It’s True
I was clearing out my inbox today – and found this little gem. It’s old news, (Published on Friday, December 21, 2007 by Rapid City Journal -South Dakota)and apparently nothing much came of it, and I wanted to post it here to, in my small way, promote the idea.
Political activist Russell Means, a founder of the American Indian Movement, says he and other members of Lakota tribes have renounced treaties and are withdrawing from the United States.
“We are now a free country and independent of the United States of America,” Means said in a telephone interview. “This is all completely legal.”
Means said a Lakota delegation on Monday delivered a statement of “unilateral withdrawal” from the United States to the U.S. State Department in Washington.
The State Department did not respond. “That’ll take some time,” Means said.
Meanwhile, the delegation has delivered copies of the letter to the embassies of Bolivia, Venezuela, Chile and South Africa. “We’re asking for recognition,” Means said, adding that Ireland and East Timor are “very interested” in the declaration.
Other countries will get copies of the same declaration, which Means said also would be delivered to the United Nations and to state and county governments covered by treaties, including treaties signed in 1851 and 1868. “We’re willing to negotiate with any American political entity,” Means said.
The United States could face international pressure if it doesn’t agree to negotiate, Means said. “The United State of America is an outlaw nation, we now know. We’ve understood that as a people for 155 years.”
Means also said his group would file liens on property in parts of South Dakota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming that were illegally homesteaded.
The Web site for the declaration, “Lakota Freedom,” briefly crashed Thursday as wire services picked up the story and the server was overwhelmed, Means said.
Delegation member Phyllis Young said in an online statement: “We are not trying to embarrass the United States. We are here to continue the struggle for our children and grandchildren.” Young was an organizer of Women of All Red Nations.
Other members of the delegation include Rapid City-area activist Duane Martin Sr. and Gary Rowland, a leader of the Chief Big Foot Riders.
Means said anyone could live in the Lakota Nation, tax free, as long as they renounced their U.S. citizenship. The nation would issue drivers licenses and passports, but each community would be independent. “It will be the epitome of individual liberty, with community control,” Means said.
To make his case, Means cited several articles of the U.S. Constitution, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and a recent nonbinding U.N. resolution on the rights of indigenous people.
He thinks there will be international pressure. “If the U.S. violates the law, the whole world will know it,” Means said.
Means’ group is based in Porcupine on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. It is not an agency or branch of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. Means ran unsuccessfully for president of the tribe in 2006.
Lakota tribes have long claimed that the U.S. government stole land guaranteed by treaties — especially in western South Dakota. “The Missouri River is ours, and so are the Black Hills,” Means said.
A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1980 awarded the tribes $122 million as compensation, but the court did not award land. The Lakota have refused the settlement. (As interest accrues, the unclaimed award is approaching $1 billion.)
In the late 1980s, then-Sen. Bill Bradley of New Jersey introduced legislation to return federal land to the tribes, and California millionaire Phil Stevens also tried to win support for a proposal to return the Black Hills to the Lakota.
Contact Bill Harlan at 394-8424 or bill.harlan@rapidcityjournal.com
© 2007 The Rapid City Journal
The Karni Mata Temple is an important Hindu site. It is a beautiful temple made of marble with solid silver doors. However, it is not the architecture of this temple that attracts tourists; it is the thousands of rats that inhabit it. There are special holes and tunnels around the temple to facilitate the rats’ movements as well as a wire screen over the courtyard to protect them from birds of prey.
Pilgrims are anointed with ash while the scurrying critters run over their feet. This is considered very auspicious as is spotting a rare white rat. Bowls of milk and water are strategically placed throughout the temple and pilgrims feed the rats balls of sugar. You may be asking, “Why all the fuss about rats?” Well, these pilgrims believe that the rats are their ancestors.
153 chickens rescued from man’s bedroom??
Yes, it’s true!
And I thought having five cats was bad…
Here’s the story:
The SPCA has confiscated 153 fertile broiler chickens from a Rylands man who was keeping them in a darkened bedroom.
The man told SPCA inspectors, who arrived at his home late last week, that he was a former employee of Rainbow Chickens. (Maybe it was this place.)
City SPCA boss Allan Perrins said the man claimed he had “rescued” eggs from his former employers and put them into his oven where, “to his surprise”, they hatched.
Neighbours called the City of Cape Town health department complaining of a stench emanating from the house, and officials from the department who inspected the property found the chickens.
They called in the SPCA.
Senior SPCA inspector Peter Lombard said: “The place was a mess and the room was dark.” (I looked but couldn’t find a single picture of a dark bedroom full of chicken shit. I did find this.)
Lombard told the homeowner he had 12 hours to find a more suitable home for the chickens, which were evidently neglected and badly fed.
The man called the SPCA on Thursday and signed the chickens over to inspectors – but then contacted them again, asking for the animals to be returned to him because he had found a home for them on a Faure farm. (Probably doesn’t look like this.)
But if it looked like this, it might not be a bad place.
Many of the birds had already been put down, Lombard said. (I’d like to think it was something merciful and soothing … like … well … this)
“Broiler chickens are genetically bred to feed 24 hours a day and resort to cannibalism when they don’t get enough food,” he said. (Be very grateful that I didn’t put some pictures of that here!)
The SPCA ethics committee will consider the man’s request about the Faure farm and make a ruling.
So, today I was researching how to find a mentor for the Prosperity Project and ended up (of all places) on Mail Order Husbands! So, I took their quiz to find my ideal match and this is who I came up with:
Congratulations!
You have completed our survey and our proprietary algorithms have determined that you are a very unique and special individual. We have many high quality bachelors and the one that most perfectly aligns with your spiritual and personal values is listed below.
Stan, (stationed) in Iraq
I got way too much time on my hands over here. I’m on my second tour in Iraq and am supposed to go back in a few months. I’m cool with going to most anywhere afterwards. I’m looking for a traditional type of woman who wants a bunch of kids.
If an image has posted without permission please leave a comment and I will happily remove it, replace it, give credit, link love ~ whatever you prefer.
I think it's time to go shopping... maybe even buy some really cool stuff at my online shops!!
