Paging Gazhekwe

[gazhekwe]

You, me and hundreds of commenters to the article agree, Pam. Now, all we can do is wait and see if they fire his patootie, and assure that he can never again pick up a gun in any capacity. Anger is being misdirected at the city and the Police Chief, when it should land smack on the spineless, gutless prosecutor. Now it is up to the City and Police Chief to do their part to keep this gun-happy nut from shooting anyone else in a fit of unreasoning terror. If ever there was a person lacking the temperament to be a police officer, this guy is the poster child.

As one commenter said, 'Five shots to the body for a three inch blade? Whatever happened to shooting to disable?"

[gazhekwe]

Birk resigns from Seattle Police Department

By Seattle Times staff

Officer Ian Birk has resigned from the Seattle Police Department, according to Police Chief John Diaz.

Birk's resignation became effective at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

According to a statement by Diaz, Birk communicated his intentions to him to resign his commission with the Police Department.

Birk, 27, joined the department in July 2008.

On Wednesday, King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg said his office would not file criminal charges against Birk for the fatal shooting of First Nations woodcarver John T. Williams on Aug. 30.

Diaz also announced that the shooting of Williams was ruled not justified by the department's Firearms Review Board.

Birk's resignation will not halt the department's internal investigation into Birk, Diaz said.

"At my direction, the Office of Professional Accountability investigation will continue forward," Diaz said. "The completion of this investigation is not contingent on Ian Birk remaining on the force. Reaching our own administrative conclusion is a necessary step to providing a small degree of closure to the many people affected by this tragedy over the past several months."

Diaz said that if the Office of Professional Accountability [[OPA) presents him with a recommendation for discipline it will be kept on file with the department and a copy will be sent to the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission.

Depending on the department's findings, the move could prevent Birk from becoming a law enforcement officer anywhere in the state.

Joe Hawe, executive director of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, said it will be up to the commission to review the case and conduct its own investigation.

"Our responsibility under the law is to review any investigative issue for the decertification of police officers," Hawe said.

If the commission determines that Birk should be decertified then "he would not be able to be a police officer in the state of Washington," Hawe said on Wednesday.
Satterberg's decision angered members of Williams' family and prompted a handful of public protests on Wednesday. Protesters outside Seattle City Hall cheered when they received word of Birk's resignation. Several chanted "prosecute!"

Birk had been stripped of his gun and badge last October as a result of a preliminary finding by the department that the shooting was unjustified.

Mayor Mike McGinn issued a statement in which he cited the OPA investigation and review board's findings. "It appears clear that Officer Birk saw the writing on the wall. He could read the same Firearms Review Board report that the rest of us did," McGinn said.

Attorney Ted Buck, who represented Birk during a January inquest into the shooting, called the officer's resignation "a heartbreaking thing."

"He is an extraordinary, committed young man," Buck said. "This is a career that has been tragically cut short. It's been an extraordinarily emotional and traumatic event, and he has decided it is in his best interest and his family's interest to simply move forward."

Rita Williams, John T. Williams' sister in Vernon, B.C., said Birk's resignation offered no comfort for her family.

"He still killed my brother. He basically got away with murder," she said. "If I shot anyone in the police station they would have all hung me by now. We should all go back to the olden ways, when he would have to pay for what he had done."

Andrea Brenneke, attorney for the Williams family, said that her clients are "heartened" by the fact the Seattle Police Department will continue its investigation into Birk. She said that "it's good for everyone" that the findings will be forwarded to the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission.

"It simply means that within this department and within other departments he will be held accountable for what he did in this case," she said. "It's important for the community to know that. It is of critical importance."

Brenneke said that Birk's resignation will not impact potential civil actions that could be brought by the Williams family.

Seattle Times staff reporters Lynda V. Mapes, Jennifer Sullivan and Christine Clarridge contributed to this report.

[gazhekwe]

This is an interesting article about the SPD Union president's directive in the Union paper. He basically says the people protesting the killing of Williams are liberal whiners, but the officers from now on, to protect themselves, should not take the initiative to start a "viewable incident."

