The U.S. Forest Service is providing a live view of sockeye salmon returning to spawn in Steep Creek, Juneau, Alaska. This live, underwater view is near the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, Alaska.
“Cutthroat trout and Dolly Varden (similar to Bull trout) are also in the creek. Dolly Varden consume any eggs that don’t make it into the redd,” the forest service says in the commentary. “You can also see Coho salmon fry from time to time.”
Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation tribal chairman Marshall McKay stands in the tribe’s wheat fields in the Capay Valley. (Courtesy of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation)
Lynn Armitage, Indian Country Today Media Network
Name: Marshall McKay
Title: Tribal chairman of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation
Product: Seka Hills Premium Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
How long in business: First olive trees planted in 2008
Advice for other business owners: “Insist on research, honesty and integrity of the product. It’s essential, and it’s what our tribal values are based on.”
After you build a profitable casino, luxurious hotel and championship golf course, create an award-winning wine label, manage more than 11,000 acres of farm and ranch land—including 300 heads of cattle—and on top of it all, buy back your original tribal lands, what on earth do you do for an encore? RELATED: The Yocha Dehe Return Focus to their Land through an Olive Oil Enterprise—and More
The Capay Valley’s hot Mediterranean-like climate creates prime olive-growing conditions. (Séka Hills website)
“The American consumer is really short-changed when it comes to fresh, virgin olive oil,” says Tribal Chairman Marshall McKay, reflecting on recent studies challenging the purity of many olive oils in the U.S. “So we decided one of our main quests would be to provide that for consumers.”
In 2008, after much research and consulting with the University of California Davis olive center, the Yocha Dehe tribe planted its first olive trees on 80 acres of poor, dry soil—the perfect conditions to grow Arbequina olives, a Spanish variety that prospers in Mediterranean-like climates. And in fall of 2011, they reaped the fruits of their labor.
“We completely sold out of our first year’s production,” says Jim Etters, director of land management for the tribe, who says their olive oil has been described as smooth and buttery, with a hint of grass and black pepper. “It was a strong start and started us on the right foot, helping us develop the market and learn the business.”
The biggest challenge for the tribe was finding a mill where they could process their olives. The nearest facility was two hours away, and for olive oil to be exceptional, it must be milled soon after picking.
So the Yocha Dehe did what any self-sustaining, economically independent tribe would do—they built their own state-of-the-art olive mill, a 14,000-square-foot facility custom-manufactured in Florence, Italy, and among the first of its kind in the U.S., where they process, store and bottle their oil. What sets this mill apart is that it prevents oxygen from ever touching the olives, thereby preserving freshness and flavor. RELATED: Yocha Dehe Olive Oil Attracts the Attention of The New York Times
The new olive mill has been a welcome addition to the Capay Valley, as it is where custom oil for 46 other olive growers is processed and bottled. “The tribe is proud to be able to partner with other local growers in and around the Capay Valley to help build the region’s reputation for world-class olive oil,” says Etters.
Chairman McKay echoes that sentiment. “One of our goals was to bring neighbors together and create agribusiness and a feeling of family in the valley. These olives have really done that for us.”
What’s next for the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation? “We have organic fields that we are nurturing, sustainable beef that we are raising, conservation of lands, restoration and distribution of energy,” McKay shares. “For centuries, we’ve been tenders of the land—farmers, really. And post-Gold Rush, we are still serving that purpose, nourishing and nurturing the land.”
The emergency contraceptive is now available over the counter at many pharmacies, regardless of age.
By Sharon Salyer, The Herald
An emergency contraception pill is now hitting drug store and pharmacy shelves, for the first time allowing women of any age to buy it without restrictions.
The pill, called Plan B One-Step, generally is effective in preventing pregnancy if taken within 72 hours of birth control failure or unprotected sex.
The first shipments of the pill began arriving at Bartell Drugs’ 60 Western Washington pharmacies late last week, said Barry Bartlett, a spokesman for the drug store chain.
