Fight the Right.

[rgraham666]

Missed this earlier.

Conflict and disagreement, even war, is necessary if a 'truth' is to be discovered and then implimented.

I no longer care about 'The Truth'. I'm more concerned with the good.

And one of the more interesting dichotomies, or perhaps hypocrisies, of the neo-con philosophy is that on one hand they claim to be in favour of 'freedom', and on the other they claim there is no choice, that things are 'necessary'. Freedom implies choices, at least to me. And 'no choice' is generally what people use to rationalise unethical actions.

And 'friend', you don't disagree, you hate.

 

[cloudy]

What the fuck?

He can't see things from your perspective, cloudy. That might require him to re-examine his own thinking. And that would be tantamount to admitting he was wrong.

As one of the leading proponents of The Truth he can't be wrong, ever. If he was wrong he would be merely human rather than one of The Chosen.

No one, to my knowledge, has ever given up demi-god status once the mantle has been placed upon them.

I know, y'all, but if I didn't at least try then I wouldn't be the same person, and I would hate myself for it.

 

[impressive]

I know, y'all, but if I didn't at least try then I wouldn't be the same person, and I would hate myself for it.

Love you just as you are. (Please continue banging your head against yonder brick wall. I promise to rush you to the hospital when you lose consciousness.)

 

[rgraham666]

I know, y'all, but if I didn't at least try then I wouldn't be the same person, and I would hate myself for it.

And that's one of the reasons we all love you cloud warrior.

 

[cloudy]

Love you just as you are. (Please continue banging your head against yonder brick wall. I promise to rush you to the hospital when you lose consciousness.)

Thank you.

I'm wondering if ami can answer how we are better off now that we're "civilized."

I can certainly answer how we aren't.

• Alcoholism is rampant among American Indians. Why? I don't know all the reasons, but it might have something to do with the despair that one feels when you are trapped on a small piece of worthless ground, with no prospects for a job and a way to take care of your family, and you see your culture dying around you.
  
• Diabetes, unknown before we were forced onto reservations and fed crappy food, is also rampant, with somewhere to close to 30% of the adult population of American Indians afflicted with it. I, so far, have escaped it, but for how long?
  
• Average life span is somewhere around 55 - 60, as compared to what used to be a long, healthy life. So, if I follow the norm, I have another ten years or so, that's all.
  
• The death rate for infants is appalling, equalling that of third world countries.
  
• Racism is still a problem, and the fact that our culture teaches courtesy and manners doesn't help us in speaking out loudly, as it has some other ethnic groups.
  
• Our children, due to cultural differences, are put into "special" education groups, whether they need to be or not, and feeling left out of the system, quit school at an appalling rate.
  
• In counties up north, American Indians make up maybe 4% of the population, yet make up to 30% of the prison population. Racism? You betcha.
  
• At Pine Ridge, elders freeze to death in the winter every year, for lack of the money to pay for gas to heat their homes. Some don't even have beds, and there are still houses with dirt floors. Don't dare tell me these people are lazy - they are kept in perpetual poverty by your government. Assimilate or die, yes?
  
• Suicide has reached epidemic proportions among our children. Why? Could have something to do with the utter hopelessness that endures on the reservations after centuries of mistreatment.

Shall I go on?

Please, tell me how we are better off being "civilized." I'm having trouble seeing it.

 

[Fenikkusu]

Thank you.

I'm wondering if ami can answer how we are better off now that we're "civilized."

I can certainly answer how we aren't.

• Alcoholism is rampant among American Indians. Why? I don't know all the reasons, but it might have something to do with the despair that one feels when you are trapped on a small piece of worthless ground, with no prospects for a job and a way to take care of your family, and you see your culture dying around you.
• Diabetes, unknown before we were forced onto reservations and fed crappy food, is also rampant, with somewhere to close to 30% of the adult population of American Indians afflicted with it. I, so far, have escaped it, but for how long?
• Average life span is somewhere around 55 - 60, as compared to what used to be a long, healthy life. So, if I follow the norm, I have another ten years or so, that's all.
• The death rate for infants is appalling, equalling that of third world countries.
• Racism is still a problem, and the fact that our culture teaches courtesy and manners doesn't help us in speaking out loudly, as it has some other ethnic groups.
• Our children, due to cultural differences, are put into "special" education groups, whether they need to be or not, and feeling left out of the system, quit school at an appalling rate.
• In counties up north, American Indians make up maybe 4% of the population, yet make up to 30% of the prison population. Racism? You betcha.
• At Pine Ridge, elders freeze to death in the winter every year, for lack of the money to pay for gas to heat their homes. Some don't even have beds, and there are still houses with dirt floors. Don't dare tell me these people are lazy - they are kept in perpetual poverty by your government. Assimilate or die, yes?

