Petula Dvorak has this up on the Native Americans and this holiday we celebrate.
The Native Americans I talked to said they’ve all heard of someone who doesn’t celebrate the holiday the way it’s presented in food magazines and Hallmark television specials. But all the people I talked to said they hold on to the original message that the Wampanoag had that day — a harvest feast to give thanks.
“Thanksgiving is like every day for us. Giving thanks is a big part of the native cultures. So the basic message of the holiday, that’s still part of who we are,” said Ben Norman, 32, a member of the Pamunkey tribe in Virginia.
~~~~~~~~~
And that’s what it means to me, too—being thankful for every day and every meal and all that is provided for us.
The Native Americans recognize that all is connected. What we do over *here* affects something over *there*. We cannot take and take and take without there being repercussions. The traditional Native Americans humbly acknowledge that with taking only what they need.
The Europeans described America as a wilderness. The Native Americans knew better and carefully managed the great ecosystem–you could drink from any river or stream….the fish were plentiful because they weren’t overfished and they didn’t contain mercury and other toxins…you could breathe…
They were portrayed as heathens that needed “saving” by missionaries. Instead of trying to understand their spirituality, the Europeans sought to force their religion upon them. Native Americans don’t have Churches where one goes to pray once a week and then forget everything that is taught…rather, they see spirituality in everything they do—everything is connected to the Creator.
I just wanted to acknowledge their culture and all that was lost.
Harper spies on the peaceful group. Note that their own intelligence says they do not see them as a violent threat….yet, they show up in riot gear and tear gas the peaceful protestors. I’m glad to read that they are also protesting Enbridge, which is in my own backyard. “We want to keep the people and environment safe…” bwahaha, that’s rich. If you really cared about the environment, you wouldn’t be building a pipeline to begin with.
(DN also covered this happening in the U.S. towards nonprofit groups that big business perceives as threats. Big Brother has arrived.)
Keeping up with the First Nations protests in Canada–
A judge has ruled that indigenous protestors are not to interfere with fracking by SWN….even though it is on Mi’kmaq land.
There are other ways to silence free speech and protests.
A video here on the damage already being done just by exploration. He describes the water from the broken aquifer as having an oily consistency. I hope that he has taken samples of the water for testing. And that he goes back in the Spring to access the damage to the Earth, plants, and wildlife.
From the piece:
Water Flowing from Shotholes or Testholes
Requirements when water comes to surface or flows from shotholes or testholes
1(1)If water is released from an aquifer or stratum while drilling a shothole or testhole and comes to the surface or flows from the shothole or testhole, the permittee shall, without undue delay, notify the Minister and ensure that all drilling on the flowing hole is discontinued, that no explosive charge is loaded into the shothole and that the flow of water is confined to the aquifer or original stratum in accordance with section 2 of this Schedule or in a manner proposed by the permittee and approved by the Minister.
1(2)If water is released from an aquifer or stratum and comes to the surface or flows from a shothole or testhole following the drilling of the testhole or the drilling or detonation of the shothole, the permittee shall, without undue delay, notify the Minister and ensure that the flow of water is confined to the aquifer or original stratum in accordance with section 2 of this Schedule or in a manner proposed by the permittee and approved by the Minister.
1(3)If a shothole is flowing before an explosive charge is detonated, the permittee shall ensure that the charge is detonated.
1(4)Without undue delay, the geophysical licensee shall submit to the Minister a report, on a form provided by the Minister, with respect to each flowing shothole or testhole
(a)after the flow of water has been confined to the aquifer or original stratum under subsections (1) and
(2), or (b)after reasonable attempts have been made to confine the flow of water to the aquifer or original stratum under subsections (1) and (2).
1(5)If, after reasonable attempts have been made, the flow of water from a shothole or testhole cannot be confined in accordance with section 2 of this Schedule, the geophysical licensee shall, as soon as possible, submit to the Minister for his or her approval a plan for the control and management of the flow of water.
1(6)If water flows from a shothole or testhole when drilling operations are in progress, the permittee shall ensure that the process referred to in subsection 2(2) of this Schedule is complied with when any subsequent shotholes or testholes in the sequence are drilled.”
~~~~~~~~~
Anonymous has this posted on the Warriors being held in solitary confinement.
Parents being arrested for protecting their children’s water….for protecting the future.
Finally, Idle No More has this up for anyone wishing to help the Elsipogtog.
