The Alaska Department of Law can’t seem to make up its mind on whether the 49th state should favor or oppose the opening of a Native-owned casino near Anchorage, but city Mayor Ethan Berkowitz is down with the idea and has been for a long time.
“The Municipality of Anchorage supports the (Native Village of Eklutna’s) goals of economic determination and believes both the tribe and the surrounding community will benefit from the jobs and related economic development the project will bring,” he wrote the U.S. Department of the Interior in January of last year.
His endorsement at the time went unreported and has for some reason never made the news.
In January of last year, Interior was considering whether a Native allotment near Birchwood belonging to Olga Ondolla qualified as “Indian Lands” per the terms of the Indian Regulatory Gaming Act.
Six months after getting Berkowtiz’s letter, Interior ruled the parcel was not “Indian Land,” stymying the plans of the Village of Eklutna, which had contracted to lease the land from Ondola in hopes of opening a casino-style gaming business near the busy Glenn Highway between Anchorage, the state’s largest city, and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, the largest city’s biggest bedroom community.
The tribe is now suing Interior in hopes of overturning the decision.
Casino-style gambling is illegal in the 49th state. An “Indian Land” or “Indian Country” designation for the Ondolla property would, however, sidestep state restrictions by creating a mini-nation within the state with powers to govern itself free from some state laws.
“It is generally within these areas that tribal sovereignty applies and state power is limited,” according to U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines.
Bigger issues
“Indian Country” is particularly contentious in the north because of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 (ANCSA), which sought to resolve aboriginal land claims free of the problems caused by reservations in the lower 48 states, and because of a later executive-order recognizing 227 tribes (now 229) in Alaska.
“Each Alaska Native village is designated as a federally recognized tribe,” as the Environmental Law Institute notes. Because of this decision, about 40 percent of all federally recognized tribes exist in a state home to about 3 percent of the approximately 6.6 million Native Americans living in the U.S.
But the Alaska Native tribes have almost no power because they have no land over which to execute authority.
Some have been pushing to put settlement act lands into federal trust and redesignate them as “Indian Country” to gain greater local, political control. The settlement act ignored tribes and gave lands and money to newly created corporations – 13 of them regional Native corporations and about 220 village corporations.
Three of them employ more people than the State of Alaska.
But a lot of the jobs with Native corporations are with subsidiaries companies outside Alaska or simply “Outside” as Alaskans refer to the rest of the country. Many of those subsidiaries were set up to take advantage of bidding preferences on federal contracts granted to Alaska Native-owned businesses.
In this regard, the settlement act has been hugely successful, but much of rural Alaska remains jobless and plagued by poverty. Tribes there would like to get land to see if they could do a better job of generating employment than the corporations have done.
Non-tribal members, however, fear that an Indian Country decision creating hundreds of new sovereign nations in the state would Balkanize Alaska. All of which makes the Eklunta land designation a significant precedent for how Interior would handle requests to create Indian Country going forward.
Reviewing and reviewing
“We are aware of this matter and its potential implications to the state, and are looking into it,” Department of Law spokeswoman Cori Mills reported on Aug. 19. “At this time, we have not made a decision on the state’s involvement.”
Since then, she has repeatedly refused to explain exactly what it is the state is “looking into.”
“I found out the Department of Law is evaluating this matter to determine whether to intervene,” Mill’s stand-in, Department of Law attorney Maria Pia Bahr emailed this week. “If Law does intervene, that motion would be filed by the end of October. Please check back with Cori next week for an update.
“Let me know if you have any other questions.”
A question as to what the state was “evaluating” got a Mills-style response. No answer.
The Municipality, on the other hand, has had no problem making up its mind on the issue.
“NVE members are Dena’ina Athabascan people who have occupied the Upper Cook Inlet region for thousands of years. The Village of Eklutna is the oldest inhabited place in what is now the Anchorage area,” Berkowitz wrote. “It is the closest Indian tribe to Anchorage, and together with Eklutna Inc. (a village Native corporation), it is a major landowner and important fixture in the local political and cultural landscape.
“Despite NVE’s rich history and prominent regional status, it has not benefited economically from Alaska’s development over the years and the Tribe continues to have significant needs. Total NVE member unemployment is approximately 35 percent. Symptomatic of its poor economic situation, NVE relies primarily on grants to fund its operations and to provide vital health and social welfare programs to its members.
“Approximately 85 percent of tribal members live at or below the poverty level, and the average, annual per capita income is a mere $11,000. Without the project, there is little hope that the Tribe’s situation will improve in the foreseeable future.”
That makes their situation much like that of most Natives in rural Alaska.
The mayor saw a big boom for the tribe and for Anchorage in Interior providing a pathway to the creation of the state’s first casino. The project would start off creating construction jobs before providing full- and part-time jobs and “as many as 500 new indirect jobs,” Berkowitz said.
He classified the operation as a “modest Class II casino” about 20 miles from downtown Anchorage. Class II casinos are limited in the kind of gambling they can allow. Technically, they can offer only bingo-style games, but thanks to modern technology, engineers have been able to create slot machines that mimic what is legally defined as bingo.
“Knowing the hurdles Native American casinos faced to allow Class III slots, gaming companies began developing Class II gaming machines: games that play like regular slots but are technically fancy versions of bingo.”
The Class II slot machines remain popular even in Native casinos with Class II licenses. There is a reason, the Slot Source notes:
Tribes were given “the power to self-regulate Class II gaming. Whereas tribes have to enter state compacts to offer Class III games.
“Another reason NA (Native American) casinos prefer Class II games is that tribes don’t owe taxes on Class II revenue like they do on Class III games.”
Casino patrons, however, are unlikley to notice these subtle differences.
“Modern Class II games can look, act, sound, and feel like typical Class III, Vegas-style slots,” Slot Source says.
Anchorage’s mayor is gambling on that raking in business in Alaska’s largest city as it has everywhere else. Nationally, the American Gaming Association in 2018 reported Native American casinos now control about 45 percent of the $261 billion gaming business.
The association reported more than 500 Native gaming casinos in 28 states. Alaska has a small, Class II casino with about 90 slot machines in the Metlakatla Indian Community in the Annette Island Reserve on the island of the same name near Ketchikan at the southern end od the Alaska Pandhandle.
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Categories: News
I have always read Craig’s blog….But tonight I stumbled through some real nonsense about native casinos and then the discussion turned into some treatise about Gaza,Israel, Lebanon, etc…..
All I could do was shake my head……..You poor misinformed guys……..think about this…….
Where are you getting your information from????? The information you are forming your opinions
from….CNN? Washington post? Associated Press? et al…….and do you really believe they are feeding you true information??? And you try to form policy from that media crap pile???
The only way to learn about Israel is to go there and talk to the people……If you can’t do that
then you have no voice….If you have a voice about Palestine then back it up by talking to people
over coffee in Jerusalem….but to rely on errant news releases for your opinions makes you appear
very foolish indeed.
Bob,
How about Israeli soldiers who have served in the occupied territory?
Would they be a valuable source of information or would their testimony also be dismissed as “anti Semitic” in today’s silence of oppression?
Here is a story sbout the group of Israeli soldiers who started the website “breaking the silence”.
“Stories from an occupation: the Israelis who broke silence…
A group called Breaking the Silence has spent 10 years collecting accounts from Israeli soldiers who served in the Palestinian territories.
To mark the milestone, 10 hours’ worth of testimony was read to an audience in Tel Aviv.
Here we print some extracts…
In that decade, Breaking the Silence has collected a formidable oral history of Israeli soldiers’ highly critical assessments of the world of conflict and occupation.
The stories may be specific to Israel and its occupation of the Palestinian territories but they have a wider meaning, providing an invaluable resource that describes not just the nature of Israel’s occupation but of how occupying soldiers behave more generally.
They describe how abuses come from boredom; from the orders of ambitious officers keen to advance in their careers; or from the institutional demands of occupation itself, which desensitises and dehumanises as it creates a distance from the “other”…”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/08/israel-soldiers-speak-out-brutality-palestine-occupation
I just returned from visiting old pals in TahlequahOk. I visited the newest casino in town and most gamblers were kinda old like me. I immediately noticed that smoking was allowed so there is a lot of that. Not a doctor but the general health of the vast majority of those in a flashy warehouse packed full of video games was disturbing besides the fact that no one was smiling. I don’t thinks this is a good thing anywhere. My buddy won a $100 and I drank free cokes and kept my wallet locked. The Cherokee Nation runs the place with a special tax deal with the state.
