I woke up many days ago and started to wonder, what would life be like if simple concepts that we take as laws never existed. One of these concepts was “ownership”.

The current human system of living is based on the concept of “ownership”.

Let’s just take a moment to examine what ownership can lead to:

Ownership of things ->

The concept of property ->

Exchange, barter and money ->

Concentrated abundance and lack ->

Wealth & security vs. lack & insecurity, rich and poor ->

Working hard, innovation, competition to own property ->

Greed, hording, over abundance ->

Living for money, in seek for security and living for money, in seek of power ->

Security & power = “more ownership” ->

Unfairness, un-equality, abuse, war, crime, injustice, lies, greed, selfishness & the control and “ownership” of the ultimate property, “people”.

In summary, the invention of the concept of “ownership” lead to the creation of the idea of “rich” and “poor”, amongst many other generally negative ideas (war, taking over property of others, greed, control).

In order for a few to become wealthy, rich, secure, powerful and owners of the most property, the concentration of property must be with the wealthy, it follows that many others must “lack” in “monetary wealth”, security, power, and ownership.

.

Many native people lived in communities that shared things. They did not understand, respect or seek “profit”.

.

Jesus once said:

…I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. (Matthew 19:24)

The saying was a response to a young rich man who had asked Jesus what he needed to do in order to inherit eternal life.

Jesus replied that he should 1- keep the commandments, 2- sell all his possessions, 3- give the money to the poor, 4- and then follow Jesus. The young man was unwilling to do this. Jesus then spoke this response, leaving his disciples astonished.

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WEDNESDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) — A Congressional investigation of dietary herbal supplements has found trace amounts of lead, mercury and other heavy metals in nearly all products tested, plus myriad illegal health claims made by supplement manufacturers, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The levels of heavy metal contaminants did not exceed established limits, but investigators also discovered troubling and possibly unacceptable levels of pesticide residue in 16 of 40 supplements, the newspaper said.

Products that purport to treat or relieve disease must go through strict reviews because they are considered drugs by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

One witness scheduled to testify, Dr. Tod Cooperman, president of ConsumerLab.com, said supplements with too little of the indicated ingredients and those contaminated with heavy metals are the major problems. In testing more than 2,000 dietary supplements from some 300 manufacturers, his lab has found that one in four has quality problems.

Commentary:

I was unable to find any information naming the supplements or supplement companies that tested positive for contamination (so I can avoid them).  I am perplexed why the research findings were not shared. I am more concerned about contamination than the so called misleading claims.We live in a world full of claims, one must do their own research to verify such claims.

I believe that one cannot say all supplement companies sell contaminated products.

Source: http://health.usnews.com/health-news/managing-your-healthcare/policy/articles/2010/05/26/many-supplements-said-to-contain-toxins-make-false-health-claims.html

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This post was written on May 18th, and it was titled “BP Oil Disaster Reminder That We Must End the Ignorant Dependence on Fossil Fuels Now”. This article was sparked by the BP oil spill disaster. I hesitated to publish it, until now. This ongoing disaster is becoming larger and more damaging by the day, just as I expected.

..

I am saying this online and on record:

We need to learn how to end society’s dependence on Fossil Fuels

I, for one, am willing to change my lifestyle in order to give up fossil fuels

Will you join me?

..

Do you understand the importance on fossil fuels?

Everything in our so called “modern” society is dependent on fossil fuels and cheap energy.  Everything, from food production, farming, vehicles, plastics, street signs, lawn mowers, kitchenware, baby products, toys, computers, cell phones, homes, siding, roofing, streets, buildings, food chains, paper, heating and cooling, airplanes, books, electronics, travel, hospitals and medicine, etc..

We live in a world that we have built with fossil fuels

..

Our whole modern life would not exist as it is now if it wasn’t for fossil fuels

..

I know the importance of fossil fuels, yet I am willing to give it all up in order to co-exist with nature, to live in harmony with earth and my human relatives, to live responsibly, and to get rid of mindless consumption, and runoff profit mongering and end aggressive power struggles.

..

The world’s economic system and the profit-making mechanisms, even so called modernity and progress depend heavily if not completely on fossil fuels.

To give up fossil fuels is to experience drastic shifts in the way business is done, in the way government is done, in the way profit is made, and in the way people exist on day to day basis.

Giving up fossil fuels means more than a loss in dollars for corporations and the elite of this world, it also means a loss of power and control over people, like you.

..

Did you know this fact:

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I mentioned in a previous article that the Mr. McElroy was to tape and publish a testimony validating a meeting between president Eisenhower with extraterrestrials. The youtube video has just been release!!

Former Legislator Makes Taped Statement on Un-Released Eisenhower Brief Henry W. McElroy, Jr Regarding the Presence of Extraterrestrials in the USA

.. it informed President Eisenhower of the continued presence of extraterrestrial beings here in the United States of America.   The brief seemed to indicate that a meeting between the President and some of these visitors could be arranged as appropriate if desired. The tone of the brief indicated to me that there was no need for concern, ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrK2YgfjnHo

This is the transcript to the speech made on May 8, 2010, at Fort Monroe, Virginia

Gateway to Freedom

Hello, I’m speaking with you from Fort Monroe, Virginia.  We’re also known as The Gateway to Freedom.

We sit right next to a little town called Phoebus, Virginia.  Interestingly, they call themselves The Gateway to the New World.

Phoebus sits inside of Hampton, Virginia whose motto is First from the Sea, First to the Stars.

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NEWS:

A couple weeks ago a friend told me that the former house representative New Hampshire, Henry McElroy, was preparing to make a statement to nation validating a meeting between president Eisenhower with extraterrestrials.

“He saw the brief to Eisenhower, the government showed it to all politicians”…

This announcement, by coincidence, is going to be made from Ft Monroe, Va.  Also known as “The Gateway to the New World”

Today,

The news was:

We have filmed the video. It is being produced for YouTube. There will be a website available with the transcript of the speech available both on my site and on YouTube.