He remains in defensive position, taking the stance that any criticism is misguided. I am putting in the link because the article includes scans from the union paper:

http://www.thestranger.com/slog/arch...ger-for-frenzy

[gazhekwe]

John T. Williams March

by Longhouse Media [[videos)
5:09

Check out this short video produced by the Longhouse Media team about the recent John T. Williams march [[in September) and the leadership asking for police accountability...citizen journalism and power of the people!



http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/...36333&comments

[gazhekwe]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67zOreYpxHI

[gazhekwe]

http://www.king5.com/video/featured-...116543538.html

[gazhekwe]

It would be so easy to use these incidents to flame against the protest movement, but no, it seems reason is setting in. A good sign for Seattle? --Gazhekwe

Police officer assaulted near Pike Place MarketSuspect expected in court Tuesday afternoon
By CASEY MCNERTHNEY
SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
Tuesday, February 22, 2011

A man was arrested Monday morning after investigators say he assaulted a Seattle police officer and tried to disarm him near the Pike Place Market.

The officer was taken to Harborview Medical Center as a precaution after the suspect allegedly bit him. But a department spokesman said the officer's injuries were minor.
The incident happened shortly after 9 a.m. in the 1500 block of Western Avenue where the officer was investigating a car prowl report. The officer noticed the suspect, in his early 30s, on the roof of the Market Heritage Center, which is a small museum.

The suspect jumped from the roof to the ground and into the center, Seattle police spokesman Mark Jamieson said. The officer, who has been with the department 21 years, thought the actions were suspicious and contacted him.

"That's when the suspect struck the officer," Jamieson said of an initial punch that knocked off his glasses. "Witnesses believe the suspect was attempting to disarm the officer."

Police say the suspect tried to poke the officer's eyes and attempted a choke hold as they went to the ground. Pike Place Market security intervened and used pepper spray on the suspect.

The officer involved, a former college football player, was treated at the scene for a bite mark on his arm. The suspect, who does not appear to have a previous criminal history in Washington, is expected to make his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon.

Seattlepi.com is not naming the man, a Langley resident, because he hasn't been charged in the case. He's being held on $15,000 bail.

Police say the man may have mental illness, and have not linked him to other incidents.
There have been some calls for violence against Seattle police following the Feb. 16 announcement that Officer Ian Birk, who fatally shot woodcarver John T. Williams, would not be charged for the incident. Others speaking out against officers have discouraged destructive acts.

A police car window was shattered by suspected anarchists at a Friday protest, and hours later an arsonists targeted a Seattle police station at 23rd Avenue and East Union Street.

That station had previously been vandalized by two anti-police activists, Patrick McGowan IV and Laura Stahl, who pleaded guilty to malicious mischief charges after the pair smashed several windows at the community police station. Both were sentenced to community service.

But members of the Williams family have spoken against violent acts, and said at a carve-in Saturday near the Pike Place Market that the actions of destructive protesters cause more problems for everyone.

[gazhekwe]

But we’re not going to solve this problem just by firing cops after they make a big mistake on camera. We’ve got to get ahead of this problem.

We all have work to do. We have reorganized our command staff to implement our priorities of Fighting Crime, Reducing Fear and Building Community. I will hold Chief Diaz and the command staff accountable and expect these priorities to be implemented fully.
The officers of the Seattle Police Department have work to do as well. There is no place in the Seattle Police Department for those who do not share our values. That includes our commitment to racial and social justice. That includes our commitment to treating every member of the public with respect. That includes our commitment to working with the public as partners, instead of treating them as people to be commanded.

Improving our police department requires more than holding our current officers accountable for their actions. It requires us to think differently about how we recruit and build a police force that serves the public well.
....

It’s going to take more. DOJ may force changes. Some of those changes will force the union to come to the table and work around solutions that will help us hold officers accountable. Frankly, statements from the union suggest they are in a state of denial about the nature and severity of this problem. They need to face facts. The union has a responsibility to step up and be part of the solution. They owe it to their members. Serving as a cop in a city that doesn’t trust cops is an awful position to place their members.

[gazhekwe]

Seattle City Council aims to improve police accountability By Lynn Thompson, Seattle Times staff reporter
The Seattle City Council issued 11 proposals Friday designed to improve accountability and strengthen public trust in the police force.

