The House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, led by Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Arizona), and Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans, led by Del. Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-Guam), held a joint oversight field hearing on "Walls and Waivers: Expedited Construction of the Southern Border Wall and the Collateral Impacts on Communities and the Environment" at UT Brownsville on Monday April 28th.
Community Resposes to the Congressional Hearing
A couple of us from Houston IMC and anti-border wall activists from through out the Rio Grand Valley came to listen to the testimony, cheer for the anti-wall speakers and congress folks and jeer at the fear mongering tactics of Tancredo, Hunter and their flunkies. Of the 8 congressmen and women, 6 were against the wall and power grab by Chertoff. The location of UTB for the hearing was interesting as the wall would put parts of the campus on the south side of the wall, and try to funnel border crossers onto the campus to make their apprehension by the Border Patrol easier.
On March 29, 2008 Traditional O’odham leaders and International
Supporters arrived in the small village of Quitovac in the Northern Sonoran State of Mexico to honor the land, the sky, the water, and all life, and to continue organizing to stop the building of a toxic waste dump that’s planned to be placed just a few miles from one of the most sacred ceremony sites of the O’odham.
It was a beautiful spring weekend – the air smelled of earth and the fragrance of the spring growth. The surroundings told of things that will come to pass and in doing so, reinforced the urgency of stopping not only this one toxic desecration, but also of the urgency of making sure that everyone the world over realizes the importance of this period in time – this
Story from the Associated Press. It provides some decent background on the re-construction of the fence
San Diego border fence proceeds slowly -
By ELLIOT SPAGAT
SAN DIEGO - Bulldozers are rolling again on the U.S.-Mexico border, moving hundreds of tons of dirt to make way for a 16-foot steel fence in an area that once was the most popular crossing for illegal immigrants.
But before the construction resumed recently, the 14-mile project in San Diego was stalled for years by legal challenges from environmentalists, budget problems and difficulties buying land. Those delays are now raising doubts about a government plan to extend fencing to 370 miles of the Mexican border.
A major thing that has frustrated me about the alternative health community is the "not in my backyard" mentality regarding toxins. Yes people should be very concerned about toxins- they can cause various health problems including cancer. They can be found in all sorts of cleaning products, bodycare products, in and on food. The alternative health community- at least that which i have been exposed to- promotes avoiding the use of these toxic products, in addition to avoiding plastics, microwaves, etc. They promote "all natural" products, organic agriculture, etc. They're into "detoxing" by using herbal products that cleanse their bodies of toxins.
They are concerned about pollution. But there are people who are constantly exposed to toxins in high levels. Like people who have to live near toxic dump sites, people who have to work with pesticides, artificial chemicals, and outright toxic waste everyday. People who have to live with lead paint- still, and other similar toxic environments. But people with class and white privilege can avoid these things. Meanwhile people on reservations, farm workers, people who work in factories and maquiladoras, and more tend to be mostly people of color and do not have a high enough class status for people who can do something about it to care. When i was interested in researching herbal and other alternative health methods of helping such people become healthier i became aware that there is hardly any such research out there. In addition, i was warned that doing typical detoxes could bring on a very traumatic response from the body- since many toxins get stored in fat cells, bones, etc.- releasing them back into the bloodstream can be very hard on the body, causing symptoms that may be very difficult to deal with. For the most part, the exposure to these toxins in various communities is environmental racism- something that's been going on for decades.
People do fight back though. And there have been successes. Help make this fight a success...
Since approximately 9000 years ago the Cucapá have lived in the land
adjacent to the Rio Colorado, dedicated fundamentally to fishing. Eighteen
years ago the Mexican federal government began passing laws that made it
nearly impossible for the indigenous Cucapá to live in these lands. In
effect in 1993 the zone was declared an ecological reserve, protected by
the general law of ecological equilibrium.
The rivers near the Cucapá are drying out because of the dams that have
been built on the US side of the Colorado River. Therefore, the current
fishing grounds have become a last resort for their survival. In addition,
in these waters, fishing of any type of marine species has been
prohibited. With the implementation of this decree, the life of the Cucapá
has been gravely affected; putting at risk the existence of the Cucapá as
indigenous people in Baja California.
Today there are only 304 Cucapá left. They face immanent extermination
and now they rely on the support of La Otra Campaña with the purpose of
continuing the only productive activity for self sustainability.
Therefore from February 28, to May 3, 2007, in the immediate surroundings
of the communities of El Mayor and El Zanjón located in the area of “la
Bocana or Delta del Rio Coloradoâ€, the adherents of La Otra Campaña will
install a camp of support for the Cucapá community...
URGENT Support is requested from Dine Elders and Youth!
Sithe Global & DPA are proposing to build the Desert Rock power plant, a 1,500 MW Coal Fired plant in the Four Corners area on the Navajo Reservation. This is an area already polluted by 2 other major coal power plants. Local Navajo residence and community members oppose this project for many harmful reasons!! This Desert Rock power plant is still in the environmental review process and has NOT yet been permitted.
However, Desert Rock company trucks have began moving onto the backyard of Alice Gilmore, an elderly navajo woman, and her family on wednesday to begin drilling efforts. Desert Rock officials and police have not shown any documents or permits to the local residents stating their purpose or permission to be there. Dine supporters and community members have joined Alice and her family to blockade the road. They are elderly women and youth, and they have been camped out on the road over night since Tuesday! Desert Rock trucks have repeatedly rushed them and have almost run-over people a number of times as they attempt to get by. Desert Rock power company is violating the lease rights of the local Navajo residences and is harassing elderly Navajo women and youth! This is an urgent time and support is needed!!!
Please read on to find out how you can help! and Please pass this onto others!
Also see Arizona Indymedia
SUPPORT DIRECT ACTION ON NAVAJO NATION:
http://arizona.indymedia.org/archives/archive_by_id.php?id=369&category_id=1
Navajo traditional elders blockade power plant site
By Brenda Norrell
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report
BURNHAM, NEW MEXICO, USA – Elderly Navajo women and their children
formed a blockade, built a fire and camped at the site of a proposed
power plant on tribal land in northwest New Mexico. The blockade of
traditional Navajos halted site work in a region that is already toxic
with air and water pollution from power plants, oil and gas wells and
If my memory serves, before it became more acceptable to shit-talk on immigrants, the border security issue was promoted as more of a keep-out-the-terrorists national security type of thing. And certainly terrorists are still brought up as one of the reasons to secure the border. But what about domestic terrorists?
You have to check out "The Terrorists Who Aren't in the News". This is about the incidents of violence and threats by anti-abortion fanatics, specifically an attack that occurred on September 11, 2006, which has not been reported by the mainstream media.
Indymedia.org - Through showers of rain, more than ten thousand students, workers, survivors and companeros marched October 2nd in the streets of Mexico City to commemorate the 38th anniversary of the Mexican goverment's 1968 massacre at Tlatelolco that
killed hundreds of student protesters. Members of the Popular Assembly of
the People of Oaxaca (APPO) led the march with a banner saying: "To avoid
future repressions, punish the genocides of yesterday and today." In solidarity with the pro-democracy uprising now in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, and against the massive Mexican military assault against their movement that observers report may be imminent, chants and banners denouncing repression in Oaxaca resounded throughout the march. pictures | theater action (es) | report (es).
