GM Dump Leaking PCBs on Tribal Lands

NY Mohawk: Move toxic GM dump from tribal lands

Immediately upstream is a shuttered General Motors factory, now a federal Superfund site where tons of toxic waste have been removed. Tons more remain, including the 12-acre landfill that has been capped with a layer of clay and grass and declared safe, no longer a threat.

PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls - considered probable carcinogens - are the main contaminant, dumped as sludge after use as electrical equipment coolants. Studies 20 years ago documented higher than normal PCB levels in the breast milk of Akwesasne nursing mothers and more recently in adolescents; the toxins persist in human tissue for years. High levels have been found in St. Lawrence River turtles and fish, which the state cautions against eating.

"There's no question there's a legacy of PCB contamination in this area," said Judith Enck, regional administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and a former top environmental official for New York. "And the Mohawks have raised legitimate concerns for decades."

Really Interesting Review of "Game Change"

Over on Tigerbeatdown. I remain uninterested in seeing the film, myself, but it was an eye-opening review. Read it here.

Both Coasts Watch Closely as San Francisco Faces Erosion

Both Coasts Watch Closely as San Francisco Faces Erosion

Holding back the sea here seems as impossible as holding back the fog. But planners see Ocean Beach as a top priority in a long roster of Bay Area sites threatened by inundation because of what lies on its landward side: the Great Highway, a $220 million wastewater treatment plant and a 14-foot-wide underground pipe that keeps sewage-tainted storm water away from the ocean.

Three Links Re: Indigenous Issues

Native Americans Compelled To Protest Keystone XL From A Cage

Native American’s gathering in Cushing, OK today to protest President Obama’s words of praise for the Keystone XL pipeline were forced by local authorities to hold their event in a cage erected in Memorial Park. The protestors were stunned that their community, so long mistreated, would be insulted in such an open manner instead of being given the same freedom of speech expected by all Americans simply for taking a stance consistent with their values.

Indigenous Leaders In Brazil And Abya Yala Shut Out Of Rio+20 Process By UN And Elite NGOs

At Rio+20 an unethical, corrupt and unfortunate reality continues to unfold. The reality is that of an escalating, internal Indigenous power game which has now reared its ugly head once again at the Rio+20 conference. An existing Indigenous elitist UN group, comprised/inclusive of acquiescent NGOs, has grabbed control over the funding and “official organizing powers”, thus isolating the Indigenous peoples who refuse to bow down to corporate interests and sell out their people.

Not What We Were

As one of the more ancient of the world's living cultures, the Aborigines (a collective term used to describe 300 distinct tribes with their own languages) have traveled long and far together to establish a Dreamtime culture that now teeters on the brink of extinction. Like Indigenous societies elsewhere, the loss of stories known only by passing elders leads to the inevitable loss of culture, and that leads to the loss of spirit and a meaningful life. As Moriarty observes, it is a humanitarian crisis of catastrophic proportions.

Streamlining the Online Presence

Dang, that's an annoying idea, isn't it, the "online presence"? I'm so self-important I have an online presence!

"Digital self" sounds even more pretentious, though, and would probably trigger a lawsuit from someone representing the Wachowski Brothers.

Anyhow, I've deactivated and scheduled my Facebook account for deletion. I'll keep LinkedIn for now, since it doesn't annoy me. I've also deleted my old LiveJournal because LJ annoyed me one too many times and it's been over a year since I last posted, so anyone who wants to keep up with me from there has either come to terms with my absence or is following me on Dreamwidth. I'll keep the Dreamwidth account, because I love Dreamwidth in an intellectual way if not in a regular-posting kind of way. More properly, I love my current default icon, which I think sums up my attitude toward life pretty succinctly, pictures being worth a thousand words, at least, being the picture of a goblin in a hat. (see here)

Note that "annoying" v. not-annoying seems to be a primary consideration in deciding what to shitcan and what not. That'd be accurate, friends and neighbors, that'd be accurate. Sure, there's a lot of water under the bridge and I'm likely to be less annoyed by trivialities, precocious children (terrible hypocrisy on my part to begin with given that I was one), traffic, drunk people on the T, but there are still a great host of forever-renewing things that manage to chafe my proverbial buns.

