Jayne Says

Support The Troops, Always?

I understand that questioning the collective blind, adoring support of our military troops is (to understate) a politically incorrect concept. I've seen so many, particularly those burdened with the heavy invisible backpacks of liberal guilt, including myself, quickly amend their anti-war sentiments with an automatic "of course, I support the troops, 100%."  Really? Always?

My husband, The Pilot, is ex-military, as are many of our friends. Loved ones have served in Iraq. I am hardly anti-military.

And I honor and support the human traits of courage, strength, loyalty and selflessness, in military and all other endeavors.

But really, are all soldiers, just by virtue of enlisting (or becoming officers) automatically entitled to my adoration?

My heart goes out to all of those caught in grievous situations, torn from their families, mired in a political, religious and cultural swamp. My heart breaks for all of our citizens who are injured or die in combat, on a foreign soil, far away from home.


But my heart equally breaks for the thousands of innocents we are killing on their own soil, in their own homes.

A former boyfriend of mine, in the National Guard (and probably in Iraq now, who knows?) kept telling me he wanted to "serve his country." I guess I was questioning him a bit about his military involvement. I asked him why he couldn't serve his country by becoming a teacher, or some other public servant. He felt called to military service, and I respected that.

Judging from the stories I have heard back from Iraq, our troops and civilian security and other forces are on the whole pretty miserable, and have found themselves in an exhausting, dangerous, confusing, surreal experience. I imagine there are thousands of Iraqi citizens feeling pretty similarly right about now.

Our citizens need the unconditional support (fiscal, intelligence, equipment, honesty) from the people who sent them there, not necessarily from me.

Again, my heart breaks. This war, most wars, make me think of lemmings, following each other off a cliff (do they really do that, or is it a myth?) But that's not the right metaphor. That metaphor is somewhat patronizing and reveals my arrogance; it assumes that the individuals don't fully realize what they are doing. That they have not made fully-informed choices. Otherwise, they wouldn't be killing people in a bogus occupation, right?

However, if our troops are not blindly obeying (as they are trained, as they must, to be unflinchingly combat-ready), and if they are wide awake and aware and thus have personal responsibility for their actions, for the killings that they are perpetuating, then I will not, and cannot, blindly support them all.

Not as some cozy, fuzzy, yellow-ribboned, ideal, anyway.

I support their pain and the fact that they must make impossible choices under questionable circumstances, and that they are away from home, and that's about the best I can do today.

Happy Veteran's Day.

I Think I Voted

I won't say anything bad about the man who has my laptop. Considering he may have all my files. He may be reading my blog, looking at my pictures (!), rocking out to my music in his double-wide at the trailer park across town. I will say nothing at all about his huge glasses, white hair, trembling hands, that thing on his lip. Or the trailer park (albeit a clean one) Mac service office where he lives.

Heck of a nice guy. And I have nothing but confidence in him and his ability to recover my data, music and picture (!) files and install my new hard drive and new OS. He's only had the bloody thing (my baby! my office!) for 4 days now.

I will go drop off my absentee ballot now. I don't like voting in person for some reason (lazy) and even though the Diebold machines haven't reached my rural neck of the woods yet, for some reason I trust paper more.

I don't know why, it's not like they can run a simple program to hack election results. Check out this video (I'd embed it, but my husband's browser, whine whine whine . . .)

It's short and it consists of a hacker testifying how he was paid to write such a program and tip any election result 51-49 for which ever side pays. Strongly suggesting this was done in Ohio a few years ago.

And don't forget, y'all, every time you vote Republican, God kills a kitten! (I know I've posted this picture before, but Shephard reminded me of it again and really, does it ever get old?)

Eid Mubarak!

Blessed Eid, everyone. Today is Eid ul-Fitr, the Islamic holiday marking the end of Ramadan. This is generously a joyous, celebratory time for Muslims.

Because I have spent several years of my life in the Middle East, the Arabic language, food, culture and people are forever in my blood, my heart. Actually, because some of my close relatives are of Arab (being deliberately vague here) descent, this culture really is part of my blood.

Some people find solace in mac 'n cheese or Ben & Jerry's. My comfort foods are hummus, baba ganoush, tabbouleh, falafel, shish kebab, labneh, pita . . . If it has olive oil, garlic, eggplant, lemon - more, please!

What about the crazy islamofascist terrorists, etc.? Sorry, I don't know any. I'm pretty sure they are in the extreme minority, much like our crazy christofascist fundamentalists here. Though we are doing our part to increase those numbers, on both sides.

What I do know:

• Fatima had an infectious laugh, gorgeous huge brown eyes, and taught me how to belly dance.
• Omar's parents were so warm and generous, I had to be careful not to compliment anything, or they would give it to me.
• We were sitting on the floor around a huge feast of spiced rice and meat with some Bedouin in an expansive tent. My mother was offered the tongue (what a delicacy!) and my brother and I had to stifle our giggles while she ate some. We drank hot, sweet tea in glass mugs.
• Teenaged Arabic boys are just as silly and hormone-crazy as teenaged American boys.
• Tariq was so chivalrous to cut up my frog in biology class ~ I just couldn't do it.
• Karim had a crush on me, but Ali took me to prom.
• Places like Petra, obviously the Egyptian pyramids, the Dead Sea, Mecca (from as close as I was allowed) and famous Souk (market) in Damascus inspire awe and stillness.
• Of course there were some scary older men who spit in front of my feet once as I walked by.
• And, years later, the jerk manning a Burbank gas station who very charmingly asked, "And how are you, today, sharmuta? [whore]"
• To which I replied, "Just fine . . . and I speak Arabic." He wasn't expecting that.
• To this day, there are certain Arabic words and phrases my family and I automatically use, as they are more appropriate and have no adequate English equivalent. We'll say, "Inshallah" (God willing) when we hope something comes to pass, or "Mabruk!" (A nice, hearty congratulations.)

It is difficult to fear that which is known. I do not fear "Muslims" or "Islam" or "Arabs." How could I? Today, I join my Muslim brothers and sisters in celebration. (Well, except for the fact that I haven't fasted for a month or anything before today. And I'm not going to celebrate with the small number of crazies who want me dead. Details.)

And for your viewing pleasure, here are some rare pictures of a ragamuffin Jayne in the '70s, getting cozy with an islamofascist camel (jemel) and cat (bissa).

Ma’assalama! Until next time.

Coping in the Dark

So Keith Olbermann delivered another compelling critique on this administration's blatant lies.

Okay, I'm sold. Here's a brief excerpt of Olbermann's address to President Bush (but I urge you to check out the video):

You have dishonored your party, sir — you have dishonored your supporters — you have dishonored yourself.

But tonight the stark question we must face is - why?

Why has the ferocity of your venom against the Democrats now exceeded the ferocity of your venom against the terrorists?

Why have you chosen to go down in history as the President who made things up?

In less than one month you have gone from a flawed call to unity, to this clarion call to hatred of Americans, by Americans.

If this is not simply the most shameless example of the rhetoric of political hackery, then it would have to be the cry of a leader crumbling under the weight of his own lies.

We have, of course, survived all manner of political hackery, of every shape, size, and party.

We will have to suffer it, for as long as the Republic stands.

But the premise of a President who comes across as a compulsive liar — is nothing less than terrifying.

A President who since 9/11 will not listen, is not listening — and thanks to Bob Woodward's most recent account — evidently has never listened.

A President who since 9/11 so hates or fears other Americans, that he accuses them of advocating deliberate inaction in the face of the enemy.

A President who since 9/11 has savaged the very freedoms he claims to be protecting from attack. Attack by terrorists, or by Democrats, or by both — it is now impossible to find a consistent thread of logic as to who Mr. Bush believes the enemy is.

Yes. He lied. They all lied. To us. We no longer live in a democratic country. We are (artificially?) divided, divisive. Torture is A-Okay, any of us can be whisked away to secret prisons. Elections can be rigged. The ends justify the means. We are poisoned and used and influenced and manipulated by people far more rich and powerful than we are.

I get all that.

What I don't get is: How am I supposed to cope with this information?

I don't watch TV. I don't smoke pot. I do drink some times, but not enough to black it all out. I am busy and distracted, but again, there's a limit. I am not good at being cynical, not with this. I have a spiritual life, to a degree, but that provides no palatable answers. I can wax philosophical, and talk about pendulum swings, and how we're just at the extreme right now, how our country will balance and right itself, as it always has. But there's something lacking.

We can get caught up in informational debates - consider the minutiae, the details, the subtleties, the politics, the context. Yeah, but  . . . there is such a thing as right and wrong. There is such a thing as (call me corny) a democratic ideal. Freedom, equality, justice, fairness. These comprise our birthright, what our forefathers and mothers fought and died for.

When I hear information this disturbing, this cumulative, it permeates me. Saturated in a dirty bath of injustice, my coping mechanism is to act. To cleanse. To set things right. This may be futile. It may seem rash. But what did Thomas Paine and his ideological brethren do when confronted with an unworkable British tyranny? The only common sense thing to do. What did many Americans do upon learning about the genocide in Europe during WWII?

I don't think they watched a re-run of Friends.

Jesus. I look around at our country and Constitution being so . . . cavalierly  . . . disregarded. And I look at so much of our citizenry being so . . . colossally . . . disinterested.

The jabs, the satire, the shoulder shrugging, the ire, the denial, the avoidance. I get that. We all have to cope our own ways. I just feel pretty alone these days. Dirty, sitting in a fetid pile of injustice, waiting for the rain.

And believe me, I know - it's not "cool" to be sincere, direct, emotional and honest. Why is that? Who are the 'coolmakers' and how do they stand to profit from our slick, shielded flippancy?

(. . . And how was your day?)

Letters From a Grassy Knoll

I was at the gym a few days ago, and grabbed a copy of Vanity Fair to peruse while mastering some stairs. In it, I read a brief article about an incendiary documentary called Loose Change, which purported to connect all the dots to prove that 9/11 was orchestrated and caused by those who have the most to profit (with opportunity and motive) from such a disaster, namely the current administration.

Because I love me a good conspiracy theory, I checked it out today (you can watch the documentary online here.) I must say, I was persuaded more than I had cared to be. The interviews with the NYFD crew were heart-wrenching, and described multiple explosions going off in the buildings after the planes hit.

Why was W's brother (Marvin, not Jeb) in charge of security and insurance on the WTC? Why were bomb-sniffing dogs removed from the scene the week before the collapse and lots of drills with people evacuated the week before (an opportunity to plant explosives)? Why is there no trace of any airplane or airplane-like explosion at the Pentagon? Why was a disaster "like Pearl Harbor" touted by people like Dick Cheney as a necessary catalyst for justifying removing Saddam . . . years before 9/11? Why were so many investors gambling that airline stock would decrease right before 9/11? Why did the buildings collapse (video footage shows flashes of explosions, like a planned demolition). And et cetera.

There is a lot there, I am still digesting it.

Now if you read this blog, I am asking you to comment. If you never comment, or rarely comment, or even if you comment sometimes. For this post, I need your help. I need your feedback. Seriously.

Assuming, arguendo,* that the current White House administration conspired to stage an attack on the WTC, killing thousands of our citizens, in order to to justify (however lamely) initiating military action in the Middle East, inflaming hatred and killing thousands of others and more of our own, what is the appropriate response of our citizenry?

I'm not saying this theory is true just because I tend to believe it. But even if you don't believe it after watching the video, I need to know (humor me and suspend your disbelief for a few moments) ~ what would be the acceptable, right thing to do, for us to do if it were true? What would you be prepared to do, personally, if this were the case?

*Hey, I spent $80,000 on an education that entitles me to use Latin. Was that worth it, you ask? Res ipsa loquitur, my bitches . . . Please answer my questions if you can because I am seriously having a crisis of faith, of will.

The Revolution Begins . . .

. . . with an honest assessment of what percentage of one's

• Body,
• Mind and
• Spirit

are under corporate control. For how can we reclaim our lives if we are not conscious of who owns it? Who is the majority shareholder of your life? Is not personal freedom your inherent birthright?

I am gratified to report that my Spirit is nearly 100% Jayne-owned. I say "nearly" because it is impossible to discern how many insidious messages from advertisers have crept in and influenced my thoughts about even my spiritual life. "Hm, maybe I will be more spiritual if I drink Evian or eat Yoplait. . ."

My Mind is probably a majority Jayne-owned commodity, though attaining this status took many years of reaccumulating it, share by share. Brand loyalties and snobbery, ideas about beauty, celebrity gossip, beliefs about "4 out of 5" whatevers recommending whatever, what I think of as "cool," how afraid I might be after watching the news . . .  this is all in there, co-mingling with my autonomy. Probably 30% of my mind is not my own but has instead been successfully manipulated by the professional manipulators. Every day, I struggle to lower that number. Killing my television 8 years ago helped.

My Body? Probably 50-50 at this point. This is where it gets interesting. Reclaiming our bodies is perhaps the most subversive, empowering, political action we can take.

Yes, washing your hands with soap and water several times a day is prudent and sanitary, but . . .

Corporate Conspiracy # 3,068: Whatever you do, don't get your hands dirty! Dirt is dirty! Germy, must sterilize, gross. Here are 5 billion toxic chemical products to clean and sterilize you.

But getting one's hands constructively dirty is the key to freedom. When we:

• Grow our own food;
• Make our own "stuff" - art, woodworking, knitting, crafts, DIY;
• Prepare our own food with healthful ingredients;
• Share with one another what we have created and learned;
• Buy less, especially toxic products;
• Buy local organic and non-genetically modified produce whenever possible (these products might be more expensive, but they are often not supported by corporate welfare and government subsidies);
• Take charge of our medical care (differentiating between, as herbalist Michael Moore says, "little sick" (drinking a tea, sweating it out, moaning and groaning but feeling better) and "bad sick" (get your ass to the doctor already!)
• Reclaim our relationships to plants as medicinal healers as teachers . . .

Then we are not only acquiring back our lives, share by share, but we are also Sticking it to The Man, which pleases me to no end. (Image from here.)

An aside: I read a review of a book (which I promptly bought) called the 100 Year Lie [good website!] that said a majority of California's rivers are contaminated with high levels of Prozac and Ritalin.

I don't want to swim in Prozac and Ritilin.

Another aside: I was in the hardware store the other day and overheard a conversation wherein the clerk recommended Round Up to a customer, gloating, "it kills everything!" They both laughed and the purchase was made. I will write more about seed activists and farmers who brown bag (keep) their seeds for the next harvest (then get sued by Monsanto--makers of Round Up--for patent infringement.)

Why do we want to "kill everything?" The pesky Dandelion is actually a potent medicinal herb. We are surrounded by "weeds" that can be brought into our salads, soups, teas and medicines.

Why is it so great to have crops with built-in modifications to explode caterpillar stomachs? Don't we like the butterflies (erstwhile caterpillars) that pollinate the crops? What about the birds that get contaminated by eating the poisoned caterpillars? Yummmmmmy, pesticides.

Power to the People. The Revolution begins . . . with what you have for breakfast.

Because I'm a Sucker for Drowning Polar Bears

Okay. Now that everyone has seen the documentary An Inconvenient Truth (right?), we can talk.

The science is not only persuasive, it is irrefutable. Some highlights from the film:

• It's, like, a lot hotter now.
• I mean hotter than it's been in 400 years.
• That's kind of a problem.
• For the million species that will be extinct in the next 50 years.
• For the polar bears already drowning because they don't have ice to rest on.
• For the hundreds of thousands of people who will die from the increased storms, drought, and flooding.
• This isn't a political issue.
• We are so focused on the "war on terror."
• When the World Trade Center memorial in Manhattan will be under water in the very near future if we do not curb our carbon dioxide emissions.
• Oh yeah, those who say there is a "debate" about global warming are lying.
• Seriously, there is scientific consensus.
• But there are still a trillion dollars worth of profits in our oil reserves.
• We can't sell U.S. cars in China because we have such low emissions standards.
• Hurricane Katrina - heated up and boiled over because of the warmer waters in the gulf; we can expect to see many more devastating storms.

But, as Gore tells us, we can't go from denial to despair without doing anything. We can and must act. In America, we are responsible for 30% of greenhouse gas emissions, so it is incumbent on us to ACT. Not just talk, not just write, but put our money where our mouth is.

Here is what we can do to reverse the alarming trend that will have (is having) dire climatic consequences for all of us. (Read more about what you can do here.)

• Watch the movie and spread the world. We need to have this information in our collective consciousness, to create a true "tipping point" for change.
• Write about it on your blog and implore your readers to do the same.
• Join the virtual Stop Global Warming March.
• Make personal changes to reduce your Co2 (I calculated our household's emissions and it is over 25,000 pounds per year, larger than average (yikes!) - mostly due to travel and electricity.)
• Check out (and print out) these 10 simple things you can do to start making a difference.
• I know this is unpopular but if you want children and haven't yet had them, consider adoption. Population control is key to reducing our environmental impact.

Perhaps the most important thing we can do is put political pressure on our leaders. If global warming isn't on the forefront of their constituents' minds and interests, politicians are not likely to act to set more stringent emissions controls for U.S. auto and other industries.

Find your representative(s) here, and write a letter (or feel free to copy, paste and edit the below, it's a bit long and rambling) and e-mail it. Send it to your representatives in Congress, your Governor, your state representatives.

If not for yourself and your children, then how about for those poor polar bears, swimming and swimming and swimming . . .

July 11, 2006

Dear Senator [Representative, Governor . . .] X,

A bi-partisan consensus is emerging that climate change is a real threat to the future of the planet. However, even as the scientific data on global warming become more certain, our nation’s policy is being defined by delay, corporate interests and indecision.

Meanwhile, temperatures are rising dramatically, accompanied by sea-level rises, drought, species extinctions (polar bears are now drowning because they do not have ice shelves on which to rest!) and life-threatening storms.

Instead of drilling more oil wells and producing more coal—the lynch-pins of the Bush energy policy—we should be promoting conservation, renewable energy and highly efficient cars. Since burning fossil fuels is a huge source of global-warming gases, we must increase the fuel economy standards for all vehicles, especially gas-guzzling SUVs. 

As the world’s largest producer nation of global-warming gases, we have a responsibility to clean up our own mess and set a better example for the world before it’s too late. Yet the President insists on further studies and a voluntary approach which will not work. Congress [or your state, etc.] must take strong steps to support specific, enforceable, and achievable measures to control global warming.

Moreover, Congress [or your state, etc.] should act now to reduce U.S. oil dependence as quickly as possible to address the many critical security, economic, and environmental challenges posed by U.S. oil dependence.

Although I am concerned and personally affected by the price of gas, the other prices of oil dependence weigh on me just as heavily. How can we truly calculate the costs of the Iraq occupation (ostensibly to topple a regime empowered and corrupted by its oil wealth) and the costs of deploying U.S. military forces in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere to protect the oil sea lanes? And the dire health and human (and animal) life costs of global warming caused by burning fossil fuels are too high a price.

Please support corporate average fuel efficiency of 40 mpg for new autos (Europe and Japan are already meeting this standard today!) and help to fight for other measures including supporting affordable sustainable, renewable energy to address and reverse global warming. I, for one, was alarmed to learn that U.S. auto makers are currently unable to sell our cars in China because of our low emissions standards.

We have the technology to do this. We just need the political will to overcome the corporate interests that have been doing everything in their power to confuse and thwart this important issue, as there are still billions of dollars in profits to be made by maintaining the status quo.

I implore you to work to change this dangerous status quo. Thank you very much.

        Sincerely,

       
        Jayne Wolf

 

Adolf and Ann, Sitting in a Tree . . .

Can you guess which of the following quotes are from Adolf Hitler, and which are from mein favorite evil bitch, Ann Coulter? You can take the Quiz and check your answers at the illuminating Hitler and Coulter Quiz. I correctly guessed 12 out of 14.

"Liberals have a preternatural gift for striking a position on the side of treason...Whenever the nation is under attack, from within or without, liberals side with the enemy."

"We must study this vile liberal technique of emptying garbage pails full of the vilest slanders and defamations from hundreds and hundreds of sources at once, suddenly and as if by magic, on the clean garments of honorable men, if we are fully to appreciate the entire menace represented by these scoundrels of the press."

"Taking these consequences into account, it is no accident that it is always primarily the liberal who tries and succeeds in planting such mortally dangerous modes of thought in our people."

"Liberals are always wrapping their comically irrelevant charges in a haze of lies..."

"Hence it is that at the present time the liberal is the great agitator for the complete destruction of America. Whenever we read of attacks against America taking place in any part of the world the liberal is always the instigator."

"It was a crushing defeat for the liberals, not because liberals were necessarily Communists, though many were, but because they had been morally blind to Communism...Liberal elites defended traitors. In response to the Soviet threat, the Democrats consistently counseled defeat, supplication, and retreat."

"These scum manufacture more than three quarters of the so-called 'public opinion,'...To give an accurate description of this process and depict it in all its falsehood and improbability, one would have to write volumes."

"The immediate consequence of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia was a wholesale abandonment of morals. Laws against divorce were loosened, promiscuity was encouraged, and marriage was demeaned as a "bourgeois institution." Providing a battle cry for the sexual anarchists, Vladimir Lenin had famously said that the act of sex should "be as simple and unimportant as drinking a glass of water." American liberals have used their hegemonic control of...newspapers to create a charming world in which women apparently cannot bear to keep their shirts on."

"As long as millions of the bourgeoisie still piously worship their liberal democratic press every morning, it very ill becomes these gentlemen to make jokes about the stupidity of the 'comrade' who, in the last analysis, only swallows down the same garbage, though in a different form. In both cases the manufacturer is one and the same liberal."

"The foremost connoisseurs of this truth regarding the possibilities in the use of falsehood and slander have always been the liberals..."

"The truth is another hateful "bourgeois institution."...liberals always seem to be enthusiastically defending liars. Lying is their most cherished human activity."

"Here the liberal's procedure is as follows: He approaches the worker, simulates pity with his fate, or even indignation at his lot of misery and poverty, thus gaining his confidence...With infinite shrewdness he fans the need for social justice, somehow slumbering in every American man, into hatred against those who have been better favored by fortune..."

"Liberals always get a lot of credit for suffering, while never actually being made to suffer."

"It is this press, above all, which wages a positively fanatical and slanderous struggle, tearing down everything which can be regarded as a support of national independence, cultural elevation, and the economic independence of the nation."

Doh!

This news is a few months old, but I keep thinking about it. A study came out in March that more Americans can name the family members of "The Simpsons" than can identify the rights enumerated in the First Amendment to the Constitution.

Only one in four Americans can name more than one of the five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. But more than half can name at least two members of the TV cartoon family, according to a survey.

The study by the new McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that 22 percent of Americans could name all five Simpson family members, compared with just one in 1,000 people who could name all five First Amendment freedoms.

The survey found more people could name the three "American Idol" judges - Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson - than identify three First Amendment rights. They were also more likely to remember popular advertising slogans.

It also showed that people misidentified First Amendment rights. About one in five people thought the right to own a pet was protected, and 38 percent said they believed the right against self-incrimination contained in the Fifth Amendment was a First Amendment right, the survey found.

We can do better than that, people.

Say it with me, now: Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. Only 22 % of Americans can name them all? Sheesh.

Oh yeah, freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition for redress of grievances, etc.

Here are the Amendments to the Constitution enacted in 1789, which we refer to as the Bill of Rights, from the site (also posting the Constitution and Declaration of Independence) called mybillofrights.org.This fellow wants to put a monument to the Bill of Rights at statehouses around the country. Instead of the Ten Commandments, the heathen.

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Sovereign In South Dakota

March 23, 2006

Cecelia Fire Thunder
President, Oglala Sioux Tribe
P.O. Box H
Pine Ridge, South Dakota 57770

Dear President Fire Thunder:

I am writing to tell you how heartened I was to read yesterday about your commitment to open a Planned Parenthood on the Pine Ridge Reservation, where the State of South Dakota has absolutely no jurisdiction.

As a woman and strong supporter of Tribal sovereignty in this country, your stance has given me hope in this bleak time for women's reproductive freedoms, particularly after your state's Governor Mike Rounds signed HB 1215 into law, effectively banning almost all abortions in the state.

I read how you, a former nurse and healthcare provider, were angry that a state body made up mostly of white males, would pass such a terrible law against women. Your convictions inspire me.

I will be following the progress on this issue with great interest. Please do not hesitate to contact me if there is anything I can do to assist with your efforts in this important endeavor.

            Very truly yours,

            Jayne Wolf

(Story here. Thanks, Jaquandor for posting the link!)

[UPDATE: Unfortunately (or fortunately, because they are staying open elsewhere) Planned Parenthood is not going to take the reservation up on the offer. From the Planned Parenthood site:

Sioux Falls, SD --- Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota President and CEO Sarah Stoesz expressed gratitude today to Cecilia Fire Thunder, President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, for offering to establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on her land, but said that there are no immediate plans for opening another clinic on the South Dakota Oglala Sioux Pine Ridge Indian reservation.

In a statement to the press earlier this week, Cecilia Fire Thunder, President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe was quoted as saying she would "personally establish a Planned Parenthood clinic on my own land...” in protest of Governor Round’s signing of a sweeping abortion ban in the state of South Dakota. Many residents of South Dakota have expressed outrage at lawmakers' attempts to criminalize abortion.

"While we sincerely appreciate President Fire Thunder's genuine support for Planned Parenthood and for women everywhere in South Dakota, we have no intentions of closing our existing clinic in Sioux Falls, nor do we plan to open another clinic at this time. Our doors at the Sioux Falls clinic will stay open, and we will use every resource necessary to ensure continued access to birth control and other essential healthcare services including abortion care. We will fight the abortion ban at every level. All the women of South Dakota can rest-assured that our doors will say open in both Rapid City and Sioux Falls," Stoesz said. here is the link]