Shall I go on?

Please, tell me we are better off. I'm having trouble seeing it.

I think you forgot about the exploitation and selling off of artifacts and religious items.
Maybe you should stick to selling beads by the roadside?

 

[rgraham666]

Cloudy, your points about despair, being 'special' and suicide resonate with me, having personal knowledge of all of them.

My culture, in spite of its emphasis on 'individuality', is actually one that prefers and enforces the 'normal'. 'Blessed be The Norm' as John Wyndham put it.

If you're not an upper class white male, with a particular type of education, and a mind neither too sharp or too slow, you're only welcome to the crumbs of our society.

 

[cloudy]

Cloudy, your points about despair, being 'special' and suicide resonate with me, having personal knowledge of all of them.

My culture, in spite of its emphasis on 'individuality', is actually one that prefers and enforces the 'normal'. 'Blessed be The Norm' as John Wyndham put it.

If you're not an upper class white male, with a particular type of education, and a mind neither too sharp or too slow, you're only welcome to the crumbs of our society.

Rob, we considered mentally ill people as blessed, and they were well taken care of. Just goes to show how "uncivilized" we were.

 

[amicus]

Cloudy...."...Amicus, I don't reject your peace offerings. On the contrary, I'm trying, albeit unsuccessfully, to let you see things from the other side.

We weren't uncivilized, we were just different, and as such, were relegated to a status of less than animal, and deemed unworthy to share the land that we so willingly shared to begin with...."

Apologies to the thread starter...I had to look and rediscover 'Fight the Right', was the thread title.

To both Cloudy and Colleen Thomas, it was not my intent to purposely appear as anti, native american culture. Although I am familiar with some post contact history, a few novels (the Gears), some incidental historical works, a few films, 'Dances with Wolves' and another one about an Oklahoma tribal member, indian schools...don't recall the name of the movie; I do not claim vast knowledge of indian culture.

My interest was stimulated by the works of Jean Auel, 'Clan of the Cave Bear'. Other than an infatuation with Daryl Hannah, the fiction of Neaderthals and Homosapiens in Europe, 30,000 years ago piqued my curiosity about early man.

As there is no written record of the lives of these people, all we know and can know, is by deduction and speculation gained through paleontology, archeology and other related fields that study the remnants of those people.

After reading all the published novels of Auel, the 'Earth's Children' series, I came away with a couple questions. The first was the 'feminization' of the quest for knowledge that Auel seemed to place in Ayla's hands while the dumb males just stumbled along.

The second was a curiosity as I have read that according to science, Neaderthals and the 'others', Homo Sapiens, were different species and could not interbreed. In Auel's book, they do intermix.

A friend of mine suggested that the foetal head size of a Neaderthal was too large for birth with a homo sapien mother...I dunno...

The third thing that interested me was the process of discovery of 'new' knowledge, such as bone needles and thread, stone tool making, the use of plants for medicine and eventually clay making, pottery, and eventual use of the bow and arrow as hunting and military weapons.

This all led to a curiosity of just how humanity spread out across the globe and where and when it happened.

An early and unfortunate reference I made to human sacrifice and cannibalism, which I read of concerning Mayan's and Inca's, was not intended to apply to all Native Americans; I rather read it as an aberration that may have led to the demise of those tribes that practiced it.

Rather than create a controversy by my comments, I had hoped to generate discussion on why native americans never developed as early Europeans did.

Besides that, my dear departed mother suggested that I was 1/8 Cherokee, although I have not done a geneological research to confirm that.

So perhaps my ancestors the same as yours.

amicus...

 

[Fenikkusu]

Rather than create a controversy by my comments, I had hoped to generate discussion on why native americans never developed as early Europeans did.

If I may. They may not have developed according to the standards of anothers definition of civility but they were indeed developed as far as their culture was concerned.

Who is to say what the proper definition of civilized really is? My people, the Japanese were considered barbaric at one time. Our culture is difficult for many to grasp yet when I say to people that your military has no honor I am in err.

Civilization is not a matter of wearing shoes or creating machines. It's a matter of adaption to environment and surviving. How many times has civilized man come and brought about the demise of other cultures through the spread of disease that was unknown to these people?