As always, this blog remains hanging on by its teeth. It doesn't whine when I ignore it, so.... low annoyance quotient.

3 Links Makes a Post: Various Offenses Against Human Decency

In Russia, St. Petersburg passes homophobic law to silence LGBT people

Two regions of Russia — Arkhangelsk and Ryazan — have previously passed the same law, which have been deemed constitutional by Russian courts despite the chilling of free speech and the attack on LGBT organizing and ability to protest that they represent.

Oil Drilling Threatens Indigenous Mapuche In Argentina

Fracking uses millions of gallons of water mixed with chemicals and sand at high pressure, to break through rock like shale to free natural gas and oil.

“There is no policy in place to measure the impact of this new technology,” said Nahuel. “That is what the communities are reacting to, in Loma de la Lata and in the central part of the province.”

Oil and gas exploration began 60 years ago, and indigenous residents estimate that there are 200 wells there and they have been demanding an end to the activity in the area for the last decade.

Mapuche community authority Cristina Lincopán of the village, said the government brings water each month in trucks to the area from Zapala, a city 60 kilometers (38 miles), because the water is so contaminated from the oil industry.

Mining Debate in Guatemala Rages On

"We know it will cause a great deal of pollution, which is why we are opposed to this project. The only one here benefiting from this is the mayor," she told IPS.

Anti-mining sentiments flared up again in Guatemala after the new right-wing president, retired General Otto Pérez Molina, signed a "voluntary agreement" on Jan. 27 with the extractive industries business association, to increase royalties paid by the companies. The deal will be in effect until an amended mining law is passed by Congress.

3 Things Make a Blog Post

Quebec Police Dismantle Innu Blockade Against Controversial Hydro Complex

Quebec provincial police went on the march last Friday to dismantle a blockade that a group of Innu citizens erected to protest the construction of hydro transmission lines through their traditional territory.

The blockade/checkpoint went up went up on March 5 after Innu representatives walked away from negotiations with Hydro-Québec over the proposed La Romaine Hydroelectric Complex.

Catholic Church Puts Legal Pressure On Survivor's Network (may be behind pay wall)

Way to go, Catholic Church. Just keep digging that hole deeper.

The group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, is neither a plaintiff nor a defendant in the litigation. But the group has been subpoenaed five times in recent months in Kansas City and St. Louis, and its national director, David Clohessy, was questioned by a battery of lawyers for more than six hours this year. A judge in Kansas City ruled that the network must comply because it “almost certainly” had information relevant to the case.

Mr. Clohessy was deposed in January by lawyers for five accused priests and the diocese. In the 215-page transcript, made public on March 2, most of the questions were not about the case but about the network — its budget, board of directors, staff members, donors and operating procedures.

Tsunami Flotsam hitting U.S. Shores? (another possibly behind pay wall)

Despite a rise in interest and reported sightings, officials have not confirmed that any of the items found along the West Coast originated in Japan. “There is debris from Asia that comes to shore all the time, and it’s not necessary tsunami-related,” [Director of NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, Nancy] Wallace said.

Thus far, only two tsunami debris clusters have been confirmed, a wrecked Japanese fishing boat spotted by a Russian ship that was en route from Honolulu to Vladivostok, Russia, and another vessel located by the United States Coast Guard nearer to Japan.

Finding flotsam over some 5,000 miles of open ocean is not easy. A month after the disaster, the debris was no longer visible in NOAA’s satellite images. To assist in the search, officials have requested higher-resolution satellite images from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which runs satellite-based mapping and monitoring for the Defense Department. In recent months, NOAA reached out to the commercial shipping and fishing groups, asking boats to report any large debris sightings in the water.

NOAA asks beachcombers to keep a lookout.

I Have Little To Say, Apparently

I guess I have everything-fatigue with cynical symptoms.

Presidential elections? Yawn.
Health Care Reform? Too cynical today, sorry.
Lies in the media remaining unchecked and liars remaining unfettered? OK, yeah, pissed off about that, but not enough to link to anything or write a cogent post.

So....how've you all been?

Wow. New Basis for Alzheimer's Treatment?

Cancer drug reverses Alzheimer's symptoms in mice, study says

A drug that has been approved for the treatment of a type of skin cancer since 1999 appears to reverse Alzheimer's symptoms -- in mice.

Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine neuroscientist Gary Landreth and colleagues reported Thursday that bexarotene quickly cleared away beta-amyloid plaque, believed to cause the cognitive deficits of Alzheimer's disease, from the brains of genetically engineered mice.

Mice who received bexarotene treatment regained memory and cognitive function, including improvements in their sense of smell, the authors said. Bexarotene worked by helping to increase levels of a protein called Apolipoprotein E (ApoE), which helps remove beta-amyloids. Its effects took hold quickly, with half of plaques removed within 72 hours, the authors reported.

Still years before something for humans could hit the market. As the article notes, it's not common for there to be a 1:1 match between drugs efficacious for mice and humans.

Joke I heard today

Joke I heard today:

A conservative, a moderate, and a liberal walk into a bar. The bartender says, "Hi, Mitt!"

3 Topical Links Makes a Post

Broken Promises Fuel a New Wave of Anti-Mining Protests in Panama

Since 30th January, demonstrators have been positioned at various points along the international Interamerican highway using branches, pieces of wood, metal and rocks to block the road. They are protesting against the government's decision to remove a law that would provide environmental protection to their lands. The police continue to deny that there has been any violence, although on Thursday 2nd January there were reports of up to 7 people injured in attacks involving tear gas.

Interviewees Sought for Climate Change Project on Flathead Reservation

Selected methods will incorporate knowledge and opinions of current Flathead Reservation residents and tribal natural resource managers about how the landscape has changed over time, the causes of those changes, and challenges to achieving desired future conditions.

A Secretarial Order issued by the Department of Interior in March 2009, regarding climate change adaption planning, requires the coordination of science-based response to impacts of climate change on land, water, wildlife, cultural heritage, and tribal lands and resources.

Peru: Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Call For Action Against Oil Companies

The Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the East (ORPIO in Spanish) has called for collective action in the Peruvian city of Iquitos on February 1st.In an official statement, ORPIO condemns the situation of "our comrades that are suffering the negative effects of mining on the Coast and in the Andes. After 40 years of extraction, the oil companies have damaged our fish, our streams, our lagoons, our land and the water that gives us life. The basins of the Corrientes, and the rivers Tigre, Pastaza, Chambira and Marañon are all currently suffering from the effects of oil exploitation. The consequences of these operations are deplorable and fill us with rightful indignation."

My Thoughts on a Few of the Republican Candidate Candidates

Mitt: Vote for Me and I'll Sell Off All of America's Assets At a Huge Profit. Yeah!
Newt: C'mon, America, Don't You Want to Have an Open Marriage with Me?

Inter-American Commission On Human Rights Gives In To Pressure From Guatemala

Intercontinental Cry: Inter-American Commission On Human Rights Gives In To Pressure From Guatemala

Damn it!

"To the astonishment of Mining Watch, the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and many others, in late December, the IACHR announced that it had decided to reverse its 2010 recommendation to suspend any ongoing mining activity at Goldcorp's Marlin gold mine in San Marcos, Guatemala.

Both MiningWatch and CIEL expressed deep concern over the move, calling it 'a wake-up call for organizations and communities concerned about the defense of human rights in the Americas.' Given the IACHR's role as an autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS) charged with 'promoting the observance and the defense of human rights in the Americas' and the frequency with which the judicial body sides with Indigenous Peoples--it is certainly that.

It's the second time in less than a year the IACHR has given in to government demands, the NGOs observe. 'Several months ago, under threat that Brazil would revoke its funding, the IACHR backed down from its order to Brazil to halt construction of the controversial Belo Monte dam based on allegations that the right of local indigenous communities to free, prior and informed consent had not been respected.'"

A little down time right now

During which I intend to read books, and write an article to submit for publication, and do some other things.

Job Change for Sidra

Well, I gave notice at my firm and am now looking for "bigger and better" (or at least, different), things.