November 24, 2018

PLIGHT OF NATIVE AMERICANS: #1 The Wild West

The Spanish Missions
The Spanish Missions in New Mexico were a series of religious outposts, established by Franciscan friars, under a charter from Spain, to facilitate the conversion of Native Americans to Christianity.

Fray Marcos de Niza, sent by Coronado, first entered New Mexico in 1539 and attempted to Christianize the indigenous people. Rich cultures and tribes they destroyed included at least 21 distinct groups, including the Pueblo, the Tiwa, the Navajo and the Apache. The missions also aimed to pacify resistance to the European invasion of tribal, Pre-Columbian homelands and loss of sacred traditions. Predictably, Native American nations, with diverse religious beliefs, resisted the effort to destroy their cultural heritages.

The Buffalo Wars
The history of the buffalo is entwined with the plight of the Native Americans, which settled grasslands and migrated with the massive herds. Native people came to rely on the bison, for food, clothing, shelter and religious worship. They used almost every part of the animal, including meat, skins, horns and even tail hairs.

By the 1800s, Native Americans began using horses to chase buffalo, which expanded their range. By then, trappers and traders had introduced guns to the region, killing millions of buffalo for hides, while leaving their sacred carcasses to rot. By the middle of the 19th century, even train passengers were shooting bison - for sport. "Buffalo" Bill Cody, who was hired to kill bison, personally slaughtered more than 4,000 of them in two years.

To make matters worse for wild buffalo, U.S. government officials actively destroyed them to defeat Native Americans, who resisted the takeover of their lands by invading settlers. American military commanders ordered troops to kill buffalo to deny natives an important food source.

The 1864 Scorched-Earth Campaign against the Navajo Nation
The epicenter of Navajo culture is Canyon de Chelly (pronounced “shay”), a historical and spiritual place in northeastern Arizona. Sheer canyon walls also made it a tribal stronghold in the 1860s, when nothing - other than the trees - was peachy for the Navajos. They were being attacked. Colonel Christopher “Kit” Carson was following orders of Department of New Mexico, to kill or capture Navajos and send them to a reservation near Fort Sumner. To convince holdouts to surrender, Carson and his men stole their livestock and destroyed Navajo homes and crops. Among crops the soldiers destroyed was one not normally associated the desert — peaches. For centuries, the Navajo had tended peach orchards, in Canyon de Chelly.

The protective canyon walls and fertile basin had drawn various Native American tribes to Canyon de Chelly, for over 1,000 years. When the Navajos arrived, a small group of resident Hopis told them about peach trees, which thrived in their homeland, farther west. Navajos visited the Hopi villages, returned with peach seeds and planted them around White House Ruin, in Canyon de Chelly. The Spaniards had brought peach trees to North America in the 1600s. Navajos also found the canyon ideal for growing other crops, like wheat, corn, alfalfa, beans, melons and pumpkins. Kit Carson and his troops burned every crop and dwelling in the canyon. Then, federal troops captured Navajo men, women and children, who were forced into a death-march from northern Arizona to mid-eastern New Mexico.

November 20, 2018

Ivanka Trump to sell Chinese-made voting machines in many US states

Right after Xi took office in China, I read his Five Year Plan:
So far, it seems to be working:

Obama criticized a Chinese law that could stifle U.S. tech business in China. The legislation would require companies to hand over encryption keys to the country’s government, and create “back doors” into their systems to give the Chinese government access. Later, China imposed excessive duties on companies, which import any foreign-made components, used to manufacture or assemble electronics and communications equipment in China.

November 19, 2018

Trump comments indicate he believes he is a weather-god

Trump says California wildfires have not changed his mind on climate change
During a briefing on Saturday, President Trump said that the deadly California wildfires have not changed his mind about climate change. "No, no. I have a strong opinion," he said. "I want great climate. We're going to have that."

There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 10, 2018

FYI, .@realDonaldTrump!
“...guess who owns much of the forest land in CA? Your federal agencies. CA only owns 2%. Guess who cut funding to forest management in the budget? YOU DID.” — Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano)

Alyssa MIlano is an actor, producer, designer and mother, known for her work to reduce sexual harassment in the workplace.

November 12, 2018

Trump (aka Teflon Don) claims dead military personnel would be "proud" as he dishonors them

According to the Stars and Strips US Military News

https://www.stripes.com/polopoly_fs/1.556246.1541900835!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_900/image.jpg
As the previous link to the photograph indicates, Trump lied! Marine One was not grounded, due to bad weather. When I was in the Navy, during Vietnam, I saw marine helicopters fly in all kinds of weather! Beside "clouds and drizzling rain" never grounded US Marines helicopters, with an important mission!

As the nation observes Veterans Day, Trump not visiting Arlington National Cemetery
By Emily C. Singer | 2h ago

At 10:03 a.m. on Monday, the White House called a travel lid, meaning President Donald Trump is not expected to hold any public events for the remainder of the day. That also means that Trump won’t visit Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, as the country observes Veterans Day — an unofficial presidential tradition.

Officially, Veterans Day was Sunday. However, Trump was in Paris commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.

Trump made a number of blunders in Paris, including canceling a visit to an American military cemetery near Paris because it was raining. The White House claimed Trump canceled the visit because the Marine One helicopter cannot fly in rain, but at another ceremony on Sunday, the president made a comment about how a World War II veteran was being kept dry under shelter as he stood in the rain giving a speech. https://mic.com/articles/192418/as-nation-observes-veterans-day-trump-not-visiting-arlington-national-cemetery#.dOad2VpYD

Although President Barack Obama visited Arlington National Cemetery for Veterans Day services on several occasions, once in a heavy rain-storm President Trump has chosen to avoid the remembrance of military deaths at the national cemetery.