The recommendations include mandatory drug testing for police involved in deadly-force incidents, higher standards for hiring and training, and monthly reports about misconduct.
Tim Burgess, chairman of the council's Public Safety Committee, said the measures are meant to "stop the erosion of public confidence" after highly publicized confrontations between police and minority suspects caught on video over the past year.

"What we're hearing from the public are questions about what's going on and why it's continuing," Burgess said. "We want policies in place that create a culture in the Police Department where these incidents will not occur and where the effectiveness of officers will improve."

Burgess acknowledged that many of the recommendations were subject to bargaining with the department's two unions. But he said some could be adopted by the council as policy directives to the command staff.
...
The 11 recommendations were sent to McGinn, Police Chief John Diaz, Lt. Eric Sano, president of the Seattle Police Management Association, and Sgt. Rich O'Neill, president of the guild.

They were signed by Burgess, and the public-safety committee's two other members, Sally Clark and Sally Bagshaw.

The proposals include:
• Improved hiring standards and training. The department should provide de-escalation training for all patrol officers with special emphasis on misdemeanor and low-level encounters. Previous audits of the department have said that too many minor incidents escalate into violence.
• Monthly reports on sustained misconduct findings that include a summary of thecould incident, the nature of discipline and the name of the officer disciplined.
• Expedited review of cases that result in criminal charges against an officer.
• Mandatory testing for drugs, including steroids, of all officers involved in deadly-force incidents.
• Priority in recruiting and promotion of officers who have attended college. Current policy requires a high-school diploma or GED.
Burgess said the council will act on recommendations in the coming two months.
Those subject to collective bargaining will be introduced into the negotiations with the unions, he said.

Full article here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...etrust26m.html

[gazhekwe]

Mayoral proclamation of "John T. Williams Day" to highlight Sunday event honoring Williams' birthday


Submitted by KOMO Staff
Friday, February 25th, 02:17pm


John T. Williams is seen in this photo provided by family members.

An event to honor the birthday of the late First Nations woodcarver John T. Williams will be highlighted by a mayoral proclamation honoring the man on what would have been Williams’ birthday.

At the Sunday event, to be held at the Chief Seattle Club, Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith will read a proclamation from Mayor Mike McGinn proclaiming Sunday as “John T. Williams Day” in Seattle and present it to members of Williams’ family.

Williams is the man who was shot and killed by former Seattle police officer Ian Birk in August. There have been recent protests against the decision of King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg to not charge Birk in Williams' death, but a federal investigation into the incident is underway.

The proclamation will be the highlight of the event, which will celebrate Williams’ birthday. Along with Smith and Williams’ family members, other guests will include Jack Thompson, Chief Councilor of the Ditidaht First Nation, Williams’ tribe; Cecile Hansen, Chairwoman of the Duwamish Tribe; and Pat John, Traditional Medicine Man from the Ahousat First Nation.

There will be traditional dancing and drumming, food and many stories told about Williams. It will go on from 1:30-5 p.m. on Sunday at the Chief Seattle Club, located near 2nd and Yesler in the Pioneer Square area. The club and CANOES [[City of Seattle Native American Employees Association) are sponsoring the event.

But to many, the proclamation of “John T. Williams Day” by the mayor will likely be the highlight.

http://downtownseattle.komonews.com/...illiams-birthd

[gazhekwe]

The lodge was being run by a non-Indian man, a self-help guru who regarded the extreme conditions of the sweat lodge he created as a test of participants' commitment to the self-help process.

In true Native run sweat lodges, participants are encouraged to preserve their safety and comfort, lie on the coolness of Mother Earth behind those around the sacred stones, or ask to leave if really necessary. The leader monitors health conditions and will call an end if people become ill. Notice, Ray urged people to stay no matter how many became ill.

James Ray Sweat Lodge Trial Begins
Opening arguments are expected to commence today, March 1, for the trial of James Arthur Ray, the controversial spiritual leader who faces charges of manslaughter after three sweat lodge participants died in the October 8, 2009 ceremony in Sedona, Arizona, reported ABC.