Did you know that the lymph system is as important for circulation as the respiratory system? I sure didn’t. The lymph glands in my neck have been swollen since 1995. I had one amalgam placed in 1991, and the other seven that did me in, in 1994. One year later, I began getting the monthly migraines. I also was exposed to melted plastic when I worked in the office of a car parts manufacturer. We were attached to the factory, and someone had a machine on that molded plastic parts. I never got the full story of what happened, but the accident had to have been huge, as I smelled burnt plastic in the office. My glands were swollen from then on.
So…I’ve noticed when I’m chelating, that the glands go down to normal size. When I stop the round? Back to swollen again. This seems to be an issue for most of us with mercury poisoning. The poor lymph system is supposed to carry out all the wastes, but it just gets overwhelmed.
I found this site explaining the lymph system and thought I’d pass it along. Yoga is supposed to help the lymph system to cleanse itself–and jumping on a trampoline helps, too.
I also started a search on sea salt benefits. I had purchased some of the pink salt that has not been chemically processed and wondered what benefits (or detriments) it possessed.
They make the case that table salt is sodium chloride and has been processed out the wazoo to remove all the additional minerals. The companies then sell the minerals for $$. The resulting sodium chloride is not recognized by the body and is sent to the…uh…waste bin…
The theory is that untreated salt is much better for us because the body recognizes it and utilizes it accordingly to keep the delicate balance for the heart and kidneys to function properly. One site even claimed that it helps remove plaque from the gut.
Of course, one always has to take what is said with a critical eye.
I think there is something to it, however, because I took 1/4 tsp baking soda + 1/4 tsp pink salt in a glass of water–sipping it throughout the day. I started craving the pink salt. Interesting.
I listen to my body–when I was a vegetarian, I was craving meat…my body understood what it needed, and even though I hated going back to eating meat, it saved my life. So when it craves something, I pay attention, keeping in mind that craving something could also mean I am allergic to it.
They plastered the sky yesterday with 26+ chemtrails. I woke up this morning with a pale, swollen face–indications of adrenal distress brought on by toxins. Adrenals take a big hit from heavy metals. Getting a migraine. See you in a few.
Karen Silkwood died on this day nearly forty years ago. Her death was ruled an accident, but there was controversy surrounding her. I didn’t want to let this day go by without putting her story out there. Her story highlighted another aspect of the nuclear industry–manufacturing. As always, when there is a profit to be made, corners are cut to obtain the biggest profit.
Karen was asking questions and that is never a popular with manufacturers who cut corners on safety.
I saw recently where James Taylor was supposed to sing the Star Spangled Banner, and started singing “America, the Beautiful”…God Bless him. I want to put a vote in for America, the Beautiful for our national anthem. The Star Spangled Banner sings of war and bombs but America the Beautiful sings of the beauty of our country, the abundance, and the brotherhood (as yet to be realized, but a worthy goal).
A beautiful, crisp morning as the sun rises….now moved across the horizon for the winter sleep…
I saw six deer this morning. Sometimes they will stop and just observe me, but mostly they just run off, with white tails bobbing up…it never ceases to amaze me how they can be standing still in front of a four foot tall fence and leap over it with such athletic grace. They like apples, by the way. A momma deer and baby were seen nibbling apples one morning while they hung from the tree. You’ll see a half-eaten apple on the ground and know that it was lunch for a deer.
I went out the other morning, and the birds were singing as if it were a Spring day. It caught me off guard….this is Fall, right…? :p
There were cardinals singing, Blue Jays sounding the warning, and another bird I couldn’t identify singing its little heart out. Funny.
I’ve seen a bird that is mostly grayish black that at first I thought was a junco, but it’s tail looked like a sparrow’s and it was too big to be a junco.
The hummingbirds have long since sought warmer climates. I miss their antics. They spend more energy fighting over the food, when there is plenty there, rather than conserving the energy they used fighting so they wouldn’t need so much food….I know there is a lesson for mankind in there, somewhere….
You remember the hornet’s nest I mentioned? Something happened to it–we had about three days of rain (no chemtrails to interfere), and then we had really windy days….so it may have been the combination that caused the nest to lose its outer wrap (for want of a better word). It literally had torn off the wrap down to the honeycomb-like inner chambers. I guess birds could have gotten to it, too, but I’ve never seen that. Not that I’ve seen that many hornets’ nest….in my youth, when I lived around the woods, but not since moving to the city.
Here’s an informative blog on hornet’s nests. I learned something today–I saw the honeycombs of the torn hornet’s nest but I did not realize they actually made honey! It makes perfect sense, though, because they need something for the pupae. However, I wanted to double check this, and another site said they did not make honey.