At Bartell’s, the pill costs $49.99, and is stocked in the family planning section, he said.
“They can pick that up from the counter and purchase it at the check stand,” Bartlett said. “There’s no identification required or anything like that.”
Previously, the pill was available at area pharmacies over the counter to those 17 and older, and to younger teens with a prescription.
In June, the Federal Drug Administration cleared the way for the pill to be sold over the counter, regardless of age. It follows a U.S. District Court order instructing the federal agency to allow the sale of emergency contraception over the counter without age or point-of-sale restrictions.
Changes had to be made in labeling by the manufacturer, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, so shipments are just now arriving at local stores.
“We are elated this is finally on the shelves and available to anybody who needs it,” said Kristen Glundberg-Prossor, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest. “We hope that every pharmacy and drug store will soon have it on the shelves and available for women.”
Making the contraceptive widely available without restrictions is an issue the organization has been working on for years, she said.
“It’s a really safe and effective medication,” she said. “Just as condoms are over the counter, Plan B should be over the counter, too.”
Planned Parenthood has the pill in its clinics where it costs $35, Glundberg-Prossor said. It’s also available on a sliding fee scale to low-income women.
Calls to Costco, Walgreens and Haggens on the availability of Plan B One-Step were not returned Monday.
Group Health will continue to make Plan B available in all of its pharmacies, said spokesman Ed Boyle.
Although Plan B One-Step is now widely available, it doesn’t mean it will be available at every pharmacy.
The pill has never been sold at the retail pharmacy at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett or at its retail pharmacies in Mill Creek and Monroe.
The Roman Catholic Church opposes artificial birth control, such as condoms and various birth control pills for women.
Last month, spokeswoman Cheri Russum said there were no plans to change the hospital’s policy. The pill is available to victims of sexual assault in the hospital’s emergency department, she said.
Thousands of barrels of tar-sands oil have been burbling up into forest areas for at least six weeks in Cold Lake, Alberta, and it seems that nobody knows how to staunch the flow.
An underground oil blowout at a big tar-sands operation run by Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. has caused spills at four different sites over the past few months. (This is different from the 100-acre spill in Alberta that we told you about last month, which was caused by a ruptured pipeline.)
Media and others have been blocked from visiting the sites, but the Toronto Star obtained documents and photographs about the ongoing disaster from a government scientist involved in the cleanup, who spoke to the reporter on condition of anonymity. The prognosis is sickening. From Friday’s article:
The documents and photos show dozens of animals, including beavers and loons, have died, and that [nearly 34 tons] of oily vegetation has been cleared from the latest of the four spill zones. …
“Everybody (at the company and in government) is freaking out about this,” said the scientist. “We don’t understand what happened. Nobody really understands how to stop it from leaking, or if they do they haven’t put the measures into place.”
The disaster raises big, scary questions about the safety of the underground oil extraction method being used:
The company’s operations use an “in situ” or underground extraction technology called “cyclic steam stimulation,” which involves injecting thousands of gallons of superhot, high-pressure steam into deep underground reservoirs. This heats and liquefies the hard bitumen and creates cracks through which the bitumen flows and is then pumped to the surface. …
Oil companies have said in situ methods are more environmentally friendly than the open-pit mining often associated with the Alberta oil sands, but in situ is more carbon and water-intensive.
And perhaps more spill-intensive:
“This is a new kind of oil spill and there is no ‘off button,’” said Keith Stewart, an energy analyst with Greenpeace who teaches a course on energy policy and environment at the University of Toronto. “You can’t cap it like a conventional oil well or turn off a valve on a pipeline.
“You are pressurizing the oil bed so hard that it’s no wonder that it blows out. This means that the oil will continue to leak until the well is no longer pressurized,” which means the bitumen could be seeping from the ground for months.