The 53-year-old “self-help guru” is charged in his Yavapai County Superior Court trial on three counts of manslaughter for the deaths of Kirby Brown, 38, James Shore, 40, and Liz Neuman, 49. Brown and Shore spent nearly $10,000 to spend the week with Ray, and instead died in the lodge, reported ABC. Neuman remained alive in a coma for more than a week, passing away on Oct. 17, 2009. Eighteen other followers were injured during the October 8, 2009 ceremony.

According to one survivor Beverly Bunn, who spoke on “Good Morning America,” sweat lodge participants at the October 8 ceremony were collapsing and vomiting. Ray did not physically force people to remain in the tent, but he urged them to stay inside and scolded them to overcome their weakness. Then as his followers laid dying or injured, Ray fled the scene, said Bunn, reported ABC on October 23, 2009.

In an unrelated lawsuit, less than a month following the incident, on November 2, Lakota Nation leaders filed a lawsuit in Phoenix, Arizona, against the United States, U.S. attorney general, Arizona governor, James Arthur Ray and Angel Valley Retreat Center, for the “desecration of our Sacred Oinikiga [[onikare, sweat lodge) by causing the death of Liz Neuman, Kirby Brown and James Shore,” reported Sedona.biz. The lawsuit cites the Sioux Treaty of 1868 between the United States and the Lakota Nation, which states, “if bad men among the whites or other people subject to the authority of the United States shall commit any wrong upon the person or the property of the Indians, the United States will [[…) proceed at once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States, and also reimburse the injured person for the loss sustained.” The lawsuit sought for the treaty to be recognized and enforced, and did not seek monetary compensation, reported Sedona.biz.

[gazhekwe]

You can go native at Mitsitam, the Smithsonian's cafe
Thursday, March 03, 2011, By Bob Batz Jr., Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Soon after we arrived here on the morning Megabus, I told my family, "Mitsitam!"

They had no idea what I was saying.

But in what once was the local language of the Piscataway and Delaware tribes, mitsitam means, "Let's eat."

And that's what I was looking forward to doing at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.

Mitsitam is the name of the cafe at the museum, which opened in 2004 on the National Mall, "committed to advancing knowledge and understanding of the Native cultures of the Western hemisphere, past, present and future."

That the cafe has itself become a destination makes sense when you walk in and see this is so not typical museum food.

We were quickly and pleasantly overwhelmed by the delicious-looking and -sounding choices from an arc of five regional food stations. There was planked salmon and geoduck clam chowder from the Northwest Coast, buffalo burgers and fry bread from the Great Plains, maple-brined turkey and heirloom bean-and-roasted-corn succotash from the Northern Woodlands, and corn tapopos and tacos from Mesoamerica, present-day Central America. The South American station presented a really wild array of dishes, including a salad of baby octopus, green papaya and purple corn with ocopa sauce [[whatever that is) and a San Chochode Gallina soup that included chicken, bittersweet chocolate, bacon dust and chodo [[whatever that is).
Scattered about are even more exotic and tempting delectables, from various agua frescas [[flavored drinks) to mesquite pinon cookies.

While these mostly aren't foods eaten in teepees and cliff-dwellings and the like, Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe uses ingredients and cooking techniques to reflect native flavors and lifeways in traditional and contemporary foods.

So you can get a full array of soft drinks, beer and wine, too. You can even get chicken tenders with fries if you must. But our 3 1/2-year-old got the children's meal of fry bread grilled cheese with a drink and an apple [[$7.50). My wife went South American and got a Chicken Tamale with Spicy Peanut Sauce [[$11.95). I wanted to try so many side dishes and so I got a "Plate Full of Colors" [[$12.50) -- four sides from any of the stations -- that was filled with Wild Rice and Watercress Salad; Roasted Sunchoke Salad with Ginger Vinaigrette; Roasted Calabasa, Grilled Chayote Squash Salad with White Chocolate Vinaigrette; and Roasted Chicory.