We considered the Chinese to be backward yet without their invention of gunpowder how would the Europeans be able to 'civilize' the natives and the heathens?

If we step backwards and trace the path of migration taken by early man and woman we can better grasp the evolution of societies and their practices. Then we can pretend to understand our fellow humans.

My two yen.
Gei.

 

[impressive]

Rather than create a controversy by my comments, I had hoped to generate discussion on why native americans never developed as early Europeans did.

http://addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/lachen/12.gif

 

[amicus]

...Quote:
Originally Posted by amicus

Rather than create a controversy by my comments, I had hoped to generate discussion on why native americans never developed as early Europeans did.




If I may. They may not have developed according to the standards of anothers definition of civility but they were indeed developed as far as their culture was concerned.

Who is to say what the proper definition of civilized really is? My people, the Japanese were considered barbaric at one time. Our culture is difficult for many to grasp yet when I say to people that your military has no honor I am in err.

Civilization is not a matter of wearing shoes or creating machines. It's a matter of adaption to environment and surviving. How many times has civilized man come and brought about the demise of other cultures through the spread of disease that was unknown to these people?

We considered the Chinese to be backward yet without their invention of gunpowder how would the Europeans be able to 'civilize' the natives and the heathens?

If we step backwards and trace the path of migration taken by early man and woman we can better grasp the evolution of societies and their practices. Then we can pretend to understand our fellow humans.

My two yen.
Gei...."


Dear Gei....meet Amicus, the fool, well known for daring to say that words have definite meanings, in all languages.

One who also insists that there are 'universal' human characteristics that flow through all societies.

Foolish enough also, to insists that 'objective reality' really does exist and futher that is is observable, perceivable and absolute.

"...Who is to say what the proper definition of civilized really is?..."

Who is to say what the proper definition of H2O really is?

Is not the function of the human mind to learn and know and define? Is that not 'knowledge'?

".... It's a matter of adaption to environment and surviving...."

Animals adapt and survive or perish...humans modify the environment to suit our needs.

While it may be comfortable and non threatening to insist that everything is subjective and just a matter of opinion, it is not very productive out side an anthill of faith based believers.

The Nipponese girls I tasted in the Islands always seemed a little tart, perhaps something in the diet?


amicus...

 

[Fenikkusu]

Dear Gei....meet Amicus, the fool, well known for daring to say that words have definite meanings, in all languages.

One who also insists that there are 'universal' human characteristics that flow through all societies.

Foolish enough also, to insists that 'objective reality' really does exist and futher that is is observable, perceivable and absolute.

"...Who is to say what the proper definition of civilized really is?..."

Who is to say what the proper definition of H2O really is?

Is not the function of the human mind to learn and know and define? Is that not 'knowledge'?

".... It's a matter of adaption to environment and surviving...."

Animals adapt and survive or perish...humans modify the environment to suit our needs.

While it may be comfortable and non threatening to insist that everything is subjective and just a matter of opinion, it is not very productive out side an anthill of faith based believers.

The Nipponese girls I tasted in the Islands always seemed a little tart, perhaps something in the diet?


amicus...

I shall ignore your veiled attempts at foreplay and just state I merely see the world and it's inhabitants in a differnent light.
I choose to think outside of the box when it comes to such matters. Matter of opinion is all that it is and it is mine to express. You may choose to agree or not agree and that is your right.
Gei.

 

[raphy]

"...Who is to say what the proper definition of civilized really is?..."

Who is to say what the proper definition of H2O really is?

H2O is a chemical composition of two scientifically identifiable elements. It is a constant physical property in this universe, as far as human science has been able to determine. It is an absolute, not a relative.

You cannot compare it to a term like "being civilized"

"Being civilized" is a conceptual term, applied by members of one civilization in an effort to define what makes them who they are. Unlike H20 it is not a constant. It has different meanings for different people, all over the world. Those meanings are not any more correct or incorrect than other meanings.

Your error, Amicus, comes in arrogantly assuming that your meaning is the only correct one.

Maybe a better original question would have been 'Why did the native americans not develop along similar socio-political lines as the european nations?"

Of course, I know that I couldn't answer that one, any more than I could tell you *why* the european nations developed the way they did. Or for that matter, why the romans civilization was the way it was, or the Greek.

Civilizations and societal customs evolve over time to fit the needs of the society they serve.

 

[cloudy]

H2O is a chemical composition of two scientifically identifiable elements. It is a constant physical property in this universe, as far as human science has been able to determine. It is an absolute, not a relative.