And,

The public has been waiting for a formal statement from the government

On the existence of extraterrestrials.

At the current time,

A former

State Representative

for

New Hampshire

Has agreed to come forward and address this issue.

We expect to have this video online by May 15th, 2010

Once the video is on youtube you are encouraged to share it with others.

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Year after year, attempts (sometimes successful ones) are made to set limitations on healing modality, healing techniques, healing technologies and healers. From restrictions on organic farming to supplements, sometimes these restrictions written into law deny you from the right to choose.

Sometimes it’s the congress, other times it’s the courts (due to a lawsuit by corporations that want to safeguard their profit potential), other times is the state government. Whether they are being paid money by special interest (corporations and corporate-sponsored non profits) to motivate them, or whether they simply are trying to protect people, that’s a topic I don’t have an answer for. Ultimately, remember to follow the money, corporations pay both attorneys and politicians who then influence the creation of new laws. So, who’s making the laws and to who’s benefit?

Human empowerment, freedom and health should always be put before profits or corporations. We the people, are the ones that should make the laws, not corporations.

Here’s one of these attempts, this time by Congressman Waxman (D) to expand the powers of the FTC. He slipped his amendment into the Finance Reform Bill. This kind of tagging unrelated issues to some bill, a high profile bill this time, must be banned.  What does financial reform have to do with supplements? the supplement industry is not the one that crashed the economy, it was the financial institutions that did that.  The Dems really want to pass the Finance Reform Bill; I am worried this anti-vitamin amendment may pass into law.

Worth reading:

Title: Health freedom alert: Congressman Waxman sneaks anti-vitamin amendment into Wall Street reform bill

(NaturalNews) Of all the sneaky tactics practiced in Washington D.C., this recent action by Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) is one of the most insidious: While no one was looking, he injected amendment language into the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 4173) that would expand the powers of the FTC (not the FDA, but the FTC) to terrorize nutritional supplement companies by greatly expanding the power of the FTC to make its own laws that target dietary supplement companies.

This is a little-known secret about the FTC and the nutritional supplements business: The FTC routinely targets nutritional supplement companies that are merely telling the truth about their products. Some companies are threatened by merely linking to published scientific studies about their products.

For example, here’s an important article that describes how to FDA criminally extorts money out of supplement companies: http://www.naturalnews.com/024567_h…

The FTC does much the same thing. They target a particular company that’s having success in the natural products marketplace, then they accuse that company of “inferring” that their products have some health benefit. From there, the FTC demands that the company engage in paying a massive fine to the FTC, which the FTC calls “consumer redress” even though none of the money actually goes to the consumers.

If you try to fight the FTC, they haul you into their own special “FTC courts” which are not public courts where you have the benefit of a jury, but rather they are courts where the judges are actually FTC employees and you have no rights. You are essentially guilty until proven innocent, and virtually no one has been found innocent by the FTC.

If the King says you’re guilty, then you’re guilty

The FTC also forces you to sign a “consent decree” which involves you admitting to committing crimes that you have actually never committed. These crimes include the “criminal misrepresentation of a product” by, for example, explaining that walnuts help support healthy cholesterol levels or that cherries ease symptoms of inflammation.

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This is my message to Arizonans,

With a spirit of love and concern, I write this letter hoping that you’d consider these viewpoints:

These ‘aliens’ are human beings equal in humanity to you.

These ‘aliens’ pay taxes, many do, yet they will never collect social security benefits.

These ‘aliens’ wash your cars, mow your lawns, pick your food in farms and even cook your food.

These ‘aliens’ get paid with pennies (so some business owner can make money or pass the savings on to you)

The problem is at the US border, not Arizona.

These ‘aliens’ come here to work because businesses hire them so they can keep costs down.

These ‘aliens’ are here only to work, they are NOT terrorists, and they work very hard. Harder than anyone should.

These ‘Latinos’ are NATIVE to this continent, they did not come from Europe

Their ancestors were here in excess of 12000 years ago, before your ancestors invaded their land and declared it your property.

Jesus himself would treat every human equally and judge them on their humanity and character not their immigration status or wealth. Jesus didn’t care what a persons nationality, immigration status was. He accepted everyone, especially the poor. These ‘aliens’ ARE poor because they don’t get paid much. We all know this.

Why don’t you act like Jesus asked you to? He talked to the poor, healed the sick, gave food to the hungry and talked with the lowest people in society. He asked you to love your neighbor, and love your enemy. It is easy to love someone that looks like you and thinks like you, but Jesus Christ asked us to love every human. If we love someone we don’t put them through misery, we don’t change the laws so they become a target of crimes.

Police are not immigration officers. Now immigrants will avoid reporting a crime, they may see you dying on the side of the road and not call in 911 because they don’t want to be deported. Crimes that they witness will go unreported. They will become the target of crimes (because they cant report a crime committed against them to the police).

Women will be sold and prostituted, individuals will be trafficked. These people fearing police (and deportation) will be abused. Now, you have stripped them from police protection against crimes.

Now, the police will not be able to use any witness who is an undocumented immigrant, this person wont even offer to testify. There is a reason why cops are not required to ask about a person’s immigration status.  Their job is to protect ALL people, discriminating on immigration status will hinder the cop’s mission.

Police officers, do you know how more difficult your jobs are about to become?

Seniors, do you think you can survive with no cheap labor?

These ‘illegal aliens’ are not illegal. Humans are not illegal. They may not have an immigration status, that does not make a PERSON illegal. If someone commits a crime, that does not make the person himself ‘illegal’.  They are not aliens either. Watch your language,  and watch the language being used to influence your opinions.

Arizona, your seniors wont be able to afford their life style if it wasn’t for these extremely hard working extremely low-paid immigrants. Instead of appreciating their hard work and sacrifice, you pay them pennies so you can live comfortably, this is the norm everywhere. Yet, you are embarking on something totally new, yet totally old. Now you are making your laws inhumane, to a degree that makes these people a target of crime and abuse.

Now, you have literally made them an outcast, unable to seek the most basic police protection. I know you are NOT trying to make the lives of these human being worse. Did you know that without police protection people get grabbed them by the neck, chained, enslaved, beaten, starved and worse?

Does this sound familiar to you? Having a sub-human race, working, for pennies, no police protection, fear around every corner? is this turning into modern day slavery? I am sure this is not your intention. But, do you know that to an outsider your law looks racist and one that is backward?

Women, do you want raped women to not report being RAPED for fear of being deported?  WHY then do you want the POLICE to intimidate immigrants by asking for their immigration status? You are keeping them from going to the police when they need help or protection.

Now, these women will not report being raped.

There is a REASON why police do not ask for immigration status, asking for immigration status hinders the police’s job of protecting people, and it promotes abuse and crime.

Do you think that undocumented humans do not deserve police protection from crimes committed against them?  Why?

I am sure that you are not wishing to commit crimes against undocumented immigrants, knowing they wont report your crime to the cops. Did you know that mentally ill individuals and power hungry individuals will abuse this law and abuse people?

If you think that the minorities or aliens will be the only ones exposed to abuse and crime as a result of this law, think again. The fact is you coexist with these people, crime against them will impact you in some way.  Think about it.

What were you thinking Arizona?

Will the police stop random vehicles to ask for passports? Stop every one, old white women, blond men, will they stop any WHITE person? If you answer yes, and if you are while, then do you have your passport on you at all times? Are you ready to sit in jail until someone can produce your birth certificate or passport to prove to your police that you are indeed a citizen?

Will the cops stop an American citizen that looks Mexican?

Does this citizen have to prove his citizenship all the time? Why? Is it ok because this citizen is BROWN?

Why should an American citizen of any race or color have to carry with them proof of their citizenship at all times? I have a better idea, how about implanting a citizenship micro ship?  How about that?  Be careful with what you wish for. You may become a police state, a dictator state.

Who duped you (into this police state) Arizona?

Arizona, you MUST treat others like you would like to be treated. What if it was you that was born on the other side of the border, and you had no food to eat or money to put cloths on your child’s naked body, what would you do?

Arizona, remember your place. Everything you have is a blessing from your god. Be thankful, be generous, be humane, be respectful, for one day god may just show you what it’s like not having what you have now, in order to see what an undocumented immigrant has to go through.

Be thankful and show respect to god’s creation and to humans, for you and the immigrant are equal in the eyes of god. Do not abuse people, do not pass laws that allow for the abuse of people.

~~~~~~~

I am a documented Immigrant, I am not white, and

I am NOT going to visit Arizona as long as they have such draconian laws and

a lack of respect for human beings

~~~~~~~

Arizona, if you are trying to scare away everyone that is not 100% WHITE,

congratulations, you’ve succeeded.

Arizona is on her way to becoming a 100% WHITE state

~~~~~~~

If you are not White-skinned (also if you sun-tan)

Avoid Arizona (or keep your passport on you at all times)

But, always

LOVE Arizona