I didn't feel hungry enough to do justice to the "value meal" -- the $26.95-for-two "Five Region Sampler Platter" with tastes from all five including grilled bison and cedar-planked salmon cooked over a fire pit in the Northwest Coast station.
Not cheap, but this is D.C., and this isn't food you can get in this scope and scale at any other one place that I know of. Plus, a meal here comes with a built-in lesson.
Exhibits outside the entrance, where especially at high tourist times there are long lines, bring home one of the cafe's main messages about how so many of the world's most important foods -- corn, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes -- have their roots in the Americas and in their indigenous cultures.

"People don't understand where food comes from," Mitsitam's executive chef Richard Hetzler told me the next day, sitting at one of the long tables in the airy, Southwesterny dining space overlooking the Mall that seats 362 people and frequently is full. He's proud that this place he helped start feeds up to 3,000 people a day and does some $5.5 million in business each year [[proceeds of which support the Smithsonian) and proud that it got a good review in The Washington Post and is Zagat rated. "We're compared to a local restaurant," says the chef.

Mitsitam is the go-to place in that part of town for locals such as Beltsville, Md., resident and writer of Maya's Kitchen blog [[mayaskitchenonline.blogspot.com) Maya Balasubramaniam, who loves to bring out-of-towners here. "The National Mall is, sadly, a bit of a food wasteland otherwise," she notes. "I really appreciate the chef's effort to use uniquely American ingredients in creative ways, and to include seasonal variation as well."

The oohs and ahhs are near constant and spontaneous from first-time cafe visitors.
"I thought I knew what I wanted and then I started looking," one woman almost groans to the server at the South American area.

"Absolutely fascinating," remarks another.

While you see a lot of fry bread heading out on trays, plenty of people buy the more exotic stuff, too. "Frog legs have done really well here," says Chef Hetzler. "I think people become very adventurous."

Coming from Australia, journalism professor Louise Ravelli wanted to try the Puree of Carrot and Candied Chestnuts, since chestnuts aren't something she'd see a lot of at home. She was enjoying it with the wild rice salad when she leaned over to compliment the chef: "The food is delicious and very innovative."

He points out that while most of the fare is served cafeteria style, some items are prepared to order, such as the House Ground Buffalo and Duck Burger with Roasted Pepper Dijonnaise, Smoked Tomatoes and Aged Cheddar Cheese, served with Chili-spiced Fries for $15.95.

"It's not museum food anymore," says the man who changes the seasonal menu four times a year, and frequently works in special menus and programming. A must on this year's spring menu: Fern leaf shoots called fiddleheads. [[Fiddlehead Fern Salad is one of the recipes in the book.)

The cafe sources many of its ingredients, from salmon to saguaro cactus fruit syrup and seeds, from native businesses. But the place can't sell dry, hard corn "bread" that might be historically accurate. So it offers fluffy corn bread, in yellow and blue. But the place continues to try to be as "native" as it can be, from recipes to staffing.
On this day, he's just finished meeting with representatives from an Arizona trade school who are working with him to do a week of Navaho foods capped by an "Iron Chef" type competition.

He says, "We're starting to get a lot of tribal feedback." The cafe looks to become even more widely known with the success of "The Mitsitam Cafe Cookbook," which Mr. Hetzler and the Smithsonian spent three years creating. The hardback, published this past fall by Fulcrum, is prominently displayed in the cafe and available for purchase there for $22.95. But you won't find Chef Hetzler there over the next few days: Today through this weekend, he's at the Paris Cookbook Fair to schmooze and compete for more honors in Gourmand Magazine's World Cookbook Awards. [[The magazine already named "Mitsitam" its USA winner for "Best Local Cuisine Book.")

Meanwhile, the cookbook has been featured all over the place, from Atlantic Monthly to the Food Network.

He's enjoying it. "I don't consider myself a superstar chef. I've been very lucky," says Mr. Hetzler, who, as his name suggests, is not an American Indian.

His roots are German; as his book bio explains, he grew up in Baltimore and graduated from the Baltimore International Culinary Academy before joining Restaurant Associates, the company that runs food services for all the Smithsonian museums. While most of the other cafes are fairly standard and no more exotic than McDonald's, Chef Hetzler says he and his company are in talks about cooking up something special for the National Museum of African American History and Culture that is to break ground on the Mall next year and be completed in 2015.

