a dozen cattle were waiting for us to join them for lunch at a waterhole at the Lee Joshua Trees. We brought sandwiches and chips and lemonade, and they brought us a surprise.

Posted by EBW at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

[original from H-NET Discussion List for African American Studies, ebw]

News From Congresswoman Diane Watson 33rd Congressional District

March 13, 2007 For Immediate Release Contact: Bert Hammond (202) 225-7084, Lois Hill Hale (323) 965-1422

Congresswoman Watson & Congressional Black Caucus Register Outrage Over Blatant Discrimination by Cherokee Nation

Washington, DC-- Congresswoman Diane E. Watson and 25 other members of the Congressional Black Caucus have sent a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs protesting the recent vote by the Cherokee Nation to revoke the tribal citizenship of an estimated 2,800 black Cherokee descendants.

"On Saturday, March 3, a very small minority of the Cherokee Nation voted to disenfranchise their tribal members who have African ancestry in violation of established treaty rights," said Congresswoman Watson. "This is blatant discrimination of the worst kind."

"I and my colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus question the validity, legality, as well as the morality of the Cherokee Nation's vote. The black descendant Cherokees can trace their Native American
heritage back in many cases for more than a century. They are legally a part of the Cherokee Nation through history, precedent, blood, and treaty obligations."

"In fiscal year 2006, the House Appropriations Committee estimates that The United States Government spent $12.6 billion a year on programs in support of Native Americans. The Cherokee Nation is one of the largest Native American tribes in the U.S. and its members obviously receive a significant share of federal funds."

"I have reason to believe that the Cherokee Nation's annual budget is somewhere in the range of $300 million a year, of which 75% is derived from federal funds. Black Cherokee descendants are now put in the incredible position of having to pay federal taxes to subsidize their own discrimination. This is a gross violation of their social, economic, and human rights."

"The federal government has a trust and responsibility through treaty obligations and federal statutes to provide for the well-being, health care, and education of Native American tribal members regardless of race. Fundamental social justice demands that the black Cherokees be reinstated in the Cherokee Nation with full rights."

The letter signed by Congresswoman Watson and Members of the Congressional Black Caucus is addressed to Carl J. Artman, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs. The full text of the letter follows:

March 13, 2007
The Honorable Carl J. Artman
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs
Bureau of Indian Affairs
1849 C Street, NW
Mail Stop 4101
Washington, D.C. 20240

Dear Mr. Artman:

The undersigned members of the Congressional Black Caucus are shocked and outraged at the March 3 vote by Cherokee Nation members to revoke the tribal citizenship of an estimated 2,800 black descendants of the Cherokee Nation.

The black descendants are of mixed African-Cherokee heritage. Their lineage extends back for well over a century when they accompanied other tribal members to new settlements in Oklahoma after the Cherokee Nation had been expelled from its traditional lands in North Carolina and Georgia . Many African descendant Cherokees died during the forced migration, which has become known as the "Trail of Tears."

The Cherokee Nation fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. After the war it signed a federal treaty, in 1866, committing that its African-Cherokee descendants would be absorbed as citizens of the Cherokee Nation. In 1983, the Cherokee Nation expelled many African descendants by requiring them to show a degree of Indian blood through the Dawes rolls. A tribal court reinstated them in March 2006. The most recent March 3 vote is an apparent attempt to override the March 2006 court decision.

We question the validity, legality, as well as the morality of the Cherokee Nation's March 3 vote to disenfranchise its African descendants. A sizeable number of persons throughout the United States who can rightfully lay claim to Native American tribal citizenship and lineage are of mixed ancestry. The tribal lineage of black Native American descendants is rich in history and precedent that equals, if not surpasses, that of other racially and ethnically mixed Native Americans who have sought and been granted full tribal status.

We respectfully request an interpretation from the Bureau of Indian Affairs of the March 3 vote, particularly the legality of the vote, as well as what actions can be taken by the Bureau to correct this
egregious violation of the rights of Cherokee Nation members of African descent.

We are resolute in our efforts to undo this outrage.