You cannot compare it to a term like "being civilized"

"Being civilized" is a conceptual term, applied by members of one civilization in an effort to define what makes them who they are. Unlike H20 it is not a constant. It has different meanings for different people, all over the world. Those meanings are not any more correct or incorrect than other meanings.

Your error, Amicus, comes in arrogantly assuming that your meaning is the only correct one.

Maybe a better original question would have been 'Why did the native americans not develop along similar socio-political lines as the european nations?"

Of course, I know that I couldn't answer that one, any more than I could tell you *why* the european nations developed the way they did. Or for that matter, why the romans civilization was the way it was, or the Greek.

Civilizations and societal customs evolve over time to fit the needs of the society they serve.

Exactly.

Thank you, darlin'.

 

[~hellbaby~]

"My goal is to turn this into a one-stop reference source for almost any common political arguments you need."


I found a very simple and consise wonderful liberal website that I just wanted to share with you all. My favorite part so far is where the guy refutes the myths about liberalism, democracy, religion, ect. that we hear every day.

If you're a liberal; check it out. For some really interesting reading, check out LIberal Reasons NOt To Cellebrate Christmas: http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/NoChristmas.html

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/tenets.htm



http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/Help_the_Fight.html



Just a Sampling of some of the myths explored:

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/LiberalFAQ.htm

It's going fine if the arguements are about past history, I was hoping for something oh I don't know, maybe that has to do with current events, not rehashing old threads and Amicus' dribble, (nothing personal A. but it can be read elsewhere). History is well and fine but you can't change it, it is done. It is easy to hide in the past but instead of proving you can read a history book, how about discussing something from THIS CENTURY, that impacts our lives and the lives of our children. What about the impact this administration has on how the rest of the world views the United States, the effect a new supreme court judge will have on legislation, the overpowering effect religious groups are having in government, what can be done to mend this country.
~Just a thought that's all (perhaps the pms is worse than I thought )

 

[cloudy]

It's going fine if the arguements are about indians and mesopotamians, I was hoping for something oh I don't know, maybe that has to do with current events, not rehashing old threads and Amicus' dribble, (nothing personal A. but it can be read elsewhere). History is well and fine but you can't change it, it is done. It is easy to hide in the past but instead of proving you can read a history book, how about discussing something from THIS CENTURY, that impacts our lives and the lives of our children.

Oh, I guess you missed the memo that went around debunking the myth that we're extinct.

When are people like you going to realize that there are issues facing American Indians now, today, this minute? Jeezus-fucking-christ.

I'm so fucking sorry I intruded on your world. Easy to ignore what you don't wanna see isn't it? Talk about hiding in the past, you're the one hiding in the past. Open your damn eyes.

 

[amicus]

Raphy...Cloudy...


"...H2O is a chemical composition of two scientifically identifiable elements. It is a constant physical property in this universe, as far as human science has been able to determine. It is an absolute, not a relative.

You cannot compare it to a term like "being civilized"

"Being civilized" is a conceptual term, applied by members of one civilization in an effort to define what makes them who they are. Unlike H20 it is not a constant. It has different meanings for different people, all over the world. Those meanings are not any more correct or incorrect than other meanings..."

Human nature is an 'absolute' much as the science of the periodic table of elements and chemical combinations.

The human body and mind function according to scientific absolutes as does the rest of the universe. It is our task, as thinking human beings, to determine the characteristics and simularities of our actions in the context of being 'human' regardless of time, place or space.

I am certain that if you put your mind to it, you can begin a list of the 'absolutes' that determine what a 'civilized' society of humans is composed of.

Let me offer just a beginning; the care and feeding of children.

It is not a matter of subjective opinion to determine the civilized and humane treatment of an infant, here there and everywhere, for all humans at all times.

I am certain, if you try, that you can come up with many other 'absolute' definable characteristics and attributes that apply to all humans at all times and can be concretely presented as 'absolutes' in order to determine what is 'civilized' and what is not.

Please do not trouble me with 'stylistic differences', or physical and mental aberrations that occur in nature to the species.

Thank you.

the always arrogant amicus....

 

[~hellbaby~]

Oh, I guess you missed the memo that went around debunking the myth that we're extinct.

When are people like you going to realize that there are issues facing American Indians now, today, this minute? Jeezus-fucking-christ.