Who knows: Perhaps that will lead to another great place to eat in Washington ... and another great cookbook.

The Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe is open daily, except for Christmas, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the full menu is available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The museum's website: AmericanIndian.si.edu.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11062...#ixzz1FYkc2LzQ

[gazhekwe]

From the article above: While these mostly aren't foods eaten in teepees and cliff-dwellings and the like, Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe uses ingredients and cooking techniques to reflect native flavors and lifeways in traditional and contemporary foods.

I take issue with this statement because it fosters a stereotype that natives before contact were primitive beings who lived barren lives. In truth many native women were excellent cooks. It was an Aztec woman who created mole', a complex sauce of many finely minced ingredients. The French explorers and trappers greatly admired Ojibwe women for the way they cooked whitefish, including a sumptuous dish delicately poached in maple sap. Hopi women created a fragile bread known as piki from blue corn, that is cooked on a hot stone like crepes and rolled up to serve or store. These are just a few examples of native culinary creativity.

[gazhekwe]

The Mitsitam Cafe’s Mexican hot chocolate recipe
Serves 4-5
1 gallon milk
½ stick Mexican or regular cinnamon
3 arbol chiles
1 pasilla pepper, or dried poblano
1 cup sugar
3 pieces Mexican chocolate
1 cup cocoa powder
To prepare:
Heat milk with cinnamon and dried peppers. Once milk has scalded, remove cinnamon and dried peppers, and remove from heat. Break up Mexican chocolate into small pieces. Whisk in sugar, cocoa powder and Mexican chocolate pieces. Place the combined chocolate milk on heat, and whisk until it simmers. Serve immediately.

[gazhekwe]

Three Sisters Stew:

Many American Indians refer to squash, corn and beans as the Three Sisters. The three plants grow well together. The bean climbs the natural trellis of the corn stalk, while the squash shades the ground below, discouraging other plants from spreading and choking the corn roots. Each plant also takes different nutrients from the soil. Serve the stew with tortillas or with chochoyotes or Fresh Corn Dumplings. The uncooked dumplings are added to the stew once it is brought to a boil. Cover the pot and place in a hot oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until the dumplings are cooked throughout, or cook on the stovetop over low heat. Serves 4.

1 cup dried chestnuts or Christmas lima beans, or any broad beans
2 Roma tomatoes, halved
1 poblano chile
1 tablespoon corn oil
1/2 small white onion, thinly sliced
1 summer squash, quartered and sliced ½ inch thick
1/2 pound fresh green or wax beans, stringed
Kernels from 2 ears of corn
2 tablespoons minced epazote or cilantro
1/2 cup salsa verde
1/2 cup salsa roja
2 cups vegetable stock or water
Sea or kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Place the dried beans in a saucepan and add water to cover. Cover. Place over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and let steep for 1 hour. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to medium-low and cook for about 2 ½ hours, until tender. Drain well.

Place the tomatoes and chile directly over a flame or on a grill and cook, turning as needed, for 3 to 5 minutes, until the skins are charred. Place the chile in a plastic bag to steam for 5 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel and seed the tomatoes. Peel the chiles and cut in half lengthwise. Remove the stems and white membrane and scrape the seeds away and discard. Cut the chile into 6 pieces.

Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan cover medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, for 5 to 7 minutes, until softened. Do not let the onion brown. Add the squash and cook, stirring continuously, for 1 minute, until softened. Add the dried beans, fresh beans, corn epazote, salsa verde, salsa roja, and stock and bring to a boil. Decrease the heat to medium, add the tomatoes and chiles, and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve in warm bowls, allowing 1 tomato half per person.

This recipe was excerpted with permission from Food Of The Americas

Chochoyotes

1 c fresh masa or reconstituted masa harina
2 T lard
1/4 tsp sea or kosher salt [[or oh, heck, regular salt)

In a bowl, combine masa, lard and salt to form a smooth dough. Divide into 16 portions, roll each into a ball, and poke a hole halfway through each one.

Place the dumplings in the simmering soup and cover the pan. Decrease heat to low and simmer for 15-17 minutes, until the dumplings have expanded by half the original size and appear opaque and cooked through. Ladle into soup bowls and serve immediately.