The spills are happening on traditional territory of the Beaver Lake Cree First Nation, whose members are understandably seething. From iNews 880:
[Beaver Lake Cree Nation citizen Crystal] Lameman says as a Treaty Status First Nation person she feels her rights and treaties are being violated as she is not being allowed in her ancestor’s traditional hunting ground.
“We should have free access to it as treaty status Indians and we have no access to it and we can’t trust what we’re being told now,” explains Lameman.
… The First Nation is pursuing a constitutional challenge that argues the impacts of the oil sands are infringing their treaty rights to hunt, fish and trap.
In case you’d forgotten, it’s just this kind of tar-sands oil that would be shipped down the middle of America through the Keystone XL pipeline. If the Obama administration approves the pipeline project, even more tar-sands oil extraction is likely in Alberta [PDF] — and even more spills.
Even as someone with super pale skin that burns instead of tanning, I don’t use sunscreen nearly as often as I should. Or, uh…ever. My skin cancer prevention routine mostly involves hiding from the sun as much as humanly possible.
If you’re like me and hate the greasy feeling of sunscreen, there are other ways you can protect your skin by increasing your sun tolerance. Your diet actually has a lot to do with how easily you burn, so by getting enough of a few key nutrients, you can decrease your chances of burning and damaging your skin.
How Does It Work?
As Katie over on The Wellness Mama explains, “Sunburn is a type of inflammation, and diet has a tremendous impact on inflammation in the body” and “a large part of natural sun protection is eating an anti-inflammatory diet.”
First, let’s get something straight—this does not mean that it’s impossible to burn or incur any sun damage to your skin by eating the right foods. If you’re exposed to the sun for a long enough duration, you will burn. It’s still a good idea to wear protective clothing or sunscreen if you plan on being outside for a long period of time.
As Dr. Paul Talalay, a professor of pharmacology and molecular sciences says, eating your vegetables “isn’t a substitute for sunscreen, but the protection you get won’t wash off in the pool.”
What Nutrients Increase Sun Tolerance?
If you want to beef up your body’s natural defenses against sun damage, here are a few things you should be getting a lot of:
Good saturated fats
Omega-3 fatty acids
Antioxidants like lycopene, beta-carotine and vitamin E
And unfortunately, just like anything else that’s good for you, protecting yourself from those UV rays means there are also some things you should avoid as much as possible:
Processed foods
Sugar
Vegetable oils
That doesn’t mean you have to cut these things out of your diet completely, just try to eat as little of them as possible. As they say, everything in moderation. After all, where’s the fun in summer if you can’t enjoy some ice cream every once in a while?
So…What Should I Be Eating?
Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables is never a bad thing regardless of which ones you choose, but there are some that are much higher than others in the nutrients listed above that help prevent sun damage.
Here are ten of the best fruits, vegetables and other foods to get your daily doses.
1. Tomatoes & Other Red Fruits
Tomatoes are one of the best sources for lycopene, especially when they’re cooked. Lycopene is a carotenoid pigment found in red fruits. Plants use pigments as protection against the sun, so eating brightly colored fruits and vegetables with high concentrations of carotenoids can increase your sun tolerance.
Cooked tomatoes have higher levels of lycopene, and studies have shown that a few tablespoons of tomato paste a day provided “significant protection” from sun damage. All red fruits contain the pigment, but it’s particularly abundant in watermelon and grapefruit. Prefer spicy over sweet? Chili powder is rich in lycopene, and also has high amounts of vitamin E, so it’s a win-win.
For more examples of foods high in lycopene, check out this list.
2. Sweet Potatoes
Similar to lycopene, beta-carotene is another pigment found in fruits and vegetables that protects against sun damage and gives them their orange color. Sweet potatoes have more beta-carotene than almost any other vegetable. Purple sweet potatoes have even higher amounts of cyanidins and peonidins, antioxidant pigments that have been shown to increase UV protection in cosmetic creams (and they’re delicious).
Speaking of greens, they may not be at the top of a lot of people’s lists, but they’re great for preventing and even repairing sun damage. In addition to beta-carotene, many greens contain high levels of folic acid and vitamins A, C and E. Broccoli, in particular the sprouts, is a good source of sulforaphane, a compound that reduces the risk of skin cancer.
The easiest way to eat more greens is to sneak them into things you already eat anyway. Toss a few handfuls of spinach into your pasta sauce or morning smoothie, or swap your usual iceberg or romaine lettuce for sprouts. It’ll be better for you, and you’ll hardly notice the difference.
4. Fish
Cold-water fish like salmon, herring, mackerel, trout and even sardines are high in omega-3 fatty acids, one of the good fats that protect against sun damage.
Make sure you get enough omega-3s by eating at least two servings of fish about the size of a deck of cards each week. If you hate the taste of fish, a fish oil supplement works just as well.
Pomegranate seeds are great in salads or on top of baked desserts. The juice is delicious, but expensive. If you don’t know the first thing about how to get the seeds out, there’s a trick to make it quick and easy.
6. Tea
Black, white, and green teas are all high in polyphenols and catechins, two flavonoids that can protect your skin from UV rays. Green tea is the most effective, containing high amounts of the most powerful polyphenol there is, epigallocatechin–3–gallate (EGCG).
Matcha, a very bright, powdered green tea, is even better—a study by the University of Colorado found that the amount of EGCG in matcha was “137 times greater than the amount of EGCG available from China Green Tips green tea, and at least three times higher than the largest literature value for other green teas.”
If you eat a lot of whole grains, you’re probably already aware of the many health benefits of flaxseed. It’s a good source of omega-3s and has lots of fiber and lignans, which are antioxidants that can possibly protect against cancer.
Flaxseed makes a great addition to salads, smoothies, and breads, and it only takes half a teaspoon per day. You can even sprinkle it on your cereal in the morning. However, if you don’t care for the taste, you can always just take a flaxseed oil supplement.
8. Dark Chocolate
Dark chocolate that’s over 70% cacao has 4 times the number of phenols and catechins as tea and has shown in studies to provide up to a 25 percent increase in sun tolerance. Two ounces a day is recommended, which shouldn’t be too painful to fulfill.
Unfortunately, if you hate dark chocolate you can’t just grab a Hershey bar instead. The milk in milk chocolate prevents your body from absorbing polyphenols, which means you’re just eating dessert.
9. Coconut Oil
No doubt you’ve seen coconut oil touted as the perfect skin moisturizer, hair conditioner and all-around miracle worker, but it’s also got a ton of health benefits. It’s high in medium chain fatty acids and saturated fat, which help up your sun tolerance.
Aim for about ¼ cup per day. If you don’t mind the taste, you can eat a spoonful in the morning and evening, spread it on toast, or melt it in tea. Coconut oil makes a great (and much healthier) replacement for vegetable or other cooking oils, too. It’s an ingredient in a lot of homemade sunscreens, and you can even slather it on your skin by itself to get a low-SPF sunscreen.
10. Almonds
One of the best sources for vitamin E is almonds. One study found that participants who ate only 20 almonds a day “had less sunburn when exposed to UV light than their almond-abstaining counterparts.” Almonds also contain a high level of quercetin, a flavonoid known to protect skin against UV damage.
Plain, raw almonds are the healthiest way to go, but if they’re not your cup of tea, you can eat the roasted and spiced versions instead. You can also try replacing your peanut butter with almond butter, or using almond milk in smoothies and oatmeal.
Supplements
My ex-boyfriend hated almost all vegetables, and I know he’s not the only one. If you feel the same way, or just know you won’t stick to the proper servings for long enough to reap the benefits, you can take supplements instead.
Some of the best supplements to take are vitamin C, vitamin D3, fermented cod liver oil, and astaxanthin, one of the most potent antioxidants there is.
Make Your Own Non-Toxic Sunscreen
For those days when you know you’re going to be outside in the hot sun all day, why not make your own sunscreen? Olive oil, beeswax, coconut oil, and zinc oxide powder make a great, non-toxic alternative to commercial brands. Check out Yumi’s guide to learn how to make your own.
Having spent the past eight years or so of my life fighting back against large-scale commercial and industrial bioenergy, it feels good to finally see the tides turning, albeit slowly, maybe not always for the right reasons, and perhaps too little too late. But consider that in just the past two weeks there have been some remarkable signs that awareness is growing and policies may be slowly shifting. A few examples:
The DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the EPA, stating the agency has no basis for a three-year deferral that would have exempted CO2 from “biogenic” sources (ethanol, biomass, municipal wastes, landfill gases) from greenhouse gas regulations under the Clean Air Act.
The European Union Environment committee voted to cap the percentage that biofuels made from food crops can contribute to their overall target. They also voted to consider default value “ILUC” (indirect land use change) factors in determining the emissions from biofuel production. While these fall far short of the strong steps needed to stem the tide of destruction caused by EU bioenergy policies, they do at least reflect some glimmer of changing opinion.
A growing chorus of voices in the U.S. is calling to cut back the Renewable Fuel Standard. A Senate bill to repeal the mandate was recently introduced. Those calling for repeal may not have the protection of the environment in mind — they include American Petroleum Institute and their ilk, as well as livestock producers and grocery manufacturers contending with rising costs of corn and soy.
More locally, a long-fought battle against the “Pioneer” biomass incinerator in Greenfield Mass., ended in victory for residents who favor clean air and healthy forests over false solutions. Several other biomass incinerators in the state have already been halted or are on hold after regulations were tightened last year.
A judge in Maricopa County Arizona ruled that burning garbage is not “renewable” energy and thus ineligible for subsidies.
And…
Ten-thousand Chinese citizens took to the streets to protest one of the five waste incinerators proposed for Guangzhou, citing threats to their children’s health.
The food crisis helped bring to light the foolishness of using food to fuel cars. We still hear endlessly repeated the simplistic view that the problem will be solved simply by shifting to non-food crops, eventually, if we can figure out how. But common sense tells us that land, water, and fertilizers are all needed whether the crop is edible or not. And those are in ever shorter supply. Meanwhile, as we are plummeting deeper and deeper into climate and weather extreme chaos, the protection of forests and ecosystems, is urgent. Cutting, burning, and clearing our forests and fields to supply massive quantities of plant materials to electric utilities and refineries appears ever more ludicrous and misguided. Think ancient Mayan civilization collapse.
Will visitors from another world sometime in the future arrive here, piece together what happened and marvel at the idiocy that permitted a species to first contaminate its’ life-sustaining atmosphere by burning fossil fuels and digging up and deforesting the landscape — and then tried to remedy the situation by burning what remained?
Dr. Donald Warne, Oglala Lakota, is one of three American Indians nominated by the National Indian Health Board and the National Congress of American Indians to serve as U.S. Surgeon General. (Courtesy North Dakota State University)
Tanya Lee, Indian Country Today Media Network
Dr. Donald Warne, Oglala Lakota, sees his nomination to serve as U.S. Surgeon General as an opportunity—not for himself personally, but rather to bring American Indian health issues to the forefront of national consciousness. “It is a tremendous honor to be part of the conversation. This is an opportunity to include American Indian health issues in the national discussion, to raise those issues to a national level,” says Warne, who was nominated by the National Indian Health Board and the National Congress of American Indians.
Under his leadership, Warne says, one part of that discussion would be about diabetes, a disease on which Warne has done considerable work. “American Indians have a higher incidence of diabetes and a higher rate of complications from the disease, including heart disease and amputations, than does the general population,” he says. The reason? Poverty.
“The Indian Health Service is underfunded. Many American Indians don’t have access to healthier food, exercise opportunities and wellness programs, nor to the newest and best medications,” he explains.
A priority for Warne would be reducing this and other health disparities. “Impoverished people get sick, suffer and die at a much earlier age than others. Many people within this nation do not have access to health care. I see a terrible disparity and would work to achieve health equity, to make sure every population has the opportunity to live in a healthy way.”
Warne says the U.S. Surgeon General is the “nation’s doctor,” with the responsibility of leading the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and identifying the best scientific data to prevent and treat disease. He mentions two instances in which the surgeon general has had a profound impact on the health of the nation. The report of the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health in 1964 led to warning labels on cigarette packages and other anti-smoking measures, which are still being initiated by states almost 50 years after the report came out. Cigarette smoking, says Warne, is a major contributor to the damage diabetes does within the American Indian community. In the second instance, Warne cites Dr. C. Everett Koop’s role in changing public attitudes about HIV and AIDS.
Warne, born and raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, comes from a family of medicine men and traditional healers, and, with his mother serving as a public health nurse with the IHS, he became interested in cross-cultural medicine even before going to college. He earned his M.D. from Stanford University and his Masters in Public Health from Harvard University. Warne is currently director of the Master of Public Health Program at North Dakota State University, an adjunct professor at the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, and a senior policy consultant American Indian Health & Management Policy, a firm that he founded to advise tribes on health care management, as well as being involved in a raft of medical research initiatives.
At 46, Warne describes himself as on the “younger side of the equation” among the nominees, but, he says, “so is President Obama.”
National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith B. Alexander testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, June 18, 2013, before the House Intelligence Committee. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)
Less than two months after the disclosure of secret National Security Agency surveillance programs, a new fight on the issue is taking shape in the U.S. House. At issue is a controversial amendment — introduced by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), supported by a bipartisan coalition, and set for a vote of the full House — that would require the NSA to place limits on the information it collects in its surveillance operations.
Amash’s proposal would force the NSA to attest, when seeking a warrant from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, that it would gather information only on individuals that are under investigation. “Blanket” surveillance would not be allowed. The amendment would be added to an annual defense spending bill.
“It’s not a partisan issue. It’s something that cuts across the entire political spectrum,” Amash told the Rules Committee, according to Politico.
“In order for funds to be used by the NSA, the court order would have to have a statement limiting the collection of records to those records that pertain to a person under investigation,” he said. “If the court order doesn’t have that statement, the NSA doesn’t receive the funding to collect those records.”
Amash threatened to block the defense spending bill if his amendment was not given an “up or down” vote. Earlier this month, Amash introduced a similar proposal that won wide bipartisan support and was co-sponsored by 18 Democrats. It was killed in committee.
“This is the best chance we are going to get to keep the NSA from collecting the mass volume of phone records,” said Sina Khanifar, founder of Taskforce, which runs DefundTheNSA.com and has supported Amash’s efforts. “Support in Congress up until now has been pretty mixed and just getting a bill on the floor has been pretty difficult. In the short term, this is the best we are going to get and people will either have to vote for or against it, and people will have to make a statement of where they stand on this issue and make it clear to voters.”
Opposition to changing the status quo
The NSA is adamantly against the Amash amendment. On Tuesday, Gen. Keith Alexander, the head of the NSA, scheduled a members-only briefing in response to the amendment.
“In advance of anticipated action on amendments to the DoD Appropriations bill, Ranking Member C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of the House Intelligence Committee invites your Member to attend a question and answer session with General Keith B. Alexander of the National Security Agency,” read the invitation. The brief was held at “Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information level” clearance, meaning that members cannot disclose what was learned in the briefing.
Amash’s amendment would affect the first section of the Patriot Act, which allows the government to request a warrant to receive “metadata” on a person’s phone calls. A court ruling changed the interpretation of the law so that a warrant authorizes the government to surveil all calls it feels is relevant. Many feel that this ruling went against the nature and spirit of the act.
Support for the amendment is likely to be low in Congress. As reported by The Atlantic Wire, only 11.3 percent of all members of Congress support the declassification of the secret court’s decisions. Less than 9 percent favor a reform or rewriting of the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
No members of Congress favor a repeal of the laws.
Rep. Richard Nugent (R-Fla.) has offered a competing amendment that, on the surface, also seeks to restrict NSA’s funding for surveillance activities. However, the amendment’s main provision, which prohibits spending for the purpose of targeting a “U.S. person,” is already prohibited, according to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Since the NSA insists that it surveils only metadata left from electronic transactions and not actual people, the Nugent amendment amounts to a red herring — something to distract from the Amash amendment.
Standing apart
Amash, who was elected to the House in the 2010 Republican sweep, has differentiated himself from other members of the class of 2010 as an anti-establishment, anti-spying, pro-controlled-military-spending libertarian. While many joke of a future Senate run for the Washington novice, the reality is that the junior representative forced House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to negotiate with him. Amash’s coalition controls 20 Republican votes, more than Boehner’s estimated margin for passage.
This has created friction among Republicans.
“The leaders have been clear with members whose amendments are being made in order that they are expected to vote for the bill on final passage if their amendments are adopted,” a leadership aide said to BuzzFeed.
The spending bill ignores a call to reduce the Defense Department’s budget by $50 billion next year as part of sequestration. Due to this, it is unlikely that the bill will pass the Senate.
“The majority ignores sequestration when it suits their purposes — for veterans, homeland security, and today, for defense,” House Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) said. “I wonder if my friends on the other side of the aisle will have the courage of their convictions to explain why it is acceptable to ask working families to dig deeper than they already have. Why would we slash research for Alzheimer’s and autism, kick children off the rolls of Head Start, and evict low-income families?”
The bill is $3.4 billion smaller than the Pentagon’s 2014 base budget request, with a war-funding section $1.5 billion larger than what the Pentagon requested.
More controversy on Syria
Amash’s amendment was not the only controversial addition to the defense spending bill. Another amendment was introduced to prohibit the use of funds “with respect to military action in Syria to the extent such actions would be inconsistent” with the War Powers Act. The proposal was introduced out of fear by Republicans that the United States may get tied up in another country’s civil war.
Previously, Republicans criticized the president for being slow to intercede in Syria.
The Pentagon recently offered Congress a detailed list of military options to help remove Syrian President Bashar Assad, as well as the cost of those options. The list was released after the White House acknowledged that there is no known way to remove Assad from power quickly or painlessly.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, in a letter to Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), pointed out that the options available — training the opposition, conducting limited stand-off strikes, establishing a “no-fly” zone, setting up buffer zones and searching for and destroying chemical weapons stockpiles — would require a massive build-up of military capital and billions of dollars a month.
“All of these options would likely further the narrow military objective of helping the opposition and placing more pressure on the regime,” Dempsey wrote. “We have learned from the past 10 years; however, that it is not enough to simply alter the balance of military power without careful consideration of what is necessary in order to preserve a functioning state. We must anticipate and be prepared for the unintended consequences of our action.”
Nearly a quarter of a century after the Exxon Valdez crashed and spewed 11 million gallons of crude into Prince William Sound, one species of seabird still has not recovered from the disaster. To help it recover, the federal government is proposing to get rid of lots of American minks. Allow us to explain.
Thousands of pigeon guillemots were killed by the Valdez disaster — some coated with oil, others poisoned by it for a decade afterward. The guillemots are the only marine bird still listed as “not recovering” from the accident; the local population is less than half what it was before the spill.
The birds used to flourish on the Naked Island group in the middle of the sound, but fewer than 100 remain there now. To boost that number back up to the pre-spill level of 1,000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to trap most of the islands’ American minks — aquatic ferret-like creatures that feast on the birds’ chicks and eggs. If trapping doesn’t work, shooting the minks is the backup plan.
The minks are native to the region, but nobody knows for sure whether they are native to the islands in question. What scientists do know is that the islands’ mink populations skyrocketed in the immediate aftermath of the 1989 spill. “[T]he increase in mink caused pigeon guillemots and other bird species (whose nests are susceptible to mink predation) to decline significantly,” the FWS wrote in a draft environmental assessment detailing its proposal.
Figuring out how many mink to remove is “the hard part,” [FWS seabird coordinator David] Irons said, as the exact number inhabiting the cluster of islands is unknown, although their numbers are estimated to range roughly from 200-300.
By removing the mink, several other species of birds that nest on the islands would benefit as well, Iron said. Parakeet auklets, tufted puffins and horned puffins have also been on the decline in the past decades, but those birds are not on the [Exxon Valdez oil spill] Trustee Council’s list of affected animals.
“Right now Naked Island is a desert of birds — it used to be a hot spot,” Irons said, adding that the Prince William Sound used to be home to 700 parakeet auklets, whereas now only around 40 remain.
It’s hard to imagine how an oil spill would cause a mink population to explode. But Irons points out that that’s not the main concern — what’s important to the Exxon Valdez oil spill Trustee Council is that the birds “were affected by the oil spill” and it is therefore the council’s responsibility to do what it can to help them out, drawing on $900 million in civil penalties paid by Exxon.
This map shows the Naked Island group. The Exxon Valdez ran aground bear Bligh Island.
Join tribal leaders to learn about policy changes and other strategies that support the People and Land
Participants from the 2012 Our Food is Our Medicine Conference hold up vegetables cooked in a traditional pit oven. Photo courtesy of NWIC
Source: Ryan Key-Wynne, NWIC
Studies show that returning to a more traditional diet can help Native Americans improve health and reduce problems such as diabetes. People from throughout Indian Country have put those findings to work and are contributing to policy changes and strategies that promote access to traditional foods.
Many of these champions for traditional diets will gather at the second annual Our Food is Our Medicine conference, hosted by Northwest Indian College’s Institute of Indigenous Foods & Traditions. The conference brings together tribal leaders and allies, giving them opportunities to teach and learn from each other while initiating ongoing relationships that will benefit all.
“We are very excited to host this gathering, which brings people together to discuss successful models for activating policy change in tribal communities,” said Meghan McCormick, coordinator of the Institute of Indigenous Foods & Traditions, which is a program of NWIC’s Cooperative Extension Department. “While many tribal agencies throughout the United States engage in work related to wellness through traditional plants and foods, there is often little collaboration between these organizations. Most are burdened by incredibly heavy workloads. This gathering will be a platform for people to connect, share ideas, and inspire one another.”
One speaker who is sure to inspire at the conference is Micah McCarty (Makah), the former chairman of the Makah Nation and current chair of the First Stewards Board (among many other leadership roles). McCarty is one of the keynote speakers lined up for the conference. His work in Neah Bay, Washington led to significant headway in strengthening the response to oil spills in coastal waters, helped to protect tribal whaling rights, and fostered strong connections between tribal and non-tribal governments.
In addition to invigorating keynote speakers, the conference will include interactive workshops, plant walks, traditional food sharing, storytelling and cooking demonstrations.
“This year we are focusing on policy in support of the People and the Land,” McCormick. “We will be discussing strategies that will bring traditional foods in tribal programming and how to build partnerships with land holders to sustainably harvest and protect resources”
Some workshops will include:
Tribal Food Sovereignty Projects
Policy in Government Programs
Tribal Food Policy Council
Policy to Improve Access & Protection of Gathering Sites
GMOs
Seed Saving
Composting
Climate Change & Policy
Seaweed Demonstration
Activating your Story
The conference will take place Sept. 11-13 and will be held at Bastyr University, an innovative university focused on natural health education near Seattle, Wash. The registration cost for the conference is $200, day passes are $100.
For more information, contact Meghan McCormick, Institute of Indigenous Foods & Traditions coordinator, at (360) 594-4099 or mmccormick@nwic.edu. To register, visit bit.ly/ofom2013.