This is just wanting to have your cake and eat it too. ANCSA is an agreement designed to correct some of the wrongs that were seen in treaties in the Lower 48. If we want to overturn ANCSA and return everything that was granted then we can discuss that.
At the time that ANCSA came in, the importance of & identification with particular villages was, in many parts of Alaska, relatively new. In some places, yes, villages at specific sites had a long standing (and they derived certain predictable benefits from this).
But across much of Alaska (and the wider North), fixed villages were not the olden-day norm. The villages that arose after settlement, were – originally – missionary, fur & trade, or Government expressions of the incoming white culture.
With ANCSA, the newly-ascendant fixed villages (by now in part due to radio & movies (entertainment & engagement), and airstrips) ‘scored’, big-time. And thus, so did the elements of Native culture that favored creation & improvement of these new villages. For those more attuned to more-traditional aspects of their historic culture, the ‘fit’ was maybe not always so good. Broadly, matriarchy & family benefit from sited-villages, while (male-dominated) hunter-gatherer traditions, less so.
When we wonder about the stability of ANCSA, the degree to which it meets the needs & serves the goals for which it was intended … or might-should or might-could be tweaked … we’re talking about the degree to which different elements of the native culture (‘voting’ constituencies) see it supporting what they see as the priorities or essentials of their orientation.
As mere-human endeavors go, ANCSA appears pretty successful & stable, to me.
Ted you spouted bs . Did you not read Craig’s article? Have you not been following Ak native struggles.? Ancsa failed a large majority. Its documented to enrich the specific few. Leaving the basic culture in the cold . Some Natives are struggling. It promoted the concept of wait for your big payout / victimhood mentality/ momma fed take care of us . As well as made a divide and special treatment over other Americans which is asinine . You are pushing old wore out failed viewpoints . Only a fool promotes victim mentality, give me give me . Have you read the constitution? Equality is a big theme , not some are more equal than others. I say break up ansca as unconstitutional,pull the tit off , give them no excuses. Any form of native preference by the feds is discriminatory and illegal under our constitutional intentions. At a minimum each of these people should be directly given deed to a percentage of their chosen land and be required to live there or forfeit ownership. When they leave it would be clear they chose modern living which means equality. You can’t have your cake and eat it to . Victim reliance mentality equals weakness. Give these people a chance to truly regain their pride by putting their boots on and taking full responsibility for their problems. My friends who had no or very minimal safety net have thrived. The ones who had a major safety net failed. It works . When the pain becomes great enough it activates survival responses and trains the mind to be proactive. The reverse is also true . To much free stuff weakens the mind and body and detached the people from natural reality. Personal responsibility is where it’s at . If you believe in generosity give each living person in these villages an individual portion of the land within these tracts by lottery method. Including the white villagers. Discrimination is illegal. Standard laws would govern from then on . No more tax exempt status. Call it done .
I was a teenage runaway in late 1969, making my way under desperate circumstances to Ski Row Seattle.
I lived intimately in the sometime desperate & tragic community of 5,000 Alaska expat Natives famously encamped there. I watched the TV and read the papers – and their official paperwork – with them … as their status as the 13th Corporation was hammered out.
Native Alaska dealt fair & straight with their excommunicated brethren, and Congress signed off on it. Even though most of that disbursement was then frittered away, and in fact killed many of its recipients.
ANCSA wasn’t a simple or easy challenge, but I think good people gave it their best.
Ted , I will definitely agree with you – people gave it their best . They have my respect for that . That said – the people’s best at the time was clearly inadequate and now it’s time to start doing better and follow verifiable legal and natural laws in the process. Not knee jerk we feel bad so give someone something. They were given freedoms just like any other Americans and that’s what should be done . Not enabling weaknesses and wrong thought . Now – everyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong but southeast natives have had better success (I-believe) perhaps their methods could be looked at . Granted they had very strong proactive culture. What I’ve seen from my successful native friends throughout Alaska in all regions,is they don’t wait for success to be given. They go get it . They have zero need for “ reperations” or gime gime . They would be successful anywhere in the world under any circumstances and I look up to them . Strong self sufficient men and women who don’t need a damn thing given to them on a silver platter . They could have been born without a dime to their family name and some were and they would have been successful. Alaska should not promote division nor victim culture. Ted , part of the definition of insanity according to smart people is doing something the same way and expecting the same results. Step out of failed 1960 mindset and give these people the tools to create self respect as strong Americans that they are . I promise you I am an extreme advocate for natives . My way has proovable results worldwide. I look up to Alaska’s real native leaders who don’t expect a helping hand and are gritty like natives of old . Look at history. Alaska natives were some of the toughest most self sufficient humans known to man .
(Expecting different results) miss printed by me .
Opinion,
Neigh 50 years on, ANCSA is now largely what it is. Land-selections have been chosen; villages made official Tribes, and infrastructure bought & dug-in. The 12 Corporations are what they are; not 220, not 3 or 1.
Actual important tweaks that have been made to ANCSA have been mainly the precise opposite of what you advocate. It was originally set forth that Native business under ANCSA would be protected for a certain time, and then it would be just like any other American business.
It was decided later that was too close to just throwing them to the wolves. Chumming the sharks.
So no, ANCSA isn’t going to be redesigned in the image of John Wayne & Marlboro cigarettes. Instead, it’s more like an endowed Fund or Foundation, like Bill & Melinda Gates.
Ted , what you advocate is dependcy culture. Socialism and illegal immoral racial preference. God willing it will phase itself out and already according to lawsuits in the states has started. (That’s Referring to native Corps getting preferential treatment). I’ve got no gripe with foundations that benefit their constituents. You forgot that bill gates gets no preferential treatment except by merit . I do have a gripe with promoting a dependency culture or ignorance of the constitution and promoting racial divides . Or weakness mentality That undermines self respect. You appear to want to keep status quo and keep the people with social problems in their current status. I want to give them strength and freedom. You advocate for training and conditioning of slaves by keeping them in the victim reperations mindset . Or at a minimum you want them to stay satisfied with being disfunctional. Alaska has a massive social problem and you clearly don’t give a rats ass.( you said – looks successful to me )( bull pucky I say.- it’s a disaster) Equality means equal. Not some are more equal than others. A country based on merit not racial preference. Is something to work towards. Your methods are failing. ( your native Corp model is leaving many at the mercy of poverty and social destruction) It will eventually be replaced. Perhaps not by totally deconstruction of current model but by pushing it towards self sufficient legal methods . Part of what’s going to help is individuals support of strong family networks like the natives naturally gravitate towards ,changing the state subsistence laws and Fish / game policy to benifit rural residents not Seattle fishermen and supporting a self sufficiency mindset . Did you not read Craig’s article where it said most native corps hire out of state? . It’s not fiully benefiting these people the way intended. It’s lining some people s pockets and leaving others destitute and morally bankrupt . It benefits certain people massively and forgets the weak or struggling ones . Some of the company ceo arnt even native but they benifit from illegal federal native preferential contracts. It’s messed up . People will eventually catch on that giving one group preference over another verus merit is racism and destroys personal pride and creates division. They will also catch on that dependency culture is a failure. Racism will be phased out irregardless if you want to keep it . Yep I currently have very little say in the matter and it will take hundred s of years to repair the disaster your esteemed socialist racist model inflicted upon these indigenous communities. God willing they will all recognize they are personally responsible for their living conditions/ alcohol drug problems and poverty. At that time they will start growing and getting stronger . Some already have . I see strong independent native families all over Alaska . I love these people . I am a part of their culture,I want them to stand up and fight for their future as strong Americans. I see my Alaska native mentors who do just that . It’s a good thing . They don’t wait for a hand out . They get strong From their own merit . Returning favors as they can like everyone else . A very generous culture indeed. If you are interested in healing and strengthening America you will promote self sufficiency and racial equality. Not division and dependency.
Opinion,
Bill Gates has created a $50 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is protected and shielded from market forces. Different methods, similar effects to ANCSA … that is, it enables a body of assets to be kept intact, in order to serve some specific purpose. Gates’ Foundation does philanthropy; ANCSA manages the interests & holdings of a couple hundred Native communities.
When folks ask me about the Alaska Permanent Fund (a Fund is a wealth & property holding & management method or device, as is a Foundation … and ANCSA), I don’t tell them that it’s about Alaskan’s choice to place themselves partly in dependency to a Dividend. I don’t say that it erodes the initiative, even the Spirit of Alaskans. I don’t get gory with tales of Fall Mayhem and outright criminal antisocial conduct that ensue at Check Time.
That is, though, how some – including Alaskans – interpret the PFD.
Really, whether the PFD or ANCSA is a problem or an opportunity for a person, is a matter of the person. Having the Permanent Fund isn’t going to cause Alaska to degenerate … although if it does degenerate, then the Dividend is likely to be misused … but not because a PFD saps the soul.
There are thousands of Native communities, Outside. There are common patterns of problems (and successes) that are shared by Outside & AK Natives … yet none of these Outside groups have an ANCSA. Ergo, ANCSA is not the cause or explanation of the Native liabilities & vulnerabilities, in AK. These issues & matters are universal among North American Natives, but only Alaska has ANCSA. Alaska Natives would have these same struggles, without ANCSA.
If America does come up with Greenland here in the next little while (would be the coolest score since, wut, 1867?!), the insight & willingness & experience that ANCSA represents will be an important secondary aspect of it.
Ted ,you must have thought on that one for awhile. ( or not ) Drink some coffee and speed your thinking up a bit . You strangely compare bill gates foundation to ancsa . . Completely apples and oranges. I can’t even have a discussion with you if you are going to equate two different species. Where do I start! Here’s the short version. First bill and Melinda gates – Ones a fund that was made by honest taxed efforts , that attempts to benifit many people irregardless of race . The other- ancsa was not a fund . It was land taken from many and turned into corporation that’s gets racial preference! The people who would have rightly owned the land now have a corporate system instead . For better or worse. Their ability to have distinct personal ownership and own their situation in life was partially taken from them and effectively white mans economy was forced upon them assisting the destruction of their culture . IMO . Not to mention that technically it really should have belonged to all Alaskans by the American constitution . Then you go on to equate it with the pfd fund ( note the difference- the word “fund”not gifted corporation that has racial preference) the permanent fund and how it got its money can’t Be compared either. Once again apples and oranges. The natives had their land gifted to them with the ability to swap it around as they see financially beneficial as well as got a racial preference in their corporations work bidding and money growth,that benifits one group by race . Whereas the pfd wealth fund was from oil that followed a state law formula that also happens to follow constitutional law and was acquired by the efforts of buisness agreements on profits and is not gifted to one racial group ,it’s from oil that has nothing to do with racial preference nor to do with surface land . It’s equallly divided and helps fund government and provide Alaskans a pfd – Any race or any person can become an Alaska resident. Apples and oranges Ted almost absolutely no similarity. You get a D for efforts and an F for content . I don’t have time to reply to any more poorly thought out concepts .
Opinion, your imagination might do with some limbering-up. Maybe you got a plugged zirk and it hasn’t been taking grease for awhile. And in Alaska, make sure it’s a good low-temperature lube!
On the surface, cats & dogs seem incompatible – not even the same thing! But actually, Felines & Canines share basic similarities, because they’re both Carnivores. My comparison of ANCSA, Gates and the PDF works better than you give it credit, because all these are business & fiscal structures with special provisos that give them protection and shielding, from the usual give-and-take of corporations.
Most familiar canines are social pack-critters, and we think of felines as unsocial & loners. But there are for sure unsocial canines, and a spectrum of social commitment among their species. Likewise, some felines are notable social carnivores … marauding packs of saber-tooth tigers would have been awe-inspiring (from a suitable distance & situation!).
We’ve made our respective points & explored them sufficiently here. This is just Comments on Craig’s article, and straying too far/much beyond that becomes abuse of Medred’s website. Preparation of my own website is coming along well (I have the open time to be working on it … and I’m applying for Social Security (personally, I’d wait another 2.5 years when my benefit will max-out at 70 … but 67.5 years without a net isn’t bad.)
Comments can be good, a Plus, for a website. Many visitors who read but do not comment, like to read the comments, often more than the Article … as long as comments don’t become a big bunch of junk.
You’ll be most welcome on my Posts, Opinion. Because I’m a long-time WordPress guy, and hand-coded websites for years before WP came along, I can do things in Comments that other sites find tough. More nesting, timed Edit, Code & Links, more (easy-silent) reader feed-back. But I will also ‘go after’ off-topic ‘commenting’ (not-comments), endless arguments, and the repetitious Yeah-huh!, Nuh-uh!, You are too!, I am not! … tavern routine.
Ted, I can see you took my critique of your logic personally.you became defensive. Though proceeded to write mostly civilly . Look a little harder and maybe you will learn something beyond spouting your preferred talking points . Wether I’m right or wrong can speak for itself on its own merits. As to your equation of cats and dogs – yes both are mammals and have certain mammalian traits but beyond that they absolutely are not similar and serve very different functions in life . Think squirt gun vs shot gun . Both guns right ? Well dang they serve different purpose and have different results. So don’t clutter up a conversation with bull pucky comparison. Funds and corporations are not the same in the slightest. They serve different purpose in life . Yes you could say are both mammals. Or both are a form of business but do not cross over in function particularly in this case . You knew that but were trying to win an argument with false equivalence. Not good form .
Ted – I meant foundation not fund . My Sloppy work. Also just in case I offended you in any way , I apologize for my overly direct words. I mean no personal attack . I just figure since you write so eloquently you would respect accurate information and thought so could handle information and perhaps utilize. ( a sighn of my respect is to reply to your statements ) so anyway keep up the good work and remember anything I say is not personal. It’s just unfiltered.
Maybe the corrupt “news” media can open a casino?
“McClatchy, the newspaper chain and media conglomerate, has been caught deliberately printing easy-to-prove-false fake news regarding a key GOP congressman at the center of the hoax investigations Democrats are using to target President Donald Trump, then turning around and using said false reports to financially boost the company amid serious concerns about the company’s falling stock price.
McClatchy has seen a significant drop in stock price over the past several years, especially this year. According to investment analyst service Morning Star, it is down to $2.78 per share at the close of business on Wednesday afternoon. McClatchy’s stock opened the year in the mid-$7 per share range but has slowly but surely slid down now near its all-time-low—it was trading at a slightly lower-per-share amount back in May than it is now.”
What is happening to the value of McClatchy – and most other media entities – is not accurately characterized as, (cough) “a significant drop”, Bryan.
We don’t have to worry much about these businesses going forward, because they are buggy-whips. Their reason for existing, their usefulness in the community … demand for their product … have all vanished, and thus they will too.
Ted, and a good riddance to them as well sir..
In regard to casinos…tribally owned businesses on Indian country are exempt from state taxes, Cannot be regulated by the state or municipality and have sovereign immunity from suit. But the state and municipality will normally be responsible for providing the usual benefits…not good.
Sovereign nation status for Native groups is obviously a can ‘o worms … but it was after all & at the root, the US itself who signed “Treaties” with many of them (creating the nation-status). In many cases, when they were barely-functional as small hunter-gatherer groups … recently militarily defeated, decimated by disease, addled by firewater, etc. … much less functional as “Nations”. Which is often a continuing issue, today.
For background on this, I was born in and got my start in Forks, which is moderately well-known in AK (and now world-wide, as the site of Twilight (dad was born in Roswell, NM)) … but what is less appreciated, is that Forks is a classic dual, Native-White community, like Eagle and Bettles. La Push, the Quileute native village, now has it’s own schools, but when I was a kid they were all bused into Forks.
I want a “good” solution, for people I grew up with … for problems, and real injustices that were all-too-visible, even as a tyke. I later moved to another Olympic Peninsula (9 Fed tribes) town, and grew up with Elwha tribal members … site of the now world-famous Dam Removal project.
Some villages (“nations”) are doing either reasonably or quite well. Others are failing and even going extinct.
In Alaska, there is the special factor that the Native Corporations (a unique solution-device) may or may not show credible responsibility for even their own tribal members. Should Corporations be effective Nations? Without even the fig-leaf of an eye-roller Treaty?
I support the Native cause. They’re people in my community, and I respond to an implied responsibility for those afar in different circumstances, like AK. At the same, I’m not into pretending, and what we have on the ground is too much of a wink-game, both by the tribes and by the US authorities (Congress continues to amend & stir the unholy cauldron).
Craig medred sure likes to talk about complicated issues. First , why did alaska native land settlement claims happen in the first place ? It opened a rats nest . Arnt we all equal Americans? The concept indigenous is pretty short sighted. Folks have been cycling through this continent for a long time . The real first individuals are long dead . For those who believe in first come first serve. IMO . Now I can understand having land ownership around a village to some degree or being able to claim rights to the exact local of where you lived or have your cabin / present domain as natives may not have had written deeds to their personal property . Beyond that would probably be struck down by supreme court – push come to shove . Villages do or should have the right to some degree of local autonomy similar to a town or city limits. Beyond that is a distortion of equality. So my opinion is the eklutna native woman should be allowed to have a casino on her land if she wishes and state law allows it as that flows with states rights . The constitution clearly said rights reserved to the citizens or the states . Federal rights are extremely limited. As they should be .
ANCSA, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, happened in the first place, as we generally all know, because the discovery & eminent development of an oil-bonanza on the North Slope created a national American feeding-frenzy.
The Alaska pie was being divvied up, and any stakeholders who didn’t get a slice was going to be S.O.L.
An important group of early Alaskans arrived to seek gold. If there were natives living along the creek you wanted to prospect or mine, you might try to shoo them away. If they argued about it, you might shoot them.
Some pioneers cut firewood for steam riverboats, and to build & warm towns. Often, the forests they cut down were being used by natives, to support themselves in various ways. Again, if they then got cold or hungry, and maybe died (and disappeared) because of it, or just proved to be in the way of what the pioneers wanted to do, that was just tough.
Now, whether the current solutions to, um, various irregularities that constitute History are as good as we would like them to be is a widely argued point. But that a redress of grievances in some form is right, isn’t. Not among sober citizens.
Ted, you spout bs . Don’t promote victim mentality. They are Americans. Accept it . Reparations my arse ! Where is mine then ? You know very well We are equal . Don’t push division. The reparations they already received was to become Americans. Just like you and me . Anything else is false. I have a lot of native friends and the successful ones to responsibility for themselves and don’t wait for momma fed reperations . What a demeaning concept.
Congress itself recognized that Alaskan Natives had a legitimate claim to the lands they had lived on for thousands of years, and the resources upon which they depended.
As a Lawful State (nation), the US itself was then, therefore, obligated to engage with the Natives, and arrive at a practical deal. ANCSA is that deal … an Act of Congress … Law of the Land.
An additional important part of the ANCSA story, is that Alaska had only recently become a state. As a territory, both Alaska and the Natives had a different legal status. Upon joining the United States, at the ballot box, Congress was then required to take action on questions that ‘rode’, during the territory era.
That’s mostly true ted , except the bullpucky you said about law of the land . The constitution is law of the land. Not congress wishy washy decisions in the last 100 years . Supreme Court clarifies law of land . Go back and study more and quit spouting lipstick on a pig nonsense. Carefully written English does not make something true – what makes it true is if the information is accurate.
Agree Opinion. So sick of the whiney “victim” bs. Like I tell my kids SUCK IT UP CUPCAKE!!! America has turned out such pu@$%#@s lately I cannot stand it.
Ted, enjoy your writing’s but, how many pioneers faced the same hard times and DIED?
“got cold or hungry, and maybe died (and disappeared)”
Bryan,
My writing craft might have slipped there.
Pioneers didn’t have a deep claim to the landscape & resources, as the Natives did. Pioneers could get a homestead, or mining claim – if the real estate was not otherwise occupied (as of the 14th Amendment in 1868, Natives were getting real status). Lots of Treaties existed by then.
Actions that put Natives out in the cold weren’t just about whether they could hack it … or you know, really, get off their butt and go find somewhere else to do their thing.
In a lot of situations, whites were on top of the game sufficiently to cajole local Natives to vacate, giving them a clear & legal shot at the land. It was not at all all evil. Befriending & helping folks could work as well or better than being dastardly, though some indeed were.
But when people were placed in severe duress, as a result of the ‘knowing’ actions of newcomers … then yeah, in cases where it can be documented, it becomes a legal question whether the Aboriginal Claims were properly extinguished, or surviving descendants several generations later still hold them. General, ‘class action’ type arguments can pertain, too.
If I come up the river one day and play you under the poker table fair & square for your nice remote cabin & spread, it’s mine. Or swap my Spec Stock Options in Pebble for it (’cause I had a seldom-visited trapline cabin in the area) and Pebble later folds … tough.
But if actually I cheated or defraud you for it (Spec Pebble Options?!), and that can be shown even quiet a ways down the road, then your grand kids might still have a legal claim and be able to get it back.
Hope that makes more sense!
Ted , you have over complicated the subject . Created a massive convoluted reality narrative that weakens individuals. Bought into fake dogma of victim culture. Ask yourself we’re times changing around the1800s ? Yes . Is change a natural law . Yes . Who survives ? Those who adapt best . What would have happened if Russia kept Alaska ? Communist rule . Is communist rule better/ more comfortable than democratic rule . No . Was change gaurenteed ? Yes . Did Alaska natives benifit by becoming American more than Russian ? Yes . So natives got the benifits of gauranteed change already . It’s an honor and benifit to become an American and not something you need reperations for . (Before and immediately after state hood any native could file for a homestead just like other Americans so stop with your false narratives) Change was gauranteed. They got the best option. Now it’s time they took advantage and embraced it fully with pride and self sufficiency like the culture they once had . Victims didnt survive in primitive Alaska . Weakness was not tolerated. The strong self sufficient were chiefs and leaders. Some of the toughest self sufficient people in the world. Your esteemed Socialist policy and native corps , robbed these people of their individual property rights and helped cause family destruction this has weakened this great culture. Victim mindsets will not help them return to glory .
I have always been 100% opposed to regulated gaming because it is a tax on stupidity, targeting the more susceptible in that regard. There is only so much money in the pockets of those with limited discretionary funds.
That said, if Mayor Zoolander is adamantly opposed to the Eklutna project, I will reconsider.
But who appointed you the guardian of the stupid?
Please take that chidingly, not aggressively.
I agree that gambling can be a blight for some individuals, but it isn’t the job of any of us to dictate what presumably competent, autonomous adults choose to legally spend their money on. That way lies authoritarianism; as those who consider themselves our “betters” start controlling all of us “for our own good,” or with the puerile, false binary choice of “if it saves just one (insert thing no one is against)” justification.
Agreed
Happy Birthday, Vlad!
It’s Putin’s birthday, and he is yet-again spending it in the beautiful wilderness of the Tuva region, eastern Siberia.
On top of the world in Siberia, Vladimir Putin relaxes ahead of his 67th birthday
Vlad does the annual cheesecake in Siberia, because their Far East is a Russian priority. The United States has for decades taken major Eastern Arctic and Northwestern Pacific policy positions that support and encourage Russian development along their Eastern Arctic Ocean coast, within the interior of eastern Siberia, and along their Western Pacific coasts.
These tend to be heavy investments with a long repayment horizon. This helps to stabilize Russia (the Soviets did heavy-handed eastern ‘investment’, and when they folded, so did the East, bad) … and it works to reduce the wealth of neglected opportunities there, as China scouts for possible ways to expand.
Decisions in Washington D.C. viz Alaska, are automatically assessed for any possible effects they might have on our eastern Russia posture.
While a Native Allotment precedent that destabilizes the ANCSA era, and thus Alaska as a whole seems on the face of it like a simple negative … relationships with & the future of Siberian Natives is an important matter for Russia, as it is for the US in AK.
Big changes in the situation of Alaska Natives, could promote new moves to advance Natives in Siberia.
The Russians have a different Native situation; they have been working throughout the contemporary era to reduce problems and foster positive & constructive outcomes, and they’ve made a lot of progress. In some ways, it’s simpler for them.
One important issue that seemed to get little attention in the “mass distraction media” of America is that Monday Oct 7th marked the 18th year Anniversary of the Afghanistan war.
This is now the longest war in U.S. history with over 22 veterans committing suicide every day…
“U.S. combat operations ended in 2014 but around 14,000 troops still remain in the country, the Post Register reported…
The war does not seem to have an end in sight while suicide rates among veterans increase.”
Maybe Americans could pause and offer a moment of silence for all those who have served and for all those families who have suffered losses on both sides of the conflict?
https://dailycaller.com/2019/10/06/veteran-suicides-anniversary-war-afghanistan/
Steve, this Comment looks like it could be expanded a little and become a valuable addition to your own website, Hawkeye Alaska
You wouldn’t much like to have your own Comment section abused, would you?
But then of course, Management at Hawkeye Alaska evidently foresaw the temptation that open Comments would be for some Internet-cretins … and turned them Off! 😉
===
No … yeah-huh, I know the challenge of babysitting Comments. Don’t try to turn them back on, until you’ve done some homework, studied & installed spam Plugins, have a Security program. And even then, be careful & watch close.
But when they’re ready, I’ll be interested.
I’m about ready to take my own website live. Keep a hawkeye on my by-line. The most beautiful Comment-section, Eva!
Ted,
I hope to have more time to update my site and network more with fellow kindred spirits this winter…at which time I will mediate comments.
The anniversary of the Afghanistan war (and lack of media attention) is very relevant to Alaskans (many of whom have served in this conflict).
Here is a great new podcast by veterans about the wars and military industrialized complex that has taken hold of our Congress since 9/11.
https://www.fortressonahill.com
Steve s , you didn’t really answer the question. Are you pro Semite or anti Semite. The discussion is not with me . Please address your statement to Steve o or the general thread . As I’m already well aware of the issues at hand . Thanks!
Steve,
Since we are talking about subjects that have nothing to do with the article we are commenting on and in light of the recent antisemitic murders in Germany. Would you care to explain your antisemitic rant from a few short days ago?
Your antisemitic screed can be found on this article https://craigmedred.news/2019/10/06/forgotten-dangers/
It all makes aense now: “Steve Stine
I moved to Alaska twelve years ago to homestead and ski after I finished my Bachelor of Arts from Green Mountain College in Vermont”.
https://hawkeyealaska.news/author/hawkeyealaska/
PS- Not stalking you Steve S. You guys mentioned your site. So,…..
Steve O,
Sorry you do not have the intelligence to discuss gaza and the Palestinian conflict in the middle east. (Or the U.S. financial support for Israel)
It has been proven that discussion of the situation is not anti Semitic nor is it un American.
Here is a video by retirer U.S. Army major Daniel Sjursen who also leads the podcast “fortress on a hill”.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0YHby2JaK0A
“Major Daniel Sjursen closing aruments on Israeli-Palestine Conflict Soho Forum debate … Israel can no more defeat the narrowly defined Palestinian movement than massive American military machine …”
Bryan,
It is nice to have so much interest in my writing.
Thanks for checking out my site!
Steve,
You’re absolutely right, I do not have the intelligence to discuss this issue with you. But seeing that your view of intelligence includes simply reciting leftwing talking points and calling what is going on in Israel a “genocide”, I will wear my ignorance as a badge of honor. Discussing what is going on in Israel isn’t inherently antisemitic, doing so in the way you have chosen to is without a doubt antisemitic.
Feel free to insult my intellegence all day long, since you cannot defend your antisemitic writings and all you have is personal insults.
Steve O,
On the contrary there are much more intelligent voices like Chris Hedges who defend the criticism of Israeli intervention in Gaza…
Don’t take my word…
Research the experts on the middle East…
“Criticism of Israel and the ideology of Zionism is not anti-Semitic.
Criticism of Israel’s influence and control over U.S. foreign policy, and of Israeli efforts to silence those who champion Palestinian rights, is not anti-Semitic.
Criticism of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians or its dangerous campaign to orchestrate a war with Iran is not anti-Semitic…
The Israel lobby’s buying off of nearly every senior politician in the United States, facilitated by our system of legalized bribery, is not an anti-Semitic trope. It is a fact. ”
https://jamesfetzer.org/2019/03/chris-hedges-israels-stranglehold-on-american-politics/
Steve, Israel is the bad guy in Gaza? I mean the PLO and Hamas are saints right? Steve S. the problem with you and a BA degree is that you were educated by the likes of Obama and William Aires who love Hamas.
Steve,
Just copying and pasting what some other clown wrote does not take away from the fact that what YOU wrote is antisemitic. You are missing the point that the people you are echoing are saying. Intelligent people can discuss the state of affairs in Israel without being antisemitic. However, people like yourself, who use the term “genocide” when referring to what is currently happening in Israel without understanding the meaning of the word and the historical context and implications involved are either completely ignorant or antisemitic, or most likely both.
You should Google the word genocide and the word Jewish and do some reading on the subject, just steer clear of the numerous antisemitic leftwingers out there who think that because some guy on the internet said it’s ok to talk about the state of affairs in Israel it somehow gives you free reign to spout antisemitic comments at will.
Steve O,
Ron Paul (not a left winger by anymeans) is HOT on this subject.
Why does free speech in the U.S. not apply to the Palestinian conflict in gaza and the west bank?
Originally Posted by Ron Paul Forum;
“THE CRIMINALIZATION OF political speech and activism against Israel has become one of the gravest threats to free speech in the West.
In France, activists have been arrested and prosecuted for wearing T-shirts advocating a boycott of Israel.
The U.K. has enacted a series of measures designed to outlaw such activism.
In the U.S., governors compete with one another over who can implement the most extreme regulations to bar businesses from participating in any boycotts aimed even at Israeli settlements, which the world regards as illegal.
On U.S. campuses, punishment of pro-Palestinian students for expressing criticisms of Israel is so commonplace that the Center for Constitutional Rights refers to it as “the Palestine Exception” to free speech.”
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?513111-The-Intercept-U-S-Lawmakers-Seek-to-Criminalize-Support-for-BDS
Bryan,
You are the one who always claims that I do not know my history, but it is you who fails to acknowledge that the genocide of the Palestinians has been going on way before the settlement of Israel arrived.
“Below is a detailed and documented analysis of the Palestinian deaths from violence or deprivation in the post-1914 Palestinian Genocide (1914-2019)…
I have estimated that 2.2 million Palestinian have died from violence…
2.1 million, since the British invasion of the Ottoman Empire in 1914 in WW1.
The details are set out below in a 2019 update on the ongoing Palestinian Genocide.”
https://www.veteranstoday.com/2019/06/10/new-evidence/
Steve s , why don’t you just say you are pro or anti Semite. That you made a mistake by using genicide incorrectly as well as presenting unbalanced argument using antisemite language antisemite viewpoints but only meant to show a disparity In fairness towards other weak people in the region. Put the question to rest . Pretty simple. Pro or anti ? What Steve o may be missing is the distinction between being against Jewish state current actions and anti Jewish It’s a pretty important distinction. That can apply to anything anywhere. The actions of a state do not always represent who the people are . The Jewish state has a responsibility to protect its own citizens and it’s not totally their fault if American Congressmen allow themselves to be bribed . It’s America fault for setting it up to be bribed. I think one of Steve o biggest gripes is left wing loonies using very slanderous language inaccurately . It presents an extremely distorted version of reality as well as dishonors recognition of past tragedy and who was responsible. The left has a very bad habit of extreme inaccuracies deflection and projection of their own misdeeds onto their apparent opponents . Steve o – correct me if I’m wrong. Thanks . Steve s – Make it clear antisemite or pro?
Opinion,
I am not against the Israeli state…it is the violence and deliberate shooting of unarmed Palestinians that I feel is in violation of international law.
(Watch the documentary “Gaza fights for Freedom”)
I also do not support funding foreign military operations.
I did not use the word genocide incorrectly as that word applies to any violence and ethnic cleansing of a specific group of people.
Many people feel the Palestinians are facing a “genocide”.
Google it yourself:
“The deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.”
There have been many genocides across the globe since record history began…and I am sure some before that.
“The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, was a mass slaughter of Tutsi, Twa, and moderate Hutu in Rwanda, which took place between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_genocide
Steve s , you didn’t really answer the question . Are pro Semite or Anti Semite. The discussion is not with me ,please direct your answer to Steve o and or the thread . As I’m already well aware of the issues at hand . Thanks!
Opinion,
It is a complicated issue but one worth our time understanding since much of the violence in the middle east stems from violence occurring in Gaza against Palestinians…
Which is important as the U.S. enters it’s 19 year in the Afghanistan war.
Bernie Sanders who is Jewish also feels this is an important subject.
You see there is a difference between the religion and the Zionist movement.
Many of my best friends in college were of the Jewish faith and we discussed this important topic together.
The land conflict in Palestine is complicated as the international community only feels the initial Israeli state borders of 1948 is legal (not the settlements in gaza and the west bank which Israel took after the war in the late 1960’s)…
This is where the Palestinians protest and are shot by Israeli snipers on towers above “the wall of fences”
“Although Bernie is Jewish, he does not favor Israel over the Palestinians, nor does he otherwise let his religion influence his positions regarding the conflict.
Bernie believes in a two-state solution:
“Israel has a right to exist in security, and at the same time the Palestinians have a state of their own.”
Finally, Bernie sees many other conflicts in the Middle East as exacerbating the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
I think Bernie Sanders has a good take on the situation in gaza.
https://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-israel-and-the-palestinians/
Here is a page from the Anti Defamation League that talks about the antisemitic and false apartheid narrative https://www.adl.org/resources/fact-sheets/response-to-common-inaccuracy-israel-is-an-apartheid-state
The numbers Steve Stine provides are typical nonsense from antisemites. Here is another source of information https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/total-casualties-arab-israeli-conflict
In fact the link Steve Stine provided at veteranstoday even says that about 100,000 Palestinians have died violent deaths since 1920, then that site goes on to simply make up numbers to try and manufacture a genocide that is not happening.
Steve Stine even citing the antisemitic blog veteranstoday only further proves the point, just looking at the pictures on that site should raise doubts in any reasonable persons mind.
https://realorsatire.com/veteranstoday-com/
Readers Beware! To the best of our judgment, http://www.veteranstoday.com is neither Real nor are they Satire!
They are alarmist conspiracists
. . . who have been labeled by multiple sources as anti-Semites, Nazi-Sympathizers, and all-around jerks. If this were satire, then one could praise them for having taken Poe’s Law to the Nth level. (But it’s not satire and I doubt they are that clever.)
Steve Stine even citing the antisemitic blog veteranstoday only further proves the point, just looking at the pictures on that site should raise doubts in any reasonable persons mind.
https://realorsatire.com/veteranstoday-com/
Readers Beware! To the best of our judgment, veteranstoday is neither Real nor are they Satire!
They are alarmist conspiracists
. . . who have been labeled by multiple sources as anti-Semites, Nazi-Sympathizers, and all-around jerks. If this were satire, then one could praise them for having taken Poe’s Law to the Nth level. (But it’s not satire and I doubt they are that clever.)
Opinion,
Doesn’t the fact that Steve Stine will not answer the simple question you posed answer that question for you? When you said “Steve s , you didn’t really answer the question . Are pro Semite or Anti Semite.” Isn’t the answer always I am not an antisemite? It reminds me of the child molester Jerry Sandusky when he was asked point blank about being attracted to young Boys.
Costas: Are you sexually attracted to young boys to underage boys?
Sandusky: Am I sexually attracted to underage boys?
Costas: Yes.
Sandusky: Sexually attracted? You know, I enjoy young people. I, I love to be around them. Um, I, I, but no I’m not sexually attracted to young boys.
The answer to that question is ALWAYS no. An immediate no, no hemming and hawing, unless of course you are.
Steve o , you win . I bet wrong. You take the money.
Opinion,
I didn’t win.
If Steve Stine and other antisemites open their minds and start informing themselves of the truth I will be happy. The fact that hate, deception, and outright lies are allowed to thrive in today’s day and age where information is at our fingertips is nothing short of despicable.
Really, it was already getting difficulty to make a case for the terms bigotry or racism, because the words were being over-used & misused, even before the 2016 election cycle.
But after the (reactions to) the campaign & victory of Donald Trump … in which anyone who supports him is a White Nationalist, a Nazi, and he is the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler, etc, ad nauseum, no … these terms are now meaningless & without effect.
It is worthless now to accuse people of antisemitism, because they support the Palestinians, and/or level accusations against the Israelis.
Indeed, a couple decades back, it was basically constantly in the news that the official Israel Administration itself was accusing assorted international actors, nations, of “antisemitism”, because they opposed national goals & actions of Israel.
That was a fairly new use of the “anti” terminology … because after all 6 million Jews had been murdered in the Holocaust, and the term had previously been reserved for use mainly in view of that context.
I think Israel realized they were watering-down a term that had great historical importance for them, and they largely quit doing that.
If you don’t think it’s the greatest idea ever to have deliberately Role & Model bending & redefining Drag Queens doing story-hour at the local library, you’re a homophobe. Uh-huh … couldn’t be any other (more legit) concerns at work.
Give it up. The impact of the “labeling” is now ruined & powerless … and ya know, good riddance to it.
Ted,
You are correct…
“It is worthless now to accuse people of antisemitism, because they support the Palestinians, and/or level accusations against the Israelis.”
It seems the University of Duke cannot even discuss the plight of the Palestinians without getting censured by the Department of Education…
Patriots should ask, “Why do our first Ammendment rights not apply to the Palestinians or Israeli conflict in the middle east? ”
We have a Palestinian-American serving in Congress and she won her seat with 78 percent of the vote….Impressive.
This is the Complaint against Duke University (not a liberal college by most standards)
CRepublican congressman’s complaint to education secretary Betsy DeVos that a consortium-sponsored conference was characterized by “severe anti-Israeli bias and anti-Semitic rhetoric.”
The education department’s letter charges that the consortium’s course offerings are inadequate in foreign language instruction and “lack balance,” placing excessive emphasis on “understanding the positive aspects of Islam, while there is an absolute absence of any similar focus on the positive aspects of Christianity, Judaism, or any other religion or belief system in the Middle East.”
The right to liberty is vested in the first Amendment, cause like my grandfather said :
“If you lose your first amendment, then none of the rest of the Ammendments will matter.”
https://www.aaupcbc.org/news/multiple-groups-call-out-department-education’s-intrusion-duke-unc
Opinion,
I obviously DO NOT consider myself antisemitic and have tried to prove that in nearly a dozen comments….Ted seems to get it.
Sorry that you and “Steve O” DO NOT have any Empathy for the thousands of Palestinians killed during the extended conflict and sanctions. (Most of them are unarmed civilians)
Some days I really miss the East coast and educated peers.
Alaska is caught in the tide of ignorance and many of the replies on this site clearly show it.
Citing a retired major, Libertarian party leader and Pulitzer prize journalist who all agree with my stance should help you open your eyes…but it obviously doesn’t.
Good day !
Steve,
You posted a link with an image of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, dressed up as a Nazi full with Adolf Hitler stash. Do you think that is ok? Do you understand what that imagery implies?
While you might not consider yourself antisemitic, your words and deeds prove otherwise. Go sell your hateful nonsense elsewhere, maybe back east where apparently being “educated” means being antisemitic.
Ted,
Words have meanings, even if some on the left want to think otherwise.
Steve O…
Your first reply spoke the most truth when you said:
“Steve,
You’re absolutely right, I do not have the intelligence to discuss this issue with you.”
You should have stuck with your first thought…
Maybe the AFP can give you a new assignment as you are obviously failing to impress anyone up here.
I think Bill Yankee called it best…
You are just a classic “four flusher” with nothing good up your sleeves!
Steve s , don’t lie to yourself or others about what I said or think. I clearly sympathize with palestinians and Israelis both . They are caught in a trap of their own and neighbors making. It’s not a good situation. I understand it well . Don’t make bs up about what I think. What I’m against is inaccurate usage of the language. Creating inaccurate pictures of situations. Ted is absolutely full of bs . You can’t change the meaning of words by constant miss use unless as a language group you choose to throw away the dictionary and start over . Meanings are meanings. ( such as genocide – it means certain things and implicates certain concerns) I’m also not going to speak for you about your stance as to wether you are antisemite. You have had ample opportunity to clearly state your position. You are welcome to right now . I welcome you to right now say Steve is pro Semite . Teds concept that using something incorrectly undermines the strength of the word is illogical. What it undermines is the trust ability of the user who miss uses . Ted gets it Ass backwards. He alows for watering down of meanings concept- if a lie is said enough it’s believed- that’s bs . A lie is a lie . As to Israel being genocidal to Palestinians – it’s a huge stretch. If they wanted to eliminate them it would have already been done on massive scale in systematic methods that match genocide . So you misused the word . That’s factually proovable. I’m not such an idiot as to pretend I know what you think or stand for but you clearly misused the word. In this political charges fake information era that is a bad mistake. Everyone makes them . So apologize and move on . I’m not immune to mistakes. I make em all the time .
Opinion,
I am done fighting with you and Steve O…
This is nothing new.
You asked if I am “anti Semitic” and I will continue to say that I am Not.
My two best friends from college are Jewish.
Much of my extended family suffered in Poland many years ago.
My grandfather landed in a POW prison in Germany fighting Hitler’s Army…
It is Fascism that I choose to speak out against and will continue to.
I am not responsible for what an artist or graphic designer does online…
My interest in the links is purely data and words by those I cited.
I am not impressed by the lack of compassion and empathy of my fellow “man”.
Maybe you should watch “Gaza Fights For Freedom” before you comment on what is actually going on?
As for the responses listed above you do not know as much as you claim to know…or you might have something valuable to add.
The right to free speech on the Palestinian issue is very important as we see members of Congress attacked for the very same thing.
Agree to disagree is also healthy at this point for U and ME.
Take care.
Steve s , – what you missed from me is I never disagreed with what you said in principle, just the inaccurate picture you drew by misusing words . A dangerous path in this era . Or perhaps any . As it destroys the ability for Americans to communicate accurately. Are you completely tone deaf in that I said I have simpathies for both sides ? Why you feel the need to create argument where there is none is mysterious. If you turned your focus away from anti Jew rhetoric to fixing the laws regarding campaign contributions in any form , illegal wars pushed by the military industrial complex, and some of your other very valid points you will find more supporters. What’s totally fricken Hilarious is I was kindly standing up for you . Which would be obvious if you hadn’t allowed paranoia to overtake your feelings. Ask steve o if I wasn’t making an attempt to stand up for you . Maybe I shouldn’t have but I did try to sway the conversation to the concept that your apparent antisemite views were just a misunderstanding. Now you attack me . It’s so silly .
That’s kinda my point, Steve … meanings, especially of buzz-words, can be lost.
The bulk of word-abuse does seem to me to come from the Left … because Orange Man Bad!
But it was already happening, before, and all along it was mainly the Left trying to undercut the Right … although the Right tries their less-talented hand at it too.
Words, labels that should have meaning, can become travesties. Many have!
Are humans alone in the Universe? Billions of planetary systems in billions of galaxies … but any report of possible visitors is lost in the frivolous UFO-report travesty.
I think the Border should be controlled and immigration managed under the law. I think society has an obvious & legitimate interest & stake in marriage, family and suitable role-modeling for children. Under the prevalent misuse of labeling, that makes me a xenophobic homophobe … which is a howler.
====
When once-powerful words become joke-material, all it not lost. Hardly! The Palestinian Question eg has close parallels to the African American Story. Has the sponsorship of the Democratic Party helped them? Are equivalents to Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton hard to spot in the PLO? Do bears wipe?
I support and admire Israel & Israelis. I think the Palestinian people are being gamed, both by their own, and by a whole ecosystem of the nefarious & scurrilous. Some people have a different view of it, including President Carter … who as Commander In Chief should know when to hold his fire.
Stereotype-labels are just short-hand. The long-form language still has more power – it just takes more words.
Steve Stine,
Insult me all you want, just the way your buddy Bill did. You both have been proven wrong time and time again, and as a last resort you both fall back to name calling and insults. “Four flusher” good one Steve, you really got me there. All of your antisemitic ranting and raving is on display right up there^ so, go ahead and tell yourself whatever it is to assuage your guilt and call me whatever names makes you feel good.
I can only hope that some little doubt exists in your mind and that you eventually do a thorough survey of your thought process and how you consume so much misinformation in a world that has so much factual information within your grasp.
Ted,
Thanks for pointing out Jimmy Carter’s position on the Palestinian Israeli Conflict…
His book is entitled:
“Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid”
It seems our former President was one of the first leaders to point out the apparent “Apartheid State” occurring in the middle east.
Incidentally a research committee of the UN including a PHD from the US has recently stated that the occupation and military control in Gaza and the West Bank falls under the legal definition of a modern “Apartheid”.
Mr Carter states:
“The many controversial issues concerning Palestine and the path to peace for Israel are intensely debated among Israelis and throughout other nations – but not in the United States…
It would be almost politically suicidal for members of Congress to espouse a balanced position between Israel and Palestine, to suggest that Israel comply with international law or to speak in defence of justice or human rights for Palestinians.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/dec/12/israel.politicsphilosophyandsociety
Steve,
People who compare Israel to apartheid are ill-informed and ignorant, there is no excuse to remain ill-informed and ignorant in today’s day and age. The Knesset, which is the legislative branch of the Israeli government has an Arab caucus that is the third largest political group out of the currently organized divisions. Using the term apartheid to describe something that is not apartheid is disingenuous at best, please stop trying to spread your ignorance and hate here. Why don’t you use your own blog to spread your filth, not a big enough audience in Alaska for your hate? Maybe you should aim for you “educated” elitist friends from back east.
“Apartheid was a uniquely repressive system, through which South Africa’s white minority enforced its domination over the black and other non-white racial groups who made up more than 90 percent of the population. Apartheid – which means “separate development” in the Afrikaans language – was put into effect through a systematic framework of racist legislation imposing strict segregation, including laws which banned blacks from “white areas,” prevented blacks and whites from marrying or even having sexual relations with each other, and which regulated the education of black children in accordance with their “subservient” social position. The regime imposed “Bantustans,” impoverished autonomous homelands whose borders were designed to exclude economically viable land, upon 12 million black South Africans.
No such laws exist in Israel, which in its Declaration of Independence pledges to safeguard the equal rights of all citizens. Arab citizens of Israel enjoy the full range of civil and political rights, including the right to organize politically, the right to vote and the right to speak and publish freely. Israeli Arabs and other non-Jewish Israelis serve as members of Israel’s security forces, are elected to parliament and appointed to the country’s highest courts. They are afforded equal educational opportunities, and there are ongoing initiatives to further improve the economic standing of all of Israel’s minorities. These facts serve as a counter to the apartheid argument, and demonstrate that Israel is committed to democratic principles and equal rights for all its citizens.”
https://www.adl.org/resources/fact-sheets/response-to-common-inaccuracy-israel-is-an-apartheid-state
Steve O,
Right back at you…
“Why don’t you use your own blog to spread your filth”
You take quotes from President Carter and turn them around on me?
Jimmy Carter has called it an “APARTHEID”…it is in the title of his book?
“Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid “…
Maybe you should read it first?
I guess he is also ill informed?
I get your Libertarian (I know best) mentality but your blatant regard for others opinions is bunk.
Major Danny Sjursen served for 20 years…mostly in the middle east, yet you cannot comment on his perspective only attack me for posting his links?
I just was reading a story on the Daily Beast that sums up guys like you…
“It’s like false flag conspiracy theories about gun control in that way,” Merlan said of climate denialists, “and like those, it encourages inaction and apathy at the worst possible time for it.”
Both the UN and President Carter used the word Apartheid and I quoted him…
Take up your right wing hysterical rants with them….
Or maybe get outside and breathe a little fresh air?
https://www.amazon.com/Palestine-Peace-Apartheid-Jimmy-Carter/dp/0743285034/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=Palestine+peace+not+Apartheid&qid=1570909663&sr=8-1
Steve s , what you are missing is that definition of words matter with correct application. Please look up definition of apartheid. It refers specifically to the south African system of apartness . It does not apply well at all to Israel . I’m going to assume you are well intentioned but are missing the understanding that using words incorrectly causes inaccurate pictures and inability to communicate correctly. ( not attacking what you mean to say as you may have justifiable points – I’m pointing out that steve o is correct- you are using the wrong words on the subject matter , this causes chaos in the understanding of an issue. Untill an issue is understood it’s hard to fix it fully . So you do your cause a disservice by using wrong words ) now as to jimmy carter – yes informed but he is failable . As to UN – they have terrible reputation for causeing their own human rights abuses and are not a reliable source as they have conflict of interest that pushes themselves to oversimplify and ovetamplify a problem to justify their financial existence. In short they are not reputable for what’s occurring. I forget the other item you said but you are much more apt to get positive attention to issues at hand by accurate description without racial innuendo . It’s inaccurate to paint a people in the worse possible light and will actually cause pushback and drama that distorts the effort to come to a resolution. Using sources that constantly mis use words turns most people off even if there is viable information at hand . It’s to hard to sort through when it’s all dramatized .
Opinion,
Why do you think our former president used it in the title of his book?
Why is a group of 18 countries in the UN using the word Apartheid in reference to the issue?
This is nothing about me or my beliefs.
I am merely showing what President Carter and others are saying on this issue.
Maybe you should say that Mr. Carter was wrong to title his book “Palestine..Peace Not Apartheid” if that is how you feel?
Here is a clip from a WaPost article in 2017…
“Is Israel an ‘apartheid’ state? This U.N. report says yes…
If being an apartheid state means committing inhumane acts, systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over another, then Israel is guilty, a United Nations panel has determined in a new report…
Apartheid was a term once associated with South Africa’s white-rule system, but now represents a broad term for crimes against humanity under international law…”
(WaPost)
As for Steve O….the more I read his angry Libertarian replies I think he sounds a lot like Paul Jenkins the longtime GOP propaganda writer in AK…and he just might be:)
Steve s , for you I will make a good faith effort to answer your questions. Why did carter use the word apartheid? First to be clear – I’m not an expert on carter . That said many reasons he may have used the word -1 he was trying to get his book sold and make money- controversy sells . 2 – he is old at 95 years and made a mistake on the definition and editing . -3 He is a justifiable warrior for equal rights who comes from Georgia where it’s a real problem and he sees parallels in Israel and used a harsh word to attempt to bring attention to the issue at hand and due to his being a politician has little respect for truth or reality. Yeah I know that shows my bias against politicians- so be it . Your other question- why do 19 UN sighners declare Israel actions akin to apartheid? First remember- Devils in the details. We’re these nations Israel’s enemy? Did the specific writers have an ax to grind ? So to be clear – 19 out 193 nations declaring something one way does not make it so . That’s not even close to a majority. You could just as easily say aprx 170 un nations haven’t said Israel is apartheid. So it really means very little. The question is what are the exact facts that back up such an extreme slanderous statement? Then see if the word apartheid would apply . The problem is that word does not apply. That in itself though doesn’t mean Israel is doing the right thing. I hold Israel on a high pedestal. I expect much from them due to several facts . -1 they endured holocost so should have great feelings for the weak and suffering. -2 Israel holds a large contingent of the smartest people on earth – one of the most scientific / knowledge advanced , and should use that gift to solve their continents problems- similar to how a parent should be held to a higher standard than a child. Each mistake a parent makes is larger than one a child makes . Even in standard legal issues. Perhaps I’m an idealists . So forgive that essence of unequal lense . That said it’s a disservice to the world to construe Israel’s actions as apartheid or genocidal . Now of course as in any nation there will be small exceptions but to compare it to our historical major disasters is misleading.
Equate – not compare . A person can compare anything but to equate requires certain criteria. So to equate in this case would be misleading. Therin lies the rub that Steve o says you are spreading antisemite information by equating genocide and apartheid with Israel’s actions which is just slanderous accusations with no basis in historical fact . Thus you are incidentally being misleading. ( I kindly say incidental ) ( steve o says you act with nefarious intent ) either way what you say is inaccurate. Now if you were to anyliticaly compare it to apartheid or genocide you might come close to having an argument if you said their are certain actions that similar but not equal to . ( as we know sadly many nations fall under that category- ourselves included at certain times but nothing that equals the horrendous equation to apartheid or genocide since the American slaves were freed in my knowledge) my ears are open if I’m wrong
Steve,
Right back at me? Ok, I guess this is the third grade now??? I don’t have a blog and I am responding to your filth that you’ve posted here, not spreading any. If you want me to stop responding to your filth, stop posting it.
Former President Carter, like yourself, is ill-informed on this issue. Maybe you aren’t aware of this, but there are a lot of people who think former President Carter isn’t all that smart. There are also a lot of people who think he was one of the worst Presidents we’ve ever had. Even if he wasn’t those things, he is not an infallible god who can do and say no wrong…none of our elected officials are (see Trump). I would direct my comments towards former President Carter, or Major Danny Sjursen, or the UN but as it turns out they aren’t on craigmedred.news spreading false information, lies, and antisemitic nonsense…that would be you who is doing that, hence why I am responding to you.
We’ve been over your misunderstanding or misrepresentation of how libertarians think before, I honestly do not understand how somebody as intelligent as you claim to be continually fails to grasp this simple concept. When you said “I get your Libertarian (I know best) mentality but your blatant regard for others opinions is bunk”, you clearly misunderstand or misrepresent the situation. First of all, you are entitled to your opinion…nowhere here or anywhere have I ever said you are not. The fact is your opinion if wrong, and while you are entitled to it, I am just as entitled to point out just how wrong it is. For some strange reason you think that libertarians need to remain silent in order to respect other peoples right to their own opinion, oddly enough this is another thing you are wrong about. As far as my “blatant regard for others opinions”, yes I do blatantly regard them, like yours I regard it as blatant nonsense.
You are the one posting links and using talking points from antisemitic websites. While you call me names and accuse me of crazy things, you have posts right up there^ that link to antisemitic websites. I am not Paul Jenkins, I am not associated with AFP, your talking points are faulty and wrong time and time again, you are the only one behaving in a hysterical manner.
Israel is not apartheid, even if 18 antisemitic countries and a former US President said so. One only needs use their brain to figure it out.
Opinion,
Great points on your past few posts. I think at this point Steve is so entrenched in his hatred he is blinded by the truth.
Opinion,
There is a story on NPR right now about an Israeli soldier who is speaking to a reporter about his raids on Palestinian homes…
He is “speaking out”.
This is a current issue.
You can probably find the “snap judgment” show online…
I only have compassion for all injured and killed by this conflict…not hate like Steve O professes after any comment I make (even after I was quoting our former President).
Thanks for your interest and I truly hope you find the time to watch “Gaza Fights For Freedom”..
It is on Vimeo and Abbey Martin worked really hard to put the footage together.
Have a good night.
Opinion,
Here is the new website that Israeli soldiers are using to speak out on the occupation and violence…it is called “breaking the silence”.
Many Israeli soldiers who are speaking out are facing trials for their social media work.
It is a touchy subject for sure.
https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il
Steve,
Thanks for noticing that I hate antisemitism, I was beginning to wonder if you had noticed. Do you know that antisemitism is defined as the hate of a group of people based upon their race/religion/ethnicity. So yes I hate your hate. Perhaps if you were to inform yourself of what is actually happening instead of going to antisemitic website that lie and distort the truth you would be able to use your own mind to come to some conclusions instead of simply parroting what other antisemites think? Do you dare expound your thought process and reject the hateful antisemitic talking points or will you simply continue to copy and paste?
If you want to have an intelligent discussion about this topic, you need to inform yourself about the realities of what is going on and not continue with the nonsense that you keep repeating ad nauseam.
As far as the 18 countries who Steve thinks legitimize calling Israel apartheid…
“U.N. chief Antonió Guterres rejected a report published by ECSWA, a Beirut-based agency of the world body— ECSWA—comprised entirely of 18 Arab states, which accuses Israel of “apartheid.”
The report’s chief author is Richard Falk, a former U.N. official who was condemned repeatedly by the UK and other governments for antisemitism.”
https://unwatch.org/un-chief-rejects-richard-falks-escwa-report-accusing-israel-apartheid/
Steve, if you don’t want to be called an antisemite then stop pushing antsemitic points of view that have been discredited.
Great, more fraud and corruption. I heard “high cheekbone” Elizabeth Warren was heading this project?