~~~~~~~

Sometimes misinformation and fear make people do harmful things to others

I am sure Arizonan’s are not intentionally wanting to expose human beings to crime and abuse

~~~~~~~

Documented citizens, undocumented citizens, documented immigrants and undocumented immigrants,

all of humanity, and

every living being

I send you

love

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Because everybody deserves health care, here are some websites that may help you find health insurance if you don’t have it now:

1. The Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF)
   Co-Pay Relief Program (CPR)
   http://www.copays.org
2. Health insurance search
   http://www.ehealthinsurance.com
   
3. The Foundation for Health Coverage Education (FHCE)
   http://www.coverageforall.org
   Coverage for all through education
   
4. States with insurance pools for high-risk persons

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My dear friend of Minnesota’s environment and public health,

Can you take just a couple minutes to help save Minnesota lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater from the first serious threat of pollution by toxic Acid Mine Drainage from copper-nickel mines?  Here’s a quick-and-easy webform provided by our friends at Organic Consumers Association:  http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1839

TWIN-CITIES COMMENT-WRITING WORKSHOP  this Sunday:

Also, you and anyone you  know who might be interested are invited to attend this special comment-writing workshop Sunday, January 17, 1-4 PM in St. Paul.  Please refer others, even if you’re not likely to attend.  It is a private meeting for contributors to substantive public comments on the draft environmental impact statement, hosted by WaterLegacy.org.

This is a limited opportunity, with comment period set to close *February 3*, 2010. Your comments are critical to the project receiving the scrutiny it deserves. It would create toxic acid mine drainage for hundreds or thousands of years.

Register NOW. Be sure to state your topic(s) or area(s) of interest in the DEIS.
http://www.mepartnership.org/mep_calendar.asp?cal_id=3510

All levels of citizen participation are welcome. Some would just like to sign a form letter and hand it in. Some would like to pick a narrow topic and write comments in one hour, or stay for the duration and write extensive comments. We held a similar workshop in Cloquet last weekend, which was very well-attended and productive.  Many completed and either emailed or mailed their comments that day.

You will benefit by learning from other citizens, background and technical documents, information about PolyMet and the environmental review process, and tips to make your comments most effective. We can provide talking points and drafts.  We will facilitate according to your needs.

Professional input will be available and more is welcome.

NOTE:  Even if you may not feel comfortable submitting written comments on the EIS directly, your expertise would be very beneficial.

Meanwhile, you can demand that DNR provide adequate public participation in the environmental review process. Specifically, ask for 1) extension of the comment period from only 90 to at least 180 days; 2) more convenient and interactive public hearings around the state. Email: Stuart Arkley MDNR stuart.arkley@dnr.state.mn.us <mailto:stuart.arkley@dnr.state.mn.us>

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Very valuable – must watch:

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A series of news stories were published based upon a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, (OECD), that showed that the United States spent the most on healthcare, yet was not doing well when compared to other wealthy nations in several key areas of health measurements.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development issued a report on December 8, 2009 called the “OECD Health Data 2009: Statistics and Indicators for 30 Countries” which included a detailed study on the US healthcare system. The portion of the report specific to the US called, “OECD Health Data 2009, How Does the United States Compare”, has with it some telling statistics about the US healthcare system and the results we get for the money spent.

Some of the interesting facts uncovered by the report are the following:

The United States ranks far ahead of other OECD countries in terms of total health spending per capita, with spending of $7,290 . That represents almost two-and-a-half times greater than the other nations average of $2,964 in 2007. The next closest nation is Norway which follows, with spending of $4,763 per capita, followed by Switzerland with spending of $4,417 per capita.

The US spends 16% of its Gross Domestic Product on healthcare, compared with France, Switzerland and Germany, which allocated 11.0%, 10.8% and 10.4% of their GDP to health respectively.

The US pays a smaller portion of the health care bill from public funding than other nations. Only 45% of healthcare expenses are paid by public funds which is a much smaller amount compared to an average of 73% for other OECD nations.

Infant mortality in the US is at 6.7 deaths per 1,000 live births which is well above the average of 3.9 per 1,000 live births.

Life expectancy at birth in the U.S. was 78.1 years in 2007 which is a year less than the OECD average of 79.1, and puts the U.S. just ahead of the Czech Republic, Poland and Mexico. Norway and Switzerland have a 2 to 4 year longer life expectancy over the US.

The study also noted that drug spending has increased everywhere with the US leading the way. According to the report, per capita spending on pharmaceuticals rose by almost 50 percent over the last 10 years in OECD countries, reaching a total of $650 billion in 2007. The U.S. was the world’s biggest spender on pharmaceuticals, spending $878 per person, with Canada next at $691 per person and the OECD average at $461.

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Winona LaDuke, is an Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe) enrolled member of the Mississippi Band of Anishinaabeg and is the mother of three children. Winona is the Program Director of Honor the Earth and Founding Director of White Earth Land Recovery Project.

Leading Honor the Earth she provides vision and leadership for the organization’s Regranting Program and its Strategic Initiatives.  In addition, she has worked for two decades on the land issues of the White Earth Reservation, including litigation, over land rights in the 1980’s.  In 1989, she received the Reebok Human Rights Award, with which in part she began the White Earth Land Recovery Project.

In 1994, Winona was nominated by Time Magazine as one of America’s fifty most promising leaders under forty years of age, and has also been awarded the Thomas Merton Award in 1996, the Ann Bancroft Award, Ms. Woman of the Year Award (with the Indigo Girls in 1997), the Global Green Award, and numerous other honors. A graduate of Harvard and Antioch Universities, she has written extensively on Native American and environmental issues.

Her books include: Last Standing Woman (fiction), All Our Relations (non-fiction), In the Sugarbush (Children’s), and The Winona LaDuke Reader.

To show respect to all of her work, I post this article about Winona LaDuke under the Best Of category.

For more information, visit: http://nativeharvest.com.

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mad as hell doctors.com - Where the rubber gloves meet the road

For those who have doubts about where doctors stand on the public option, this recent survey of doctors should help.

New England Journal of Medicine: 73% support a public option

New England Journal of Medicine article

NPR:
NPR article

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Since CNN is refusing to air this ad, I am posting it here.

Tell CNN to play this ad here

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An article title We Already Have Death Panels was posted on seeking wholeness .com on August 26, 2009. You can find it here.

A few days ago, on Wednesday September 02, 2009 the California Nurses Association released another sobering study that shows clearly the so called death panels are the norm. The claims denial rates by leading California insurers were just …  (I will leave this a blank for you to fill).

Here are the percentages of denied claims:

* PacifiCare — 39.6 percent
* Cigna — 32.7 percent
* HealthNet — 30 percent
* Kaiser Permanente — 28.3 percent
* Blue Cross — 27.9 percent
* Aetna — 6.4 percent

Find the CNA/NNOC research results below:

For Immediate Release
September 2, 2009

California’s Real Death Panels: Insurers Deny 21% of Claims PacifiCare’s Denials 40%, Cigna’s 33% in First Half of 2009

More than one of every five requests for medical claims for insured patients, even when recommended by a patient’s physician, are rejected by California’s largest private insurers, amounting to very real death panels in practice daily in the nation’s biggest state, according to data released Wednesday by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee.

CNA/NNOC researchers analyzed data reported by the insurers to the California Department of Managed Care. From 2002 through June 30, 2009, six of the largest insurers operating in California rejected 47.7 million claims for care — 22 percent of all claims.

The data will be presented by Don DeMoro, director of CNA/NNOC’s research arm, the Institute for Health and Socio-Economic Policy, at CNA/NNOC’s biennial convention next Tuesday, Sept. 8 in San Francisco. The convention will also feature a panel presentation from nurse leaders in Canada, Great Britain, and Australia exploding the myths about their national healthcare systems.

“With all the dishonest claims made by some politicians about alleged ‘death panels’ in proposed national legislation, the reality for patients today is a daily, cold-hearted rejection of desperately needed medical care by the nation’s biggest and wealthiest insurance companies simply because they don’t want to pay for it,” said Deborah Burger, RN, CNA/NNOC co-president.

For the first half of 2009, as the national debate over healthcare reform was escalating, the rejection rates are even more striking.

Claims denial rates by leading California insurers, first six months of 2009:

• PacifiCare — 39.6 percent
• Cigna — 32.7 percent
• HealthNet — 30 percent
• Kaiser Permanente — 28.3 percent
• Blue Cross — 27.9 percent
• Aetna — 6.4 percent

“Every claim that is denied represents a real patient enduring pain and suffering. Every denial has real, sometimes fatal consequences,” said Burger.

PacifiCare, for example, denied a special procedure for treatment of bone cancer for Nick Colombo, a 17-year-old teen from Placentia, Calif. Again, after protests organized by Nick’s family and friends, CNA/NNOC, and netroots activists, PacifiCare reversed its decision. But like Nataline Sarkisyan, the delay resulted in critical time lost, and Nick ultimately died. “This was his last effort and the procedure had worked before with people in Nick’s situation,” said his older brother Ricky.

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Worth watching:

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This is a good cartoon video titled ‘Why We Need Government-Run Universal Socialized Health Insurance‘. It explains why we need a public health insurance option or some sort of a government-run health system in the US.

The video compares Health Insurance to the fire department in a very effective manner. I’d like to add that fire departments used to be private and for profit in Chicago, then came the Chicago fire. After the Chicago fire the fire department was socialized to distribute risk and lower cost.

It’s ironic that nowadays fire department remain socialized, and work very well. We all expect the fire fighters to show up at a phone’s call, yet when your own body, your own intestines, brains, or heart are on fire (i.e. sick/ill) you cannot get the attention needed, since the system is so very broken.

Enjoy the video:

Animated by Andy Lubershane. More comics at http://www.earthlycomics.blogspot.com

Text transcript of the video:

Why we need government-run universal, socialized, call it what you want, health insurance.

We all know from basic civil class, or just being alive, that a lot of essential services are already government-run, universal, socialized, whatever you wanna call it.

Think water treatment, police, fire, postal service, coast guard, all those things you know are gonna be there for you, every single day without even thinking about them. We all pay our taxes and the government uses the money to pay for the things everyone needs just to get by.

Now, health care is just as essential as any of these services. Sure, a few of us may be lucky enough to make it through our whole lives without any medical problem but the rest of us depend on health care at some point in our lives just to get by. Besides its essentialness, there’s another reason health insurance is just like those government run, universal, socialized, whatever you wanna call them services, that’s this: There are very very few people that can afford to pay on their own the cost of health care when disaster strikes and they or someone they love gets really really sick.

So, we all need insurance, which basically means when we pool our money together enough so what when anyone of us gets really really sick there’s enough money in the pool to pay for that person to get better, that’s insurance.

But, who should we choose to manage the pool of our money and give out our money to the people who need it? Well, private insurance companies are the ones that we are using right now, but there’s a problem. On average, these companies take 10 – 20 cents out of every dollar we put in the pool.

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Sarah Palin came out last week supposedly worried that people are going to die if health care reform occurs. She, in typical Republican fashion, dropped the term ‘death panels’.

I have news for you, death panels are already here and by doing nothing they will be here to stay. The reality now is that people are dying due to denied claims, pre-existing conditions and corporate bureaucracy that are all geared towards rationing care and maximizing profit.

When a CEO gets paid millions and gets a golden parachute on top of that, where do you think the money came from? Could it be ’sick people, in need of care, but denied it’?

The fact of the matter is that countless end up declaring bankruptcy as a result of medical debt, every minute. Over 60% of Americans declare bankruptcy due to medical bills, or die due to denied or delayed care and leave their spouses in bankruptcy. These things do not happen in other countries, maybe in third world countries, but not in industrialized countries, that is except for our country, here in the U.S.A.

We in the U.S. pay the most for medical services. We spend more money per capita on health care than any nation on Earth!  Yet we rank well below 36 other nations in timely and effective care, according to the World Health Organization. National health spending is expected to reach $2.5 trillion in 2009, accounting for 17.6 percent of the gross domestic product.

In the U.S. you get health care if you can afford it, you get care (that can mean the difference between life or death) if you can pay for it. Since the cost is skyrocketing and many are loosing their jobs, less people can afford this so called health care. In other words, less people can afford their right to life.

Is it the American way of doing things? Is American to penalize people for getting sick at no fault of their own, for being unfortunate to be in an accident or for having a birth defect? This is what’s going on now, people that cannot pay for health simply do not get health and die, or suffer, or go bankrupt or loose their homes.

Yes, I have news for you, corporate death panels exist now and they exist because they want to make profit, not to save lives.