The letter is signed by the following Members of the Congressional Black Caucus: Diane E. Watson (CA), Carolyn C. Kilpatrick (MI), Chaka Fattah (PA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Gregory W. Meeks (NY), John Conyers, Jr. (MI), Sheila Jackson-Lee (TX), G. K. Butterfield (NC), William J. Jefferson (LA), Bobby L. Rush (IL), Barbara Lee (CA), Donald M. Payne (NJ), Julia Carson (IN), Al Green (TX), Emanuel Cleaver (MO), Edolphus Towns (NY), Juanita Millender-McDonald (CA), Charles B. Rangel (NY), Wm. Lacy Clay (MO), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (GA), Yvette D. Clarke (NY), Kendrick B. Meek (FL), Stephanie Tubbs Jones (OH), Corrine Brown (FL), John Lewis (GA), Eddie Bernice Johnson (TX)

Posted by EBW at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Posted by EBW at 04:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Like the Indian Village in Yosemite, burned by the NPS in the 60's to evict the Indians, these adobes were melted down with fire hoses by the NPS in the 60's to evict the Indians.

Posted by EBW at 11:21 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

For the first year of our travels, I kept a separate "travel blog", entitled, Trip To Wonderful. Recently, I began to update it and moved it over to Drupal. I don't know if I should continue, or just incorporate our travel writings, as Eric has done, into Wampum. Any thoughts?

In the meantime, here's what was on the menu today:

Artist's Palette, Death Valley National Park. We're camped at Furnace Creek for three nights, until the temps threaten to move above 90 degrees, and my MS-compromised system requires cooler temps. Sadly enough, as I would stay here a month if possible.

Posted by MB Williams at 11:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0)

In 1903 William C. Rogers became last elected Cherokee chief for 68 years.

Ms. Diane Watson is an enrolled member of the Democratic Party and represents a quarter of a million residents of Los Angeles county in the lower house of the Federal legislature in Washington City. She an opinion on the issues involved in the March 3rd Special Election of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.

She also has a remedy. She wants to to end payments by the United States to the Cherokee Nation.

The likelihood that Representative Watson has an opinion on the causes for, or effects of, the Cherokee Nation not being able to hold elections for almost seven of the ten decades of the 20th century is wicked small, but I'm going to attempt the comic and ask the Congresswoman. Hell, she may not know that something happened in Mittle Europa during the middle decades of the same century. Some people are wicked focused on their own interests and need no partners, no coalition, to obtain their unilateralist, uncomplicated deciderist goals.

There's one like that at the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, an enrolled member of the same, to hell with treaties party.

There are issues of Federal oversight of constitutional revisions, under section 16 of the Wheeler-Howard Act (The Indian Reorganization Act, June 18, 1934), and of course, anything really fundamental in Federal Indian Law goes, now that Bill Rehnquist is doing Hispanic voter intimidation in the several precincts of Hell, to Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Clarance Thomas to fabricate out of a whole cloth and call stare decisis et non quieta movere.

I don't advise Chad Smith, or support his quixotic adventure into non-vital issues in a polity that has only three decades of modern election history, and a voter turn-out of one in ten qualified voters, and I don't advise Stacy Leeds, who I support in her race against Chad Smith in next June's election. However, if I had the ear of the prince and Ms. Watson's brain fart managed to catch fire among the other Americans -- to end the existing treaties -- I'd advise that was worth looking into. Setting the clock back to 1822, before Marshall and Johnson formally committed the former British colonies to banditry outside of International Law, or 1789, or 1776, when the British Crown surrendered its claims under the right of Discovery against non-Christian Kings and right of War against Christian Kings (the Dutch and the French) to the Americas south of the Red Line, or even back to de Soto, would be an improvement over the perpetuation of the present.

If Rep. Watson's concern is with the legality of exclusion, rather than the fiction of race, she could look at the Pechenga, an hour's drive from her district office on Wilshire Boulevard, or any of the other California Tribes struggling with membership issues, rather than eastern Oklahoma, where Indians couldn't vote for any Federal office for half of the time between the 1861-1865 Insurrection and the present, and could not vote for any Cherokee governmental office for three quarters of the 20th century.

Unless spin is all.

Posted by EBW at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The voters in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon began voting today, for the first time before the voters in Metropolitan France.

Le Soir (a Belgian paper and therefore free to publish polling data) has the latest polls by Sofres, IPSOS, IFOP and CSA. All four show Le Pen (National Front) steady at between 10% 15% , the same showing the National Front has had for the past four months, and all four show François Bayrou, the surprise center-right candidate of the Union Democratic Francais, down from a peak of 24% in the first week of March to between 15% and 20%.

