Native Arapaho Speakers

was actually published first by

http://www.bloglingua.com/native-arapaho-speakers/

On Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, the Northern Arapaho tribe is struggling to preserve its language.

As with many Native American tribes, Arapaho children were forced into boarding schools started in the late 1800’s in an effort to make them more “American.” Of course, that’s really pretty ironic if you think about it, considering that their ancestors colonized America thousands of years before the ancestors of the people who tried to “Americanize” them even knew this continent existed.

However, the goal of the boarding schools was to make Native Americans give up their culture and be more like the “civilized” English-speaking whites.

At the boarding schools, traditional Native American hairstyles were forbidden. So was the Arapaho language-students were punished harshly for speaking it. These practices persisted even until the 1940’s and ‘50s. As a result, there are no native Arapaho speakers under the age of 55. Knowledge of the Arapaho tongue has basically skipped a generation, although adults are learning it now as a second language. The New York Times reports that in an attempt to save the language, the Arapaho are opening a school for children where classes will be taught only in Arapaho. At first, the school will teach pre-Kindergarten to 1st grade, but will start taking in progressively older students over time if everything goes according to plan.

Hopefully, the immersion environment provided by the schools will create a new generation of Arapaho speakers. The American government’s attempt to extinguish Native American culture has done some serious damage and left many tribes with a legacy of poverty and social problems.

One interesting tidbit mentioned in this New York Times article was that fluency in native tribal languages has been tied to better academic achievement in Native American kids.

http://www.bloglingua.com/native-arapaho-speakers/

Destroying the Environment Is Also a War Crime

by Steven Freeland

On November 5, 2001, the United Nations declared November 6 of each year as the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.

History has been witness to many deliberate acts to destroy or exploit the natural environment to achieve military goals. In the 5th century BC the retreating Scythians poisoned the water wells in an effort to slow the advancing Persian army. Roman troops razed the city of Carthage in 146 BC and poisoned the surrounding soil with salt to prevent its future cultivation. The American Civil War saw the widespread implementation of ”scorched earth” policies.

In August 1945 the United States detonated atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulting in massive loss of life and environmental destruction. During the Vietnam War, the US implemented Operation Ranch Hand, to devastating effect, to destroy vegetation used by its enemy for cover and sustenance, using chemicals such as Agent Orange.

Lambda and ACLU File Lawsuit to Stop Proposition 8

Lambda and ACLU File Lawsuit to Stop Proposition 8

Thu Nov 6 2008 Fight for Same-Sex Marriage Is Not Over

California Proposition 8 appears headed for approval. The Proposition would amend the California constitution to specify that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. Voters also passed gay marriage bans in Arizona and Florida.

On Friday November 7th in San Francisco there will be a No On 8 rally at 5:30 pm at Civic Center, followed by a march to Dolores Park. More Info…

Lambda Legal Defense, The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) have urged the California Supreme Court to invalidate Proposition 8 if it passes. The groups argue that Prop. 8 is invalid because it improperly attempts to undo the constitution’s core commitment to equality and deprives the courts of their essential role of protecting the rights of minorities. According to the California Constitution, such a radical change in the way the courts and state government work cannot be decided by a simple ballot measure. The legal groups filed the writ petition on behalf of Equality California and six same-sex couples.

The California Constitution sets out two ways to alter the document that sets the most basic rules about how state government works. Through the initiative process, voters can make relatively small changes to the constitution. But any measure that would change the underlying principles of the constitution must first be approved by the legislature before being submitted to the voters.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/11/06/18549278.php

Another Nuclear project faces money squeeze

Money,money, money, everyone needs money. Read about this Nuclear projects money problems.

Please read article, cited after the quote. Articles open in a new window.

“With the economy tanking and loans scarce, having to borrow billions of dollars would seem a bit daunting.

But that’s what South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. and its partner, Santee Cooper, are facing as they move forward with plans to add two, 1,117-megawatt reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station at Jenkinsville.”

http://www.thestate.com/local/story/578642.html

LETTER:Nuclear energy, radiation not safe

Yet another positive letter about the dangers on nuclear energy and radiation.

Please read article, cited after the quote. Articles open in a new window.

“Many people think that damage is only what is seen or can be visibly verified. This is not the case. Numerous things have been approved by the US government (Agent Orange, Red Dye 45) that were deadly. Their effects were not noticed until they were already in use. One of my examples, Agent Orange, was a military test project, so some people can dismiss it by saying it was an experimental unknown in the first place.”

http://www.mountainhomenews.com/story/1475665.html

Russell Means: Republic of Lakotah vindicated

While Theresa Two Bulls gathered the top votes, Russell Means says his 45 percent vote in the Oglala Sioux presidential race vindicates the Republic of Lakotah

From: Russell Means Freedom Campaign
david@russellmeansfreedom.com

Oglala Sioux Tribal Presidential Race
• 55% for Theresa Two Bulls the incumbent State Senator, on the “same old, same old” colonial ticket.
• 45% for Russell Means on the Freedom Ticket of obeying the laws (including Article VI of the United States Constitution) of the Country and Tribe.
• 45% of this Tribe voted for Freedom! This vindicates the Republic of Lakotah in the eyes of the the colonized tribal government and establishment press who claimed the Republic of Lakotah, and specifically Russell Means, did not have “official sanctions.”
• Our strategy will continue on the other Lakotah Indian Reservations when we run candidates on the same platform in their elections.
• No longer can the colonized “vichy” Indians claim we don’t represent or speak for anyone.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
.
Keloland TV reports: “Democratic state Senator Theresa Two Bulls has defeated Indian activist and actor Russell Means for the presidency of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Tuesday’s election results showed Two Bulls with 2,227 votes and Means with 1,970 votes.Two Bulls, who also ran for re-election to her state Senate seat but was defeated by Republican Representative Jim Bradford of Pine Ridge, will succeed John Yellow Bird Steele as tribal leader.

http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2008/11/russell-means-republic-of-lakotah.html

Deadly nerve agent destroyed, finally

Deadly nerve agent destroyed, finally

Please read article, cited after the quote. Articles open in a new window.

“No more nerve gas remains at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.The last of the deadly agent was destroyed at 2:58 p.m. Wednesday after four years of work. Now the depot is ready to move on to its stockpile of less lethal mustard blister agent”

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/kennewick_pasco_richland/story/374985.html

Rainforest Fungus Makes Diesel Compounds From Cellulose

Rainforest Fungus Makes Diesel Compounds From Cellulose

BOZEMAN, Montana, November 4, 2008 (ENS) – A unique fungus that makes diesel compounds directly from cellulose has been discovered living in trees in the Patagonian rainforest.

“These are the first organisms that have been found that make many of the ingredients of diesel,” said Professor Gary Strobel from Montana State University. “This is a major discovery.”

The discovery may offer an alternative to fossil fuels, said Strobel, MSU professor of plant sciences and plant pathology, who travels the world looking for exotic plants that may contain beneficial microbes. The find is even bigger, he said, than his 1993 discovery of fungus that contained the anticancer drug taxol.

Strobel’s paper, published in the November issue of the journal “Microbiology,” is based on his discovery of the unique properties of the Patagonian fungus, called Gliocladium roseum.

Professor Gary Strobel in the Patagonian rainforest (Photos courtesy Gary Strobel)

“Gliocladium roseum lives inside the Ulmo tree in the Patagonian rainforest,” Strobel begins, telling the story of how he and his team learned that they had found an entirely new source of fuel.

“We were trying to discover totally novel fungi in this tree by exposing its tissues to the volatile antibiotics of the fungus Muscodor albus,” Strobel recounts. “Quite unexpectedly, G. roseum grew in the presence of these gases when almost all other fungi were killed. It was also making volatile antibiotics.”

“Then when we examined the gas composition of G. roseum, we were totally surprised to learn that it was making a plethora of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon derivatives. The results were totally unexpected and very exciting and almost every hair on my arms stood on end!”

Strobel calls the fuel produced by the fungus “myco-diesel,” from the Greek-derived root word for the study of fungi – mycology.

“This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances,” said Strobel. “The fungus can even make these diesel compounds from cellulose, which would make it a better source of biofuel than anything we use at the moment.”

Twice the price quoted for Duke Energy Carolinas

Twice the price quoted for Duke Energy Carolinas

Please read article, cited after the quote. Articles open in a new window.

“Duke Energy Carolinas has raised the expected construction costs of its proposed Lee Nuclear Station to $11 billion, excluding financing costs. That’s roughly twice the company’s original estimates.

Based on the financing costs for Duke’s new coal-powered unit at Cliffside Steam Station, financing expenses would increase the nuclear plant’s price to more than $14 billion.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2008/11/03/daily21.html

DOE cleanup chief Quits- Hanford

Jim Rispoli decied to call it quits in Hanford today.

Please read article, cited after the quote. Articles open in a new window.

“Jim Rispoli, the Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for environmental management, told colleagues today that he’s resigning effective Nov. 20.

As assistant secretary, he heads DOE programs for cleanup at Hanford and other nuclear weapon sites.”

http://www.tri-cityherald.com/945/story/373255.html