To Clint and Heather Larson

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Clint and Heather - I don't want to devastate you further. I wish I could assure you that your baby will be okay, but I can't.

The Leech Lake Reservation is so bad, that even my husband, a member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe from Leech Lake, took our kids far from it and wrote in his will that he did NOT want the grand kids that he had legal custody of (through ICWA, of course) to go back there when he died.

He passed away four years ago and how I managed to keep his grand kids is still a mystery to us. The Lord definitely had his hand in it. We imagine that the Mpls. Star and Tribe series, "The Lost Youth Of Leech Lake," which came out just two months before he passed away also brought such bad publicity to the tribe that they simply decided not to fight with us.

I strongly urge you to continue to fight for this little boy. It will be hard enough for him having to deal with the affects of having been born with substances in his system. But being in Cass Lake on top of it....

You said on the news that you want to fight to make sure this doesn't happen to any more children. We are also trying to fight for the children. I have a grandson now who, at 1/4 blood quantum, is enrollable. If anything should happen to his parents, I WILL fight the tribe tooth and nail and I WILL defy the law if it came down to it. We would like to work with you in your battle.
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Sarah Palin's Church torched - but no one is hurt.

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Friday night, Sarah Palin's church in Wasilla was torched by an arsonist. The Wasilla Bible Church has an estimated $1 million worth of damage and the Wasilla fire chief has said that the fire was "definitely suspicious."

The anger directed at Sarah Palin during the campaign was unwarranted. Apparently, a lot of people hate Christians.

But Sarah has said to have faith in "the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good."

Pastor Larry Kroon told KTUU TV, "I've had a lot worst calls at night. When one of your parishioners dies or loses a child, it's a whole different thing than the building's on fire."

Give thanks to God for everything. Praise God for His goodness. Sarah is right, good will come out of this evil.

Please pray protection for Sarah, her family and her church and that God come against those that would try to hurt them. But also pray for those that set the fire. They must have a lot of anger and pain in their hearts to have done something like this. They really need Jesus Christ.

So many people in our country are lost without Jesus Christ. It's the only explanation for the amount of anger they have when confronted with the Holy Spirit, indwelling in a person such as Sarah. She's someone they can't touch - at least not that they can see. She doesn't react to their barbs. So they just get angrier and angrier.

Dear God, please Bless Sarah, and give her - our Esther - as well as her husband - her protector - all the strength and wisdom necessary for the job you have set before them.

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Today is "Day to Work for Pay!"

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I'm excited to go to work today! What a beautiful day to wake up, have a cup of joe and drive to work. Doesn't matter to me if it's snowing and cold or rainy and wet or hot and dry. Every day that I am blessed with privilege to go to work and make a living is a great day. Thank God I live in a country where so many jobs are available, so many grocery stores are so well stocked with food, and where I have the freedom to pass from town to town without being stopped by road side guards. I am not in high danger of being kidnapped, or car bombed, or even stoned.
Praise God! We live in a great Country.

Further more, I am so happy seeing the wonderful nativity scenes depicting the historical couple, Joseph and Mary with their little baby Jesus. This is truly a time for celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, who lived, died, and rose again for us.

It's snowing where we live. I love celebrating a white Christmas.

May God continue to bless and be with us here in America, guiding us in all that we do.
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For Immediate Release: Lawsuit re: National Bison Range

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LAWSUIT TO BLOCK TRIBAL TAKEOVER OF NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
Bison Range Deal Cedes “Inherently Federal” Functions and Bars Public Oversight

Washington, DC — A Bush administration deal giving operational control over the National Bison Range to a Montana tribe for the next three years is illegal, according to a federal lawsuit filed today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). This precedent-setting arrangement has national repercussions, as another 18 refuges in 8 states, constituting 80% of the entire National Wildlife Refuge System, are eligible for similar tribal agreements. So are 57 National Parks in 19 states, including parks such as Redwood, Glacier, Voyageurs, Olympic and the Cape Cod National Seashore.

Plaintiffs bringing the suit feature four former Bison Range refuge managers whose tenures span 40 years, a former Chief of the National Wildlife Refuge System and Nathaniel Reed, former Assistant Interior Secretary during the Nixon and Ford administrations, as well as a current Bison Range employee whose job is being displaced. The suit cites violations of federal laws which –

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  Forbid outsourcing “inherently federal functions” as well as require that operational control of all refuges remain with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service;


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  Ensure public access to financial and other records maintained by federal contractors and mandate a full and open review of environmental impacts of major federal actions; and


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  Shield federal employees from job loss at the direction of groups outside the federal government and guarantee return rights once the agreement ends.