I'm so fucking sorry I intruded on your world. Easy to ignore what you don't wanna see isn't it? Talk about hiding in the past, you're the one hiding in the past. Open your damn eyes.

I never implied, or meant to imply there are not issues today. My statement refers to the fact that apart from your comments on current day issues, it has all been about past history, not about today.I used 'Indians and Mesopotamians" in a general sense, refrencing a post about their roles in history that was made. It was not intended to offend and I will change the wording as it was not my point to imply anything other than perhaps it would be nice to discuss current day problems not what happened hundreds of years ago
Secondly, calm the fuck down.'People like you' let me tell you something, you know nothing about me so who exactly are people like me? And what about the issues facing Native Americans today, is it right for the government to make money off of gambling? Are education laws fair? Why is it less than 20 percent of over two million Native Americans live on reservations? Why is alcoholism so rampant? Why isn't the government more concerned about these issues? What can you do to change it? This is what I meant by my post, discuss what is happenning now, not past history.

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Raphy...Cloudy...


"...H2O is a chemical composition of two scientifically identifiable elements. It is a constant physical property in this universe, as far as human science has been able to determine. It is an absolute, not a relative.

You cannot compare it to a term like "being civilized"

"Being civilized" is a conceptual term, applied by members of one civilization in an effort to define what makes them who they are. Unlike H20 it is not a constant. It has different meanings for different people, all over the world. Those meanings are not any more correct or incorrect than other meanings..."

Human nature is an 'absolute' much as the science of the periodic table of elements and chemical combinations.

The human body and mind function according to scientific absolutes as does the rest of the universe. It is our task, as thinking human beings, to determine the characteristics and simularities of our actions in the context of being 'human' regardless of time, place or space.

I am certain that if you put your mind to it, you can begin a list of the 'absolutes' that determine what a 'civilized' society of humans is composed of.

Let me offer just a beginning; the care and feeding of children.

It is not a matter of subjective opinion to determine the civilized and humane treatment of an infant, here there and everywhere, for all humans at all times.

I am certain, if you try, that you can come up with many other 'absolute' definable characteristics and attributes that apply to all humans at all times and can be concretely presented as 'absolutes' in order to determine what is 'civilized' and what is not.

Please do not trouble me with 'stylistic differences', or physical and mental aberrations that occur in nature to the species.

Thank you.

the always arrogant amicus....

So according to your theory, western european stock people are hideous barbarians and uncivilized? A bit harsh, but understandable. Eventually I suppose we'll learn not to shit where we eat, that we have no right to treat another human as a non-human, and that insisting that a mother raise a child she can't raise, give her no aid to raise that child, and refuse to accept it into any adoption agency for the crime of being raped by some <venom>man </venom> are "civilized actions" that go along with the "proper" method of "caring for and feeding a child" and other "absolutes".

We are deluded monkeys setting ourselves as God and deriving pleasure from the wholesale slaughter of "lesser" "uncivlized" people. We laugh uproariously like a cartoon villain as the news replays the rape of an 8-year old boy in front of his mother because after all he is just a dirty A-rab. And yet we have the gall to insist we are civilized because we have reality television (obviously one of the "absolutes" of "proper civilzed behavior").

You, ma'am, are a moron. You have always been a moron, you will always be a moron and I rather well know that inside you've always known it to be so.

Arrogant fuck.

 

[cloudy]

Secondly, calm the fuck down.'People like you' let me tell you something, you know nothing about me so who exactly are people like me? And what about the issues facing Native Americans today, is it right for the government to make money off of gambling? Are education laws fair? Why is it less than 20 percent of over two million Native Americans live on reservations? Why is alcoholism so rampant? Why isn't the government more concerned about these issues? What can you do to change it? This is what I meant by my post, discuss what is happenning now, not past history.

You know what? Kiss my ass.

As you say, you know nothing about ME either, or what I'm doing to correct the wrongs. As far as history goes, it's necessary to understand it to correct the wrongs, get it? If you don't understand the history, then the court battles going on now over treaty rights make absolutely no sense. THAT'S why history is necessary. "People like you" who don't think that history is important miss the whole point.

I can answer your questions:

1. Less that 20% of natives live on the rez simply because of the grinding poverty there. Have you ever been to a reservation? I doubt it, or you'd know why we don't live there if we don't have to. Some are two hours drive from the nearest town/industry, and the vast majority don't own a car, or the one they have isn't reliable enough for that kind of drive everyday.

2. I answered why I thought alcoholism was so rampant in my previous post. You can read it there.

3. The government doesn't give a flying fuck about Natives, and it never has. All it wants to do is keep the money coming in for the land trust deal so they can steal it like they've been doing. (read up on it, it is an issue)

I'm active in AIM, and other organizations, so yes, I'm working to change things. Are you? What are YOU doing to change things? What groups are you active in?

 

[CharleyH]

BUMP :d

 

[raphy]

Raphy...Cloudy...

Human nature is an 'absolute' much as the science of the periodic table of elements and chemical combinations.

The human body and mind function according to scientific absolutes as does the rest of the universe. It is our task, as thinking human beings, to determine the characteristics and simularities of our actions in the context of being 'human' regardless of time, place or space.

I am certain that if you put your mind to it, you can begin a list of the 'absolutes' that determine what a 'civilized' society of humans is composed of.

Let me offer just a beginning; the care and feeding of children.

It is not a matter of subjective opinion to determine the civilized and humane treatment of an infant, here there and everywhere, for all humans at all times.

I am certain, if you try, that you can come up with many other 'absolute' definable characteristics and attributes that apply to all humans at all times and can be concretely presented as 'absolutes' in order to determine what is 'civilized' and what is not.

Please do not trouble me with 'stylistic differences', or physical and mental aberrations that occur in nature to the species.

Thank you.

the always arrogant amicus....

Human nature as an absolute?

Don't make me laugh. Oh, wait. You already did.

You ask 10 different parents how to raise a child and you'll get 10 different answers. While *most* societies, as a rule, agree that one should feed and care for a child, that's not human nature. That's an inbred biological drive to propogate the species.

Animals nuture their young. Is that a prerequsite for civilized behaviour?

Besides, while most people agree that you need to take care of children, most people disagree on how. And not necessarily getting into specifics here, but which part of the Koran tells Islamics to ignore their children and not feed and nurture them? Just thought I'd ask, since this appears to have stemmed from the fact that we in the west are 'civilized' and those in the middle east are not.

You and I may differ in our views on crime and punishment, on welfare, on education. Which of us is more civilized? And who gets to define what that is?

Some people say that a civilized society absolutely requires the true separation of church and state (for example), because without religous laws, laws of man have no foundation. Others disagree and say that when religion is involved, rational thought goes out the window, and a civilized society has to be one that is ruled by the brain, not by religion and superstition.

Again, which is right? If you can pick one of those and tell me the answer, then it's fairly obvious that you've missed the point of the question.

As the old saying goes:

"The biggest obstacle to finding the truth is being convinced that you already know it."

 

[~hellbaby~]

You know what? Kiss my ass.

As you say, you know nothing about ME either, or what I'm doing to correct the wrongs. As far as history goes, it's necessary to understand it to correct the wrongs, get it? If you don't understand the history, then the court battles going on now over treaty rights make absolutely no sense. THAT'S why history is necessary. "People like you" who don't think that history is important miss the whole point.

I can answer your questions:

1. Less that 20% of natives live on the rez simply because of the grinding poverty there. Have you ever been to a reservation? I doubt it, or you'd know why we don't live there if we don't have to. Some are two hours drive from the nearest town/industry, and the vast majority don't own a car, or the one they have isn't reliable enough for that kind of drive everyday.

2. I answered why I thought alcoholism was so rampant in my previous post. You can read it there.

3. The government doesn't give a flying fuck about Natives, and it never has. All it wants to do is keep the money coming in for the land trust deal so they can steal it like they've been doing. (read up on it, it is an issue)

I'm active in AIM, and other organizations, so yes, I'm working to change things. Are you? What are YOU doing to change things? What groups are you active in?

I very activley support our troops; since the war began, along with a few individual soldiers I have been mailing everything from sox to gameboys, to Christmas gifts to their families to phonecards to thirty guys in the 1AD,who are working on their third deployment.
I am involved with the local office of the democratic party.
I coordinate a project I started four years ago that redistributes textbooks from the more affulent suburban area elementary schools to the schools in the badlands of inner city Philly where it is not uncommon to find schools without any books for the students. Where just last year, in a story that got national attention when a child was shot outside of the school that was the first to recieve books from me and was the reason I started the project to begin with.
I am also involved in the modernization project of the school library at my child's school.
I am also about to start work on a scholarship program for economically disadvantaged kids who show leadership qualities and innovative ideas for improving their communtities.
I don't kiss ass, unless it gets me books.

 

[amicus]

Hellbaby! Go for it!

you bet!


good on you!