Continuing the search, I found this:
I also learned that the Maya believe hornets/wasps learn the hut owner’s scent and leave them alone….but may go after visitors. Interesting. Hornets generally do leave people alone….unless they mess with them. There was one story of my childhood where one of the neighborhood kids thought it would be funny to poke a hornet’s nest. Um-hmm….you can guess what happened…hornets mad as hell swarmed him. They had to get a hose to get them off. Yep, he never did that again…
I found this interesting blog on hornet nest destruction. Apparently, bears will tackle anything. This site is pretty interesting with discussions on biodiversity. Someone posted a video on biodiversity but it advocates eco-tourism, and setting aside small tracts of land for preservation. I think both of these ideas send the wrong message. Tourism is tourism and the more people that trample the ground, disturbing the wildlife, the more stress they bring to resources and the life forms there–not to mention more pollution by using motorized vehicles. I shake my head at folks who drive up in SUV’s to the parks….the irony seems lost on them on the damage their vehicles cause by consuming gas and polluting with exhaust, which are destroying the nature that they seek.
And the setting aside tracts of land is a noble idea–but in my view, it absolves the rest of the occupants of the land their responsibility to take care of the land they’re on. In other words, it’s like they’re saying “we have this land over here that is being preserved, therefore, you can pollute the hell out of the other land that isn’t in the preserve.” It’s still missing the HUGE point that we cannot separate the land by lines….as much as we have been brainwashed into thinking that it is possible to do just that.
Water runoff polluted with pesticides, herbicides, genetically modified forms, mercury, etc., will migrate from the unprotected land to the protected land. Toxic air will flow over the protected land. There is no way to keep a tract of land pristine while the land surrounding it is poisoned. Just like we see with the nuclear accident in Japan–what happens in one area affects another that has nothing to do with it. We have to see that everything we do affects another–to take care.
Another link someone posted is something near and dear to my heart–natural water filtration a la natural swimming pools. Pretty cool, eh? Last one in is a rotten egg! 🙂
Also, there is a thread on endangered invertebrates. Interesting read.
And speaking of radiation….howz about some radiated water…? Oh, I know the report states it’s not from the radiated side of the plants, but you know, I’m having a hard time trusting nuclear plant operators to tell the truth when that truth could be politically and financially damaging to their interests. Canadians, be on the lookout for three-eyed fish sprouting feet….
First, the bad news. Blessings to you, Diane, for healing. Take care of yourself–your body is telling you to take it easy. Believe me, I understand better than most. Having said that, your contributions to fighting the good fight are truly inspiring…you are needed as never before….but it can wait until you are rested.
This from Seattle Education. Pretty depressing that Wall $t. has turned its eye$ toward$ the school$….how much can we wring out of them?
The sidebar says it all:
Chris Hedges
“Any time hedge fund managers…when they walk into the inner city areas and start talking about poor children’s education, it’s not because they want kids to read and write, it’s because they know that the federal government spends $600B on education and they want it and they’re going to get it.”
~~~~~~~~
Danny Weil, 2009
“…charter chains would prefer national standards… This would allow them to use prepackaged curricula across their charter outlets no matter the location…for dummied down standardized curriculum keeps costs down and the dispensation is formulaic and repetitive. This is the Walmart model of education.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Interesting that he put it as the “Walmart model of education”….since we now know that the Clintons have been trying to bust the teacher’s unions since the 80s and Hillary Clinton was a partner in the Rose Law Firm, which had the Walton family as clients. Um-hmmm…
Overheard by Hedge Fund Manager: Education? Who gives a crap about that…? (okay, not really overheard, but yeah, I’m sure that has been said behind closed doors….)
Diane blogs on Illinois Governor Quinn running mate Paul Vallas. You remember my post on George Schmidt’s experience with Vallas….he’s the one whom helped destroy Chicago Public Schools and closed good public schools in poor, predominantly black neighborhoods…
Chi Town resident posted this link to Bill Moyers’ take on education.
Jan Ressenger’s take on the NAEP tests. She also links to Gary Rubenstein’s blog on the gap between the wealthier kids vs. the kids seeking free lunch. It’s interesting that the pro-Common Core school adminstrators are now starting to puff their chests and say that their scores have improved among their students, half of which are on the free lunch program.
Diane has a post on how Indiana repubs are doing their best to privatize Indiana schools.
Also, Glenda Ritz, the embattled PUBLICLY ELECTED State Superintendent of schools has had her lawsuit against the State Board of Education dismissed. The Attorney General states that Ritz’ lawsuit is “unauthorized and invalid”.
Eagle 
You must be logged in to post a comment.