“The National Bison Range agreement improperly contracts out operation of a major federal facility without adequate oversight to protect taxpayers,” stated PEER senior counsel Paula Dinerstein, who filed the action today in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “Ceding substantial control over a national refuge requires an act of Congress and cannot legally be given away in a closed-door deal.”

Negotiated with top U.S. Interior Department officials, the Bison Range agreement transfers all jobs, except for a Refuge Manager and deputy, to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT). This agreement, which takes full effect in January, is a successor to a more limited FY 2005 agreement which the Fish & Wildlife Service summarily rescinded in December 2006 citing a host of performance-related issues on the part of the Tribe, as well as reported mistreatment of FWS employees by the CSKT.

“This arrangement seems designed to settle a political debt rather than enhance the refuge mission,” Dinerstein added. “In fact, the agreement itself concedes that wildlife-related services will likely suffer.”

Called the crown jewel of the National Wildlife Refuge System, the National Bison Range is one of the nation’s oldest refuges and celebrated its centennial this past May. .

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See the PEER suit
http://www.peer.org/docs/nwr/08_8_12_bison_range_complaint_.pdf
Look at who are the key plaintiffs
http://www.peer.org/docs/nwr/08_8_12_bison_range_case_plaintiffs.pdf
Learn more about the Bison Range agreement
http://www.peer.org/news/news_id.php?row_id=1105



ALSO SEE: Dying in Indian Country - The National Bison Range

Call Your State or Federal Legislator Today and Tell Them What to Do.

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Being elected to Congress or the State Legislature is a wonderful and exciting opportunity, but it brings with it heavy responsibility.

With the pressures today's seat holders carry, it would be much easier to submit to what seems most popular rather than what is truly best. I pray that our legislators remember their constituents and what is their real needs are.

The proper care of all constituents is an extremely heavy responsibility and one that I admit I am grateful I don't have to carry. It's all too easy when under stress to give up, give in and just let something slide. They need to be reminded and encouraged to do the work your friends and neighbors want done.

Hurry now, if you haven't already, and contact your US Senator, Congressman, and State Legislator about the issues that are very important to you. They are putting bills together right now for the 2009 legislative sessions. They need to hear from you. Some states only allow their legislators to submit a certain number of bills. Make sure that your bill is one of them.
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Wal-mart Line-Jumpers were Horrible, Selfish Jerks

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The fate of a Wal-mart employee, trambled by shoppers the day after Thanksgiving, is now being used to bolster the personal agendas of various interests.

Parade magazine blamed "shopoholics." As if it some type of illness that bears no responsibility.

A column in The New York Post blamed "anxiety about the economy." Again, not the shopper's fault.

The New York Times, consistent idiots that they are, blamed President Bush for encouraging people to continue bolstering the economy after 9/11.

Some people blame the Nassau police. Admittedly, people would probably behave differently if a police car was parked near the entrance and a couple of uniforms stood on the sidewalk. But are the police supposed to man every store that opens early after Thanksgiving, and is it their job to do so?

Fox News contributor, Judith Miller, wrote, "Attorney Hecht, targeting Wal-Mart and other companies, was quick to absolve shoppers of blame. "They are not responsible."

Miller went on, "Perhaps greed is not criminal and behaving like a crazed animal is understandable in light of tough economic times. But I think many Americans would disagree, even avid shoppers like me. Blaming "capitalism" for such conduct, or diluting Wal-Mart’s responsibility through psycho-babble about the addiction of shopping only underscores the injustice of Mr. Damour’s fate."

Wal-mart DOES bear responsibility for crowd control. One method used by some stores in the past was to hand out tickets in the waiting crowd - 100 tickets for the 100 low-priced TV's, 75 tickets for that microwave. That way, the 101st person waiting for the TV and 76th person waiting for the microwave could go home. Without a ticket, there's no need to rush. However, that wouldn't get serve the purpose of having "door busters" in the first place - which is to get as many people in the door as possible in the hope that they will purchase regularily priced merchandise as well.

Still, crowd control is the responsibility of Wal-mart and other stores, and if police can't be there, then the stores need to hire a trained, private security firm. Their employees are not crowd control specialists and shouldn't be put in the position to be so. I have a son and a son-in law working at Wal-mart, and although those two guys are pretty big, I wouldn't want either of them to be standing in front of a rampaging crowd.