The Friday polling data, which can't be published in France under the STFU rule on media manipulation of the election, shows Sarkozy and Royal winning the first round, with the widely anticipated Sarko over Royal outcome of the second round.

Tant pis pour la gauche. The wrong candidate won the primary, triangulation and not knowing what to do before polling data arrives simply isn't very galvanizing.

Posted by EBW at 09:59 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Wouldn't it be neat if every candidate, Nader included, got the same amount of paid radio and television media? Wouldn't it be cool if we had run-off voting, so that one could vote "Green" or "Socialist" or "Anarchist" or ... and still vote for the better of the two major parties? Wouldn't it be wicked if the media had to STFU before calling Florida for Bush or Ohio for Bush or where ever the next SCOTUS-promoted fraud steals the election?

That's how it works in France, and the media in France (but not Belgium or Switzerland) is now in the black-out period until 20h, heure de Paris, Sunday the 22nd, when the results of the first round will be announced.

I've no idea at all how its going to turn out. The standard script is the left and right parties take 30% plus each, and proceed to the second round. Only in this cycle, there is a third choice that is neither somewhat left nor right, and the rules are still the two top vote getters advance to the second tour. So it could be the right vs the somewhat left, or it could be the right vs ... the somewhat right. For that matter, it could be the somewhat right vs the somewhat left.

No one knows how the extreme right will really play. Will they play it straight and go for their historic high of 15% or so, and become a party somewhere between the noise of the under 5% parties (Greens, Other Greens, Communists, Other Communists, Royalists, etc.) and the 30% of the major parties, a "fourth force", and toss their lot in with the right in the second round? Or will they make sure the right dominates the first round, and play early, or will they decide to historically knock out the right, play early and hard, and offer the somewhat right two awkward choices -- win with them or lose without them?

The minor parties on the left have the same choices, but with a quarter of the polling data strength of the single major party of the extreme right.

If everyone plays according to the rules, the polling data has the right beating the somewhat left in the 2nd round by 2xMOE.

Posted by EBW at 10:18 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

This morning Jonah took me outside for a dawn (plus one cup of coffee offset) walk. First he took me to Zeke's Peak, a gentle incline. I deferred when he wanted to traverse the minor arrete to descend on the other side of the formation -- an easy walk, except when done by two, holding hands, and I didn't want to let Jonah, who crowhops and closes one eye and squints with the other and reverses back and forth over distances of a few yards without notice and who winds his two crossed arms like a possessed windmill every few minutes, I didn't want Jonah to try this little cake walk with 20' roadrash potential on either side on his own.

Then he asked to go upstairs, meaning the nature trail at the south end of the camp, which he, Gracie and I did yesterday, climbing up the sandstone and on to the top of a nearby lava covered ridge. But he wanted to go along the major arrete that is formed by the cliffs on both sides of the formation shown in MB's first photo below. Again, while it is a cake walk, the 200' roadrash potential on either side brought me to a halt, so we turned and went in the direction of Whistler Ridge and beyond, towards Hagan Canyon, stopping to visit a watercourse where the lava is smoothed by water-borne sand, to the point where the water and sand jump and fall down a sheer cliff, where we turned and returned.

It was a pleasant walk with him, we don't really use language when we're alone, and I have to focus on the reality of enjoyment of what we have, not fixation on language drills at every conceivable, and many inconceivable turns.

As we walked past the cliffs, and just in passing, this is where the director/producer of Jurassic Park placed the "Badlands" of "North Dakota", which is a reasonable use of artistic license, and where the writer of Jurassic Park placed a raptor fossil, which as Sam knows better than I, raptors evolved in what is now central Asis, and have never been found in the Americas (or Antarctica, Africa, West Asia, Europe or Greenland), which is an unreasonable use of artistic license, I was struck by the self-similarity of the erosion.

The remarkable thing is that primates sense structure in something as random as the erosion of capstone and softer understone layers. Yes, it looks like repeated colonnades. Yes, it looks like temples in South Asia, whether Buddhist or Hindu. Yes, it looks like ... Bach's Tocatta in Fugue ... theme repeated and repeated and repeated in variation. But the amazing point isn't what it resembles, its that it sembles at all.

Five egrets watched us leave, perched just over the road on a black lava outcrop, white on black, and as out of place in the desert as people on the moon.

Posted by EBW at 01:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

That's not a rhetorical question, by the way. I've been thinking about it a lot these days, particularly since my recent education regarding the stealth efforts by oil, gas and electric companies to have Congress put tribes in their "proper place" regarding corporate "rights of way" on tribal land. Now, this morning, via Indianz.com, I ran across this article on the Seneca upping the ante over the state thruway in Western New York:

Senecas demand new deal on land used by Thruway
Call issue separatefrom dispute overtobacco, gasoline
By Lou Michel and Tom Precious
Updated: 04/20/07 7:47 AM

CATTARAUGUS INDIAN RESERVATION - The Seneca Nation of Indians has no intention of ever collecting cigarette taxes for the state, and its leader raised the ante Thursday in the high stakes poker game by saying the tribe could erect its own toll booth along the section of Thruway on Seneca territory.

"If any taxes are going to be collected, it may be our taxes in the form of a toll booth," Seneca Nation President Maurice John Sr. said at a news conference to outline why the tribal council has withdrawn the easement it gave the state allowing the Thruway Authority to cross reservation land near Silver Creek.

Although John's words seemed confrontational, he and other Senecas say they want to sit down and negotiate. The Senecas say they have no intentions of disrupting traffic on the Thruway or utilities that cross the reservations.

In addition to a new compensation package for the Thruway right of way, they want to discuss the ongoing controversy over tobacco and gasoline products.

...

In 1954, the state paid the Senecas $75,000 and agreed to compensate individual members whose land was taken for the Thruway. But the individual payments, tribe officials say, never were made.

"A lot of Senecas have passed away waiting to get paid for the land the New York State Thruway took," John said of the 300 acres. "One of the individuals was my great-aunt Hattie Halftown."

John said the Senecas might consider resolving the dispute by accepting annual payments from the state or perhaps additional land to accommodate the tribe's growing population.

The Senecas' tribal courts also need to examine easements for numerous other roads and utility rights of way running through reservation lands to make sure they are valid, John said.

The Seneca are playing hard ball, and probably making a lot of tribes around the country, particularly in Western states, very nervous. Why? Because El Paso Oil and Gas lobbyists, including Pete Domenici's former staffer Marco Gonzales, were able to get Domenici to include in the 2005 Energy Policy Bill the requirement that the DoI and DoE perform a study of corporate right-of-ways on tribal land, and the purported impact should tribes up the price of leasing said land, or even outright refusing to renew leases, whether out of spite for previous slights or in lieu of their own monetary interests, e.g., tribes running their own energy companies on reservation land. While the first draft of the "study", known as Section 1813, appeared to favor tribal interests, energy companies hit back hard with comments, and a new revised "draft" is due out any day.

One would think that with Democrats in power in Congress, Indians would have less to fear. That may be marginally true, but it's critical to note that the new chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources is Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). Bingaman was the largest Democratic beneficiary of energy company campaign contributions during the last cycle, and has already shown his stripes in opposing a "House-passed bill designed to fix a loophole that gave $10 billion in royalty breaks to companies that drill on federal land." Despite the significant American Indian population in New Mexico, as well as the fact the Dine are the largest holders of trust land leased out to resource extraction and energy interests, Bingaman cannot be counted on to support tribal interests over those of his campaign contributors.

On top of Congressional concerns, there is the problem with a Supreme Court which has not issued a significant pro-sovereignty ruling in 25 or more years, particularly under the Indian-hating Rehnquist Court. One could argue that the SCOTUS should be the refuge of the oppressed minority, but who would now make that claim in light of the latest Roberts' Court ruling on the medical options of health-endangered pregnant women?

So back to the original question - just how far should tribes go in protecting their sovereign status? And how far would purported non-Indian Progressives go in supporting them? I have my own views, which, if written on this blog would probably have me tossed in jail under the US Patriot Act. But I'm curious as to the general sentiment in the lefty blogosphere, and to know if Senecas really began to play hardball, and blocked the NY Thruway, how many of you would support them, [particularly if it meant you had to take a different route, or pay $0.05 at the pump?]

Posted by MB Williams at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Hard to believe the answer is anything but "yes":

Three days after guilty plea, Griles ties the knot
By Mike Soraghan
April 20, 2007

Two Bush administration officials who have been linked in scandal are now linked in wedlock.

The union of former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles and Sue Ellen Wooldridge could have implications for the investigation into Griles’s ties to ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

They were married March 26, three days after Griles pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about his relationship with Abramoff and a previous romantic partner. Wooldridge was the top environmental prosecutor at the Department of Justice (DoJ) before she resigned in January.

Legal experts note that people can refuse to testify against their spouses, and that in some cases, people can prevent their spouse from testifying against them.

"There have been plenty of cases where marriage was a good strategy for a criminal defendant,” said Jonathan Turley, a George Washington University law professor. But he added, “It’s plausible they simply picked an odd time to wed."

Such "spousal privilege" can be waived in a plea agreement requiring a defendant to cooperate with an ongoing investigation like the Abramoff investigation, said Roscoe Howard, a former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, now with Troutman Sanders in Washington.

Griles's guilty plea does not include any requirement that he cooperate in the investigation. It does include likely prison time.

The plea agreement Griles entered into only covers his lying to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, essentially McCain and Dorgan. It does not cover any of the other various crimes to which he might also be a party, with or without the knowledge of his current wife, also the former Solicitor of the Interior and Counsel to the Secretary (Norton), prior to being Associate Attorney General of the Natural Resources and Environmental division of the DoJ.

Talk about thumbing your nose at the DoJ Public Integrity section. But seeing that they've a new head (the fifth in four years) hand-picked by Gonzales, don't expect much to come of it, other than perhaps new china and congratulatory flowers.

Posted by MB Williams at 10:17 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

via David Woodbury's Of Battlefields and Bibliophiles, via Mark Grimsley's Blog Them Out of the Stone Ageis this gem at The Onion.

In The Know: Our Troops In Iraq

Of course, the Maine 20th might not settle for taking Little Round Top this time, and might decide to march on Washington City instead. The war wasn't lost in Iraq. It was lost at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and across the river, at 48 N. Rotary Road, Arlington, Virginia, in the E-Wing, 3rd-Deck.

Posted by EBW at 10:41 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

The reckoning for the day is now in excess of 200. The run for the week has been higher than average, both for the Occupation Forces, and for the Occupied Population.

The conflict between the Islamic State of Iraq (al-Qaeda) and the Islamic Army of Iraq, Ansar al-Sunna is in the open, Marc Lynch has been writing about it for a week at Abu Aardvark, and there is nothing to suggest that more than a few people writing in English are aware that anything is going on at all.

As if the daily reckoning was produced by a random number generator ...

Posted by EBW at 10:37 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Blame Chris Clarke...Once introduced to the Mojave, we now can't stay away. We've been planning our escape ever since we returned to the coast north of LA so that Eric could finish up his current job contract. He has one more job site visit, but not until the beginning of May, so we took the opportunity, packed up and bolted. Even as we headed up the Santa Clara river, I, the navigator, still had no idea where exactly we were heading. It wasn't until about 3pm today I decided upon Red Rock Canyon, 20 miles north of Mojave. I'm so very glad I did.

The first picture is the backdrop for our campsite; the second, looking out from our campsite at a lovely Joshua tree field, backlit by the some of the park's amazing geological features.

Note: The satellite dish is low to the ground and heavily weighted down - yes, it's wicked windy out here.

Posted by MB Williams at 08:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

John Roberts couldn't give a meaningful answer to Joe Biden's questions:

1. Does Congress have the Constitutional authority to end wars?
2. Does Congress have authority over the Military?

We now know the answer to another question. Does Congress have authority over third-trimester abortions? There never was a question with Alito.

Roberts, Alito, Kennedy, Scalia and Thomas. The later three also voted to overturn the 2000 election.

So what was the point of not filibustering?

Posted by EBW at 10:53 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I knew this wasn't far off, when the media began the ethnicity harping of the Virginia Tech shooter:

Asians fear backlash after Virginia Tech
17 Apr 2007 17:58:25 GMT
Source: Reuters

BLACKSBURG, Va., April 17 (Reuters) - Virginia Tech student Jiyoun Yoo was terrified when she heard a gunman had rampaged through her campus, killing 32 people. When news broke on Tuesday that the gunman was a South Korean student, her fear took a new direction.

"I'm from South Korea, so I am a little bit scared," said Yoo, 24, as she walked on campus. Only one person was responsible for the massacre, she said, "but maybe it will affect all South Korean students."

The gunman who carried out the worst shooting rampage in modern U.S. history was identified as Cho Seung-Hui, 23, an English literature student. He had lived legally in the United States with his parents for 14 years, a U.S. immigration official said.

Yoo, a petite graduate student with long black hair, said she didn't know the gunman and none of her Korean friends had heard of him either.

"If he speaks Korean, we'd maybe know him, but none of us does," she said. She said her family in Seoul had called overnight, very concerned Yoo might be a target if there was a backlash against Asian students at Virginia Tech.

"It is big news in South Korea. Yesterday they were worried if I'm safe, now they are worried there might be a risk that I'm South Korean," said Yoo.

In Seoul, the South Korean government also expressed fears of a backlash.

"We are working closely with our diplomatic missions and local Korean residents' associations in anticipation of any situation that may arise," a Foreign Ministry official said.

South Korea has the largest number of foreign students in the United States -- nearly 15 percent -- according to the U.S. Customs and Enforcement Web site.

I think it would be an interesting research project for someone with LexisNexis access to see how often the race/ethnicity of mass murders such as Timothy McVeigh, Eric Robert Rudolph, George Hennard, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold was mentioned after their crimes. Then compare that with the last twenty-four hours of reporting on Cho Seung-Hui.

Posted by MB Williams at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

In the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd days of the 33 Day War, Tsahal dispersed over a million cluster munitions in Southern Lebanon. This was after the decision was made to end the war. The Belgian elements of the UNIFIL, as Ha'aretz notes, has been doing the de-mining work (20,262 separate explosive devices from 14 August 2006 to 14 January 2007, about 1,000 devices/week in January), and is going to bill the {Zionist Entity|Jewish State|State of Israel} for costs.

Last October Hman Rights Watch alleged that 113 instances of cluster munition use by the Islamic Resistance Movement in Lebanon (IRML) against targets south of the Lebanese border. The de-mining operation has found no evidence in 9 months to support that particular HRW allegation. I'm curious if HRW was being Fox-balanced in the August-October time-frame, or what their current wisdom is on IRML use of cluster munitions.

See also Banned by Belgium.

Posted by EBW at 10:47 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

A cooperative of one is as comedic as a draft campaign of one, so I'm going to return {blog,colo}.coop to the .coop registry. My "job" next week is the FEC paperwork for a PAC that failed.

Posted by EBW at 06:45 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Figured I'd better start a new compilation thread to track the responses to Kos' non-response.

skippy the anti-misogynist marsupial nails it right off the mark.
Mark at Norwegianity pulls out his blue pencil.
Steven D. at Booman Tribune is underwhelmed.
Alice at GOTV is compiling as well.
Trifecta at New PairODimes calls cowchips on it all.
Ntodd at Dohiyi Mir dittos.
Jeff at Blog of the Moderate Left pulls out his geometry book.
Terrance at The Republic of T has quite a bit to say on the matter, all of it good.
The Blogging Curmudgeon draws parallels between Kos and another autocrat with a band of merry sychophants.
Chris at Creek Running North and Pandagon goes all Shakespeare on us.
Reno and Its Discontents thinks sometimes, silence is golden...
Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News is not amused.

I'll get caught up with the growing list in a few hours - today was moving day, and I'm off to replenish the pantry.

Posted by MB Williams at 02:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)

Two issues stand out to my reading: Section 2(b), which does not extinguish a right to petition for federal recognition by any group of Indians residing in Robeson and adjoining counties, and Section 5, the civil and criminal law jurisdictions.

Compare the criminal and civil law jurisdictions of the H.R. 65 and PL 280.

First, H.R. 65:SEC. 5. (a) The State of North Carolina shall exercise jurisdiction over (1) all criminal offenses that are committed on; and (2) all civil actions that arise on, lands located within the State of North Carolina that are owned by, or held in trust by the United States for, the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, or any dependent Indian community of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. (b) The Secretary of the Interior is authorized to accept on behalf of the United States, after consulting with the Attorney General of the United States any transfer by the State of North Carolina to the United States of any portion of the jurisdiction of the State of North Carolina described in paragraph (1) pursuant to an agreement between the Lumbee Tribe and the State of North Carolina. Such transfer of jurisdiction may not take effect