From Food Of The Americas

Fresh Corn Dumplings

2 c fresh corn kernels [[about 2 ears),.but this time of year, I'd use frozen thawed ones
1 c flour
3 T cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 c unsalted butter, room temperature [[or reduce salt above, and use salted butter)
1-2 T milk

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mash the kernels with the fork, or pulse them in a food processor until coarse and unevenly textured. Combine dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in the corn, then cut in the butter. Add enough milk to form a stiff batter. Form walnut sized portions of the batter into ovals and drop into the simmering soup. Cover tightly and place in the oven for 10-12 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a dumpling comes out clean. [This is the funny part]. Do not uncover the dumplings during cooking to insure lightness.

Remove from oven, ladle into bowls and serve at once.

Adapted from a recipe in Food Of The Americas

[gazhekwe]

A MOUNTAIN VIEW: An older type of health care


Charles Eastman introduced world to Indian health care
Monday, March 7, 2011

By Liza Fields, Columnist

What is “health”?

It’s a stumper of a question, today, maybe for the same reason that “What is truth?” reportedly mystified Pontius Pilate. Whether Pilate asked this question of Jesus in a tone of cynicism, sophism or general untetherment-from-reality, nobody can say.
But apparently in the corrupt, fawning, backstabbing and materialistic palace culture, Pilate had grown so removed from on-the-ground reality of ordinary humans and nature, from anything genuine, sincere and universal, he could no longer gauge what truth was.

In a similar way, it often seems today that human society has grown so untethered not only from disinterested truth-telling, but any grounded concept of “health,” we can no longer identify what these words mean.

The Old English root of “health,” or “hale,” meant “whole.” Getting back to that root word restores to us an older and universal meaning.

Ancient cultures viewed health as a kind of oneness, a harmony between body, soul and mind, and between man and the cosmos. It involved a spiritual approach to physical life—one that perceived unseen, divine meaning pervading and ordering the material realm.

Charles Eastman, a highly-educated Dakota tribe member, served to translate the holistic ways of his people to a white culture that had no context for understanding them. In his book, The Soul of the Indian, he articulated this universal understanding of health.

“In the life of the Indian, there was only one inevitable duty,” he wrote. “The duty of prayer—the daily recognition of the Unseen and Eternal. His daily devotions were more necessary to him than daily food.”

“He wakes at daybreak, puts on his moccasins and steps alone down to the water’s edge. Here, he throws handfuls of clear, cold water into his face, or plunges in. After the bath, he stands erect before the advancing dawn, facing the sun as it dances upon the horizon, and offers unspoken orison.”

Why unspoken, and why in solitude?

“Each soul must meet the morning sun, the earth and the Great Silence alone.”

The universality of this ritual would be obvious to Hindus along the Ganges, Taoist hermits on mountain crags, Jesus in the wilderness and centuries of Greek philosophers, no matter who today might brand it ridiculous, pagan or “uncivilized.”

The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity. They forget, perhaps, that his religion forbade the accumulation of wealth and the enjoyment of luxury,” Eastman wrote, essentially describing ideals of Greek philosophers and Hebrew prophets.

“To [the native], as to other single-minded men in every age and race, from Diogenes to the brothers of Saint Francis, from the Montanists to the Shakers, the love of possessions has appeared a snare, and the burdens of a complex society a source of needless peril and temptation.

“Furthermore, it was the rule of his life to share the fruits of his skill and success with his less fortunate brothers. Thus he kept his spirit free from the clog of pride, cupidity or envy, and carried out, as he believed, the divine decree—a matter profoundly important to him.”

Describing another key to wholeness [[particularly of “mind”), sorely absent from the American landscape and “wigwam” today, Eastman frequently mentioned “silence.”

“Spiritual arrogance was foreign to [the Indian’s] nature and teaching. He never claimed that the power of articulate speech was proof of superiority over the dumb creation; on the other hand, it is to him a perilous gift.”

Therefore, “he believes profoundly in silence—the sign of a perfect equilibrium. Silence is the absolute poise or balance of body, mind and spirit. The man who preserves his selