Redskins: No Longer School Mascot

There was actually progress in MT last week.

Red Lodge School Board of trustees unanimously voted to remove 'Redskins' as the mascot for the high school.

You can watch the video of the meeting here http://www.ktvq.com/videoplayer/?video_id=5359&categories=

Crazy MT Bills

There are ALOT out there.

1. Legalize hunting with hand-thrown spear (Senate Bill 112)

2. Create fully-armed militia in every town (House Bill 278)

3. Allow legislators to carry weapons in the Capitol (Senate Bill 279)

4. Create an 11 person panel with authority to nullify all federal laws (House Bill 382)

5 Allow guns in schools (House Bill 558)

6. Eliminate educational requirements for persons seeking job of State Superintendent of Schools (HB 154)

7. Lift nuclear ban for purpose of building a nuclear reactor in the Flathead Valley (House Bill 326)

8. Withdraw the United States of America from the United Nations (Senate Joint Resolution 2)

9. Eliminate all state incentives for developing wind power (House Bill 244)

10. Omit Barak Obama’s name from the 2012, ballot because his father was born outside of America (House Bill 205)(this guy was on CNN this week)

11. Compulsory marriage counseling for people seeking a divorce (House Bill 438)

12. Give sheriffs authority over the federal government in terror investigations (Senate Bill 114)

13. Legalize hunting with silencers (House Bill 174)

14. Lift the prohibition on carrying concealed weapons in bars, churches and banks (House Bill 384)

15. Eliminate law that requires landlords to install carbon monoxide detectors (House Bill 354)

16. Require the federal government to prove in court that the National Parks were lawfully aquired. (House Bill 506)

17. Officially designate the “Code of the West” as the “Code of Montana”
(Senate Bill 216)

18. Declare that global warming is good. (House Bill 549)

SNL--TSA Skit

Rally to Save Public Services, Helena MT

Tomorrow at 2pm--2:30PM
Rally at Helena's Capitol

Stand up for public services and education! The Republican majority is slashing and burning essential services and education even though Montana has enough money to fund essential services and still have $360 million in the bank.

Stop the cuts that will hurt Montana's economy, people, and future!!

Can't get to Helena that day? Go to www.mea-mft.org to participate in the virtual rally!

Court: Chevron Owes $8 Billion for Amazon Destruction

On Monday, a court in Ecuador told Chevron it owes $8 billion for environmental contamination in the Amazon. Chevron is calling the decision “illegitimate and unenforceable.”

This is Ecuador, where oil companies wield economic power and political influence. Yet, this didn’t cloud the court’s independent eye when faced with the facts of uncovered toxic waste pits in the pristine Amazon.

This is Chevron, a private, American corporation. Yet this didn’t stop the Ecuadorian court from making Chevron, a foreign company, pay for 26 years of environmental damage in Ecuador.

U.S. House of Reps. Bars Planned Parenthood from Fed. Funding

The U.S. House of Representatives has just voted to bar Planned Parenthood health centers from all federal funding for birth control, cancer screenings, HIV testing, and other lifesaving care.

Sign Planned Parenthood's Petition to send to every single representative in the House who voted for this short-sighted law, and to every senator who still has a chance to stop it. 

Interconnected Culture

Your car is Japanese. Your vodka is Russian. Your pizza is Italian. Your kebab is Turkish. Your democracy is Greek. Your coffee is Brazilian. Your movies are American. Your tea is Tamil. Your shirt is Indian. Your oil is Saudi Arabian. Your electronics are Chinese. Your numbers Arabic, your letters Latin.    

And you complain that your neighbor is an immigrant?    Pull yourself together!

Seattle Officer who shot Native in Seattle Resigns

Ian Birk resigned from SPD this week. He has been under investigation over his killing of a local Native woodcarver. Ian shot the man 4 times in the side claiming the man was a threat while he carried a piece of wood and a 3" knife.

Montana's Paranoia of the White House

Here's just another example of the state's irrational paranoia of the US government.

Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, is calling on Department of Interior (DOI) Secretary Ken Salazar to withdraw an administrative order that creates wilderness areas within states. Rehberg says the following: 

This is yet another arrogant example of the White House’s policy to enact sweeping changes in government with the stroke of a pen instead of having an open and transparent public process, said Rehberg. 

The idea that a small group of unelected Washington bureaucrats knows best how to manage public lands in Montana has actually hurt our environment and crippled our economy.  Still, the Interior Department continues to push the agenda of radical environmental special interest groups.  This has to stop.

Secretary Salazar’s Secretarial Order 3310 directs the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to designate appropriate areas with “wilderness characteristics” as “Wild Lands”, and to manage them to protect their “wilderness values.”  This sets the stage for more public land to be managed as de facto wilderness, stifling job creation by severely limiting agricultural, hunting and recreational uses, along with potential resource development.

Read the entire tantrum here: http://rehberg.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=26&parentid=5&sectiontree=5,26&itemid=1609

Wanting News from Fans

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Montana-One Soverign Nation Under God, Guns, and Stupidity

In 2008 Montana threatened to secede from the U.S. over interpretation of the 2nd amendment. Now, HB 381 would make it a crime to enforce federal firearms laws on firearms manufactured in the state. There are many more bills for nullification of federal law on things ranging from health care reform to food safety.

Republican Representative Denny Rehberg says, It's the idea that the states created the federal government, not the other way around. It's the idea that Washington has important responsibilities, but limited powers.

• Senate Bill 161: Declares the federal health-reform laws unconstitutional and says Montana will not comply. Sponsored by Sen. Verdell Jackson, R-Kalispell.

• House Bill 284: Forbids state employees from doing anything to implement the federal health-reform acts. Sponsored by Rep. Tom Burnett, R-Bozeman. Burnett says it's not nullification but, federalism bill that asserts the proper role between the states and the federal government.

• HB321: Declares the federal Endangered Species Act unconstitutional and invalid in Montana. Sponsored by Rep. Krayton Kerns, R-Laurel.

• HB382: Creates a legislative commission that reviews all federal laws for possibly nullification. If the commission decides a law should be nullified, the full Legislature will then vote whether to nullify it and declare that Montanans don’t have to comply. Sponsored by Rep. Derek Skees, R-Whitefish.

• HB443: Declares any future federal food safety laws to be void in Montana, for any food grown, processed or sold within the state. Sponsored by Burnett.

• HB448: Creates an interstate firearm freedom compact of states that have declared invalid the enforcement of federal firearms law for firearms manufactured in-state. Sponsored by Kerns. 

As long as Montana is a state within the United States of America, it has to comply with the laws of this country. If Montana chooses to secede, then so be it. It would be easier then trying to change the U.S. Constitution.

Rewriting the 14th Amendment

Illegal immigration has been a problem since 1492. What is presently talked about in main-stream is people come over the U.S. border illegally. What is not talked about is those who are here legally and through no fault of their own end up being labeled 'illegal.'

The example I have is concerning work visas. A person from another country gets a work visa to work for a specific company in the U.S. They go to that company, but the company says they have no work for them. So, the person is stuck in this country because their visa is for working at that company only. They don't have money to go home, so end up staying in the U.S., their visa expires and they're labeled 'illegal'. With some students, they don't know their visa has expired and subsequently are labeled 'illegal'.

Now the Republicans in Montana want to further complicate citizenship. This time through rewriting the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1868, and granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” which included former slaves recently freed.

The new ratified version of the amendment, HB392 was created by Representative James Knox. It would redefine citizenship by denying children born to illegal immigrants automatic citizenship. At least one parent must be a US citizen. (I guess this means that the parents are not legally married, since one is an illegal immigrant. I wonder about the legalities of this ratification.)

The new bill would also deny citizenship to dual-citizens, such as those who belong to an Indian Nation. But, Knox says he'll make an amendment to include Native Americans.

Immigration is federal jurisdiction not state. How can a state change the US Constitution?

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer says he will veto the bill if it passes.

Also being introduced is HB152, sponsored by Republican Representative Ted Washburn. This bill would restrict voter registration to only those with Montana driver's license, Montana ID or tribal ID.  No other form of ID would be accepted. Currently social security cards, student ID, federally issued ID, and other forms of government documents are used as identification.

Funny Immigration Cartoon

The only part I didn't like was with the eagles, but I guess it was a message to the EuroAmericans.

Funny Map

Click map to go directly to its original website