Finally, YES, some, but not all, within the crowd itself DO bear responsibility. Specifically, those that sat in their cars waiting for the doors to open, and then rushed the front of the line. My daughter stood in the cold in a line in North Dakota, only to have a crowd of people rush the line at opening there, as well. She said anger surged through the front line as those waiting patiently were pushed aside by line jumpers. She thought a fight was going to break out and felt fear at the pushing.

Jerks. Selfish, greedy, horrible people. Yes, they ARE totally responsible for their behavior, and if there is any way to discover who they are, a way should be found to punish them - perhaps something to do with behavior that incites a riot and results in injury or death.

The shoppers that stood properly in line waiting for the doors to open, but were pushed through the doors by the horrible greedy people that rushed the line, were victims along with Mr. Damour. While there were people in the crowd that couldn't care less about Mr. Damour, most people in America do have a conscience. Some of them are going to live the rest of their lives with the guilt of having seen Mr. Damour fall. They might have even felt themselves stumble over him, but under the crush of the crowd were unable to stop or do anything about it. Fearful of admitting they were among those that were pushed across Mr. Damour, they will always feel that guilt and will always wonder what, if anything, they could have or should have done differently.

If there is anyway to tell who waited in the cars and then rushed the front of the line, these are the people to prosecute.
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Bailout: Voted on by Egotists, Administrated by Idiots

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House Republicans are angry that the Bailout the voted for and trusted Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to administer has been misspent. What did they expect?

"The government has burned through nearly $350 billion of (bailout) funds and is pledging trillions of dollars more through other programs, yet little is understood about how these investments are contributing to the nation's economic recovery," a dozen House Republicans wrote to Paulson and Bernanke. "The seemingly ad hoc implementation of TARP has led many to wonder if uncertainty is being added to markets at precisely the time when they are desperately seeking a sense of direction."

But President-elect Obama supports the current program use, and had said, "The deteriorating assets in the financial markets are rooted in the deterioration of people being able to pay their mortgages and stay in their homes," wants to use a large bit of it to help homeowners with their mortgages. Congressional Democrats also support TARP, the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) said Tuesday that the Treasury Department has no way to ensure that banks limit their top execs' pay or comply with other restrictions.

They said that TARP, a financial rescue plan for to help homeowners, was less than 60 days old and has been evolving. But they say that the Treasury needs to work with bank regulators to ensure that activities of the financial institutions receiving the money meet restrictions.

Neel Kashkari, who heads the Treasury Department's Office of Financial Stability, disagreed that they needed to work with regulators.

To date, the government has pledged $250 billion to banks in return for partial ownership. It also has agreed to provide $40 billion to American International Group, $20 billion to Citigroup and $20 billion to the Federal Reserve.

FOX News reports that the House Financial Services Committee intends to hold a hearing next week concerning TARP. Big deal. They'll slap a few hands and continue with theirsame garbage, bailing out their friends with our money.
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Governor Palin Whips Up Base for Senator Chambliss

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Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss told media on Wednesday that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin put him over the top to win his Dec. 2nd runoff.

Soon after winning back his U.S Senate seat, Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss credited Gov. Sarah Palin with firing up the base and helping him win. “I mean, I can't overstate the impact she had down here,” Chambliss told Fox News Wednesday morning. “When she walks in a room, folks just explode. And they really did pack the house everywhere we went. She's a dynamic lady, a great administrator, and I think she's got a great future in the Republican Party.”

Chambliss had asked Governor Palin to join him for four rallies across the Georgia. She was his "closer," campaigning in Augusta, Savannah, Perry and Atlanta on Monday, Dec. 1st. He said that her star status is definitely not diminishing within the party.

He also thanked McCain and the other Republicans that came to Georgia, but said campaign appearances by Palin made the biggest impact. He said."Sarah Palin came in on the last day, did a fly-around and, man, she was dynamite. We packed the houses everywhere we went. And it really did allow us to peak and get our base fired up,"

Palin drew adoring crowds during her campaign for vice president. Her name at GOP rallies drew louder cheers than McCain's. She came away from the 2008 election very popular with the conservative base, getting book offers and countless interview requests. Websites and organizations supporting her have blossomed all over the internet in the last month.

Jim Martin, Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss' challenger for the Georgia Senate seat Martin's campaign on Tuesday got Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign manager to stump for him on Monday.

Martin had asked Obama to campaign with him but was turned down. Instead, Obama recorded a radio ad and phone calls for Martin.

Because of Senator Chambliss' victory, Democrats do not have a 60-seat filibuster-proof majority. At least there's that!
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