We need to take profit out of health care or at least give people an option. Right now health insurance companies have a monopoly on all of health care industry, from ambulances, to doctors, procedures and medicine. I want more choice, I want to try a public option and compare it with what’s available now.

Froma Harrop

Believe me, “death panels” already exist, and they have nothing to do with the government.

By Froma Harrop

Please don’t take my word for it, I formed my opinion after hearing and reading many wrenching real-life stories. I will share with you just a few of these here. Horror stories of real people (like you and me) and the suffering they endured as a result of corporate bureaucracy, denial or running the clock out, these stories are in all honestly countless.

Let’s start with this story, by Froma Harrop. She wrote an Op-Ed column titled ‘Free-Market Death Panels’. I quote from her article:

“Death panels”? I’ll tell you about death panels. My husband faced one some years ago, and it didn’t involve any government bureaucrat. It was run by our private insurer, the sort of corporate entity that foes of health care reform say will give you anything you want.

My husband was diagnosed with liver cancer. We were “insured” by United Healthcare. The deal was as follows: You had to use doctors on its list, but if you needed specialized care outside the network, United’s health-maintenance organization would pay for it. Fair enough.

Read more…

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More than three out of every four Americans feel it is important to have a “choice” between a government-run health care insurance option and private coverage, according to a public opinion poll released on Thursday.

A new study by SurveyUSA puts support for a public option at a robust 77 percent, one percentage point higher than where it stood in June.

But the numbers tell another story, as well.

Earlier in the week, after pollsters for NBC dropped the word “choice” from their question on a public option, they found that only 43 percent of the public were in favor of “creating a public health care plan administered by the federal government that would compete directly with private health insurance companies.”

Rea more at Huffington Post

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My opinion on the health care debate is that a public option for health care is essential. We (Citizens) need an OPTION.

Patriot Majority is airing radio ads on progressive talk radio shows urging listeners to call their Senators and Members of Congress and tell them to support healthcare reform.  Patriot Majority’s radio ads are running on the radio shows of Bill Press, Thom Hartmann, Stephanie Miller, Mike Malloy, Ed Schultz, Alan Combs, and the Reverend Al Sharpton.

Patriot Majority was formed in 2005 and is one of the most successful issue-advocacy groups in the United States.  Patriot Majority believes it is our patriotic duty as Americans to pursue policies that strengthen our national security, boost the economy, achieve energy independence, make health care affordable, provide quality education & protect public safety.

Tell Congress to Support REAL Healthcare Reform

THURSDAY, AUGUST 20, 2009 — Congress is listening.  Make your voice heard TODAY!  Email your Senators and Member of Congress immediately and tell them that you support real healthcare reform that includes a strong public option, an employer mandate and no tax on healthcare benefits.

•    Contact your Representative now.

•    Contact your Senator now.

Send at least ten of your friends, family members and co-workers, and tell them TODAY to email their Senators and Members of Congress and tell them that it’s their patriotic duty to support real healthcare reform that includes a strong public option.

If you have not yet called your Senators or Member of Congress, please phone them at 202-224-3121.

The opponents of healthcare reform are organized and spending millions of dollars to kill the public option and the employer mandate.  Republican Dick Armey has predicted that healthcare reform will “fail spectacularly” and has called pro-reform legislators the “bedwitters caucus.”

We cannot allow the opponents of healthcare to kill reform.  Act today and urge your representatives to pass a strong public option, an employer mandate and no taxes on healthcare benefits.

Sign the patriot petition now here

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If you have not read, and memorized, the Preamble to the United States Constitution you got to read it below. It’s just a short paragraph.

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

from: wikipedia.org

Many seem to interpret this paragraph differently. I can’t help but wonder what “promote the general Welfare” means and if it include the health of citizens.

I found this interpretation on wikipedia:

In interpreting whether the proposed project constituted a “public use,” the court pointed to the Preamble’s reference to “promot[ing] the general Welfare” as evidence that “[t]he health of the people was in the minds of our forefathers.”^[19] “[T]he concerted effort for renewal and expansion of hospital and medical care centers as a part of our nation’s system of hospitals, is as a public service and use within the highest meaning of such terms. Surely this is in accord with an objective of the United States Constitution: ‘* * * promote the general Welfare.’“^[20]

18^ Ellis, 257 F. Supp. at 527.

19^ Id. at 574 (emphasis added).

20^ Kinnebrew Motor Co., 8 F. Supp. at 539 (”Reference has been made in the government’s brief to the ‘Welfare Clause‘ of the Constitution as if certain powers could be derived by Congress from said clause. It is not necessary to indulge in an extended argument on this question for the reason that there is no such thing as the ‘Welfare Clause‘ of the Constitution.”).

I have my own opinions, which you would know if you’ve been following my writings. I do agree with the interpretation posted above.

The constitution was written with the union in mind, with the ‘we the people’ in mind.  It did not say we the corporations, or we the banks, we the elite, we the white men, and certainly not we the king (president, vice president, or supreme leader).

I guess, corporations think of themselves as people nowadays. This was not what ‘we the people’ stood for however. Corporations are not people and the constitution was not written to protect their rights, rather it was written to protect people’s and the union’s rights.

“We the people”, can this phrase be stated any simpler? It is all about us, US citizens and living human beings, about our welfare, justice, domestic tranquility, general welfare, and liberty from forces (other than the WE) that want to control our lives (i.e. kings, church, corporations etc).

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Are corporations persons?  Are they normal persons, do they get sick, die, go to jail, have emotions and human rights? Let’s see.

I will not say much here, I am quoting a few sources below.

Read this and make up your own mind. Are corporations normal persons or super-powered immortal multi-locational persons?

In 1886 the Supreme Court, in the case of Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, was interpreted to have ruled that corporations were “persons”—before women were considered persons under the 19th amendment to have the right to vote.

Ever since, corporations have enjoyed most of the same constitutional rights granted to real people.

But corporations are not humans. They don’t vote. They don’t have children. They don’t die in Iraq.

The people who work for the corporations are of course real people, but the corporate “entity” should never be given equal constitutional rights to real human beings.

Even Business Week magazine, in a 2000 editorial, declared that “corporations should get out of politics.”

We cannot have equal justice under law between real people and corporations like Exxon Mobil.

Multinational corporations can be in 1000 places around the world at the same time obstructing governments, states, buying and renting politicians, and going to Washington to get bailed out by taxpayers.

Congress did not legislate corporate personhood. The courts performed this jolting display of runaway activism all by themselves.

The courts destroyed the semblance of equal protection under law because there is no way even an individual billionaire can approximate the raw power of these large corporations with their privileged immunities, and their control over technology, capital and labor.

The sovereignty of the people is subordinated to the sovereignty of the giant multinational corporations.

But the constitution still reads, “we the people”, not we the corporations.

Corporations were chartered in the early nineteenth century by state governments to be our servants, not our masters.

They are now our masters.

Time to restore the supremacy of real people.

Read more…

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Again, we the people have spoken.

A recent CBS/ New York Times poll found that 72 percent of Americans (50 percent of Republicans and 87 percent of Democrats) support a government-sponsored health care plan to compete with private insurers.

A clear majority of Americans — 72 percent — support a government-sponsored health care plan to compete with private insurers, a new CBS News/New York Times poll finds. Most also think the government would do a better job than private industry at keeping down costs and believe that the government should guarantee health care for all Americans.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/19/opinion/polls/main5098517.shtml

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A few days ago I wrote an article where I mentioned how I’ve been hearing more suicide news recently. Yesterday and today, it seems most the suicide news in the media is about Fort Campbell. Here you will see snippets from three recent news articles on this topic:

Fort Campbell holds ’suicide stand-down’
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky., May 27 (UPI) — Fort Campbell, Ky., home to the U.S. 101st Airborne, began a three-day ’suicide stand-down’ Wednesday after 11 soldiers took their own lives this year.

The “training event” is the second one in 2009, CNN reported. It began with a speech from Brig. Gen. Stephen Townsend to all the enlisted men and officers in the division, Kelly Tyler, a spokeswoman said.

With 64 suicides so far in 2009, the U.S. Army appears likely to pass the record of 133 reported last year. There were 115 suicides in 2007, the highest number since the Defense Department began tracking military suicides in 1980

Source: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/27/Fort-Campbell-holds-suicide-stand-down/UPI-73121243453994/
Despite prevention efforts, soldier suicides at Fort Campbell continue to rise

By Associated Press

3:03 AM CDT, May 27, 2009
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — Despite previous efforts to stop suicides, the number of Fort Campbell soldiers who have killed themselves has continued to increase.

Fort Campbell leaders have ordered the entire installation to stand down for three days starting Wednesday in response to the 14 suspected suicides since Jan. 1, including two this month.

The installation participated in an Army-wide suicide prevention campaign in March that included training soldiers and commanders to look for signs of stress and depression.

Source: http://www.whnt.com/news/sns-ap-tn–fortcampbellsuicides,0,6850567.story

Families Affected by Suicide Feel Sting on Memorial Day

Mary Clare Lindberg’s son, Army Sgt. Benjamin Jon Miller, was home in Minnesota on leave from Iraq in June when he shot and killed himself

In March, Lindberg made a pilgrimage to Fort Campbell, Ky., to visit the post where her son served with the 101st Airborne Division. While it was comforting to meet with the soldiers with whom her son had served, Lindberg was upset when she saw the unit memorial. The names of two soldiers from her son’s brigade who were killed in combat were on the memorial, but Ben Miller’s name was not.

“Because my son was a suicide home on leave, his name was not on the memorial wall at Fort Campbell, and that’s just not right,” said Lindberg, who said her son was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from his experiences in Iraq.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/24/AR2009052402142.html?hpid=topnews

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According to a new report released by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), happiness levels are highest in northern European countries.

Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands rated at the top of the list.

Outside of Europe, New Zealand and Canada also made the top 10. The U.S. did not.

The U.S. ranked the highest for child poverty and obesity among the western nations polled.

Other Very Interesting Findings include:

Adult height: Americans are not getting taller. The United States is the only country in the OECD where men and women aged 45-49 are no taller than those aged 20-24 years old, indicating no improvement in health and social conditions determining gains in height.

Health care: The United States spends the most per capita on health care, but despite their high levels of health spending the Unites States has relatively low life expectancy.

Net National Income: The United States is one of the richest countries in the OECD. In 2006, the United States had a per capita National Net Income in excess of USD 35 000. Only Luxembourg and Norway were higher.

Fertility: The United States has a much higher fertility rate than most other OECD countries of 2.1 children per mother, compared to an OECD average of 1.65.

Child poverty: Child poverty has fallen since the mid-1990s but one in five US children still live in poverty, a rate exceeded only in Poland, Mexico, and Turkey

Social protection: The United States is the fourth lowest in the OECD in terms of income shares of public social spending. However, when tax breaks for social purposes and private social spending are also considered, social spending in the United States rises above the OECD average of 28% to 31% of income.

Eating time: Americans spend around an hour and a quarter eating every day, slightly more than only Canadians and Mexicans but less than half the eating time spent by the French. Despite this limited time spent eating, their obesity rates are the highest in the OECD.

Leisure time of men and women: American men have nearly 40 minutes more leisure time than women per day.
Find the report here: http://www.oecd.org/document/24/0,3343,en_2649_34637_2671576_1_1_1_1,00.html

Let me ask you,

• Are we a nation of Me’s or a nation of We’s?
• How can one justify that it is more important to have a fetus develop into a baby and then be born than to give that new born baby and child health coverage or keep them from poverty?

We may make more money per capita in the US but we spend most of it on health insurance and other ‘fees’ – These are what I call hidden taxes.

These hidden taxes go to corporations not to benefit other citizens; they suck money up the ranks to make the rich richer, making huge profits and paying CEO’s millions of dollars that are basically denied health care reimbursements to you.. In other words, money from your pocket to theirs.

Taxes are used by governments (i.e. we the people) to benefit the population at large, these fees are simply how some corporations (after lobbying congress) dip their hands in your pockets and ’steal’ your money.

Read more…

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Are you under the impression that usable and reliable electric vehicles do not exist? Are you waiting for the major auto makers to produce electric vehicles or to see these electric cars on TV ads? Do you think the Chevy Volt is your only choice and are chocked by the price tag? Do you think that your only choice when it comes to driving an electric car is to make one yourself using a conversion kit?

If you are any of these, I have good news for you.

We live in a world where a few brave minds have took it upon themselves to do what the major auto makers couldn’t (ehm.. I meant, wouldn’t), namely to build 100% reliable electric vehicles.

I am not talking about converted vehicles; you know, these regular cars that people convert to electric vehicles, I am also not talking about the do-it-yourself conversion kits.. Noo, real, street worthy, 100% electric cars do exist today and are probably available for sale near you.

Whether you live in the US, in Europe or in Asia, electric car are being produced now and you could purchase one, without paying $40,000 or more.

In my opinion, the newer generations of electric cars is a good match for the current generation of fluid fuel (gas, diesel, ethanol, hybrid) powered cars. The development is fast and furious.

While the best battery technology remains patented and shelved rather than used in street cars, there exists sufficient enough batteries to enable workable EVs. You can read an article I wrote on a recent advancement in battery technology here . Lio-Ion batteries are common choices in today’s EVs; with a variety of powerful electric motors these electric cars have amazing acceleration and reliability. They also cost much less to maintain.

What is even more impressive is that these EVs are finally catching up to liquid fuel vehicles (hybrids, gas, ethanol etc vehicles) when it comes to range.

The reason I am writing this article is to share with you a collection of links to Electric Vechicle companies. The list below contains links to (American, European and Asian) car manufacturers that build neighborhood electric vehicles (NEV), electric highway cars, electric trucks, electric buses, electric 2 wheelers and 3 wheelers, and electric sports cars. These are not prototype cars but are actual usable ones.

If I missed any manufacturer (i.e. a car company) please leave a comment with a link.

• http://en.think.no/
• http://evolution.loremo.com/
• http://www.acpropulsion.com/ebox/
• http://www.aerorider.com/
• http://www.ariana-ev.com/
• http://www.attrd.com/rnd/parade_main.htm
• http://www.blueskydsn.com/
• http://www.byd.com/
• http://www.cityel.de/
• http://www.cleanova.com/
• http://www.commutercars.com/
• http://www.cree.ch/
• http://www.dilixi.com/
• http://www.e-ride.com/
• http://www.ececars.nl/
• http://www.elbilnorge.no/
• http://www.electrovaya.com/
• http://www.flybo.cn/
• http://www.flytheroad.com/
• http://www.futurevehicles.co.uk (Website no longer accessible)
• http://www.getkurrent.com/
• http://www.go-one.de/
• http://www.greenvehicles.com/
• http://www.hec.w4r.nl/
• http://www.hybridtechnologies.com/
• http://www.innovech.net/ Chinese car (Website no longer accessible)
• http://www.itiselectric.com/
• http://www.lightningcarcompany.co.uk/
• http://www.maranello4cycle.com/
• http://www.micro-vett.it/english/doblom1ing.html
• http://www.milesev.com/
• http://www.mindset.ch/
• http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/special/ev/ Mitsubishi i MiEV
• http://www.myersmotors.com/
• http://www.nicecarcompany.co.uk/
• http://www.obvio.ind.br/obviona/828.htm
• http://www.optimalenergy.co.za/
• http://www.phoenixmotorcars.com/
• http://www.quicc.eu/index.php?pid=10
• http://www.revaindia.com/
• http://www.silenceinc.ca/accueilEN.htm
• http://www.smart.com/
• http://www.smithelectricvehicles.com/
• http://www.sonimileotor.com (Website no longer accessible)
• http://www.sunmotor.us/Company_Products.html
• http://www.teslamotors.com/
• http://www.theaircar.com/
• http://www.think.no/
• http://www.treffpunktzukunft.com/
• http://www.twike.com/
• http://www.universalelectricvehicle.com  the Spyder (Website no longer accessible)
• http://www.vantagevehicle.com/
• http://www.venturifetish.fr/
• http://www.wrightspeed.com/
• http://www.zapworld.com/
• http://www.zenncars.com/

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Here we go again with another food recall. On Tue Mar 31, 2009 a California pistachio processor issued a nationwide voluntary recall due to potential salmonella contamination.

Thus far, several illnesses have been reported by consumers that may be associated with the pistachios, the FDA said.

The pistachios are roasted and tested for quality, it is believed the cross-contamination occurred at the processing / packaging plan.

The FDA is advising consumers avoid all pistachio products

The last food recall due to salmonella contamination outbreak was with peanuts and peanut butter that has sickened more than 690 people in 46 states. The company in the news then was Peanut Corp. of America, the company behind the current outbreak is Setton.

Both Setton and Peanut Corp. of America are bulk provider of nuts to food manufacturers and wholesalers. That means that the contaminated pistachios could have ended up in a variety of processed foods, including ice cream, cookies, candies and trail mix.

I try to purchase and consume (i.e support) organic and small farm products when I can, I do not support large scale commercial factory farming and food processing.

When are we going to learn than small farms and smaller food manufacturers will provide better quality and be more socially and environmentally friendly?

News articles:

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=103267

http://cancer.about.com/b/2009/04/01/fda-issues-pistachio-warning.htm

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFoodDistribution%20&%20Convenience%20Stores/idUSN3139386420090331

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1238034318314750.xml&coll=7

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Watch Trailer:

Watch the trailer for the documentary entitled “Oceti Sakowin: The People of the Seven Council Fires” below.

Read more…

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This is part 4 of the series of articles entitled “The People of the Seven Council Fires – Documentary Summary“. Find part one here, part two here, part three here.

This article is about Family and the new way of life the Oyate were forced into.

Relationships are very important to the Oyate. If you were an Oyate you can make new relatives, by adopting someone as a relative, as a mother, son, sister or brother.

Social structure

The social structure is one of an extended family.

The men assume the role of the protector, provider and leadership.

Women

Women maintain the household. Women are viewed as nurturers & educators.

Women educate the children until a certain age, when boys go with men mentors and women stay under the womens’ mentorship

Grandmothers are usually the educators of the young

Women owned the house and tipi

Ethnic Cleansing

The Lakota were men of peace, lived in balance with creation and addressed all creation as relatives, they were relatives with the white buffalo

The Lakota was the last of tribes to resit the US military, odds and numbers were against them and eventually they worse faced with a new way of life.

Treaties were made and broken. Land was taken. People were forced into farming, and into boarding schools that were basically functioning in a Catholic school system. Further, families broken apart and separated, men and women and children separated.

Their roles were taken away. The women could no longer teach and nurture their children who were taken away from them; the men had no buffalo to hunt and mentoring to give.

The rationale for the boarding schools was, as Carlisle founder Richard Henry Pratt often said, to “kill the Indian and save the man.” But the actual reason was economic: By taking away the children, the U.S. government was able to take away and maintain control of the Indian land base.

Alcohol & drugs came into their lives when reservations started; the buffalo was replaced by rations as part of a government ration system.

The Oral tradition ended; now Cathlic nuns taught children and provided the children protection, someone else was providing for the children.

It was against the law to be Lakota from 1880 to 1978 !!!

In the 1950’s 100% of the Lakota denied their indiannes and they did not speak in Lakota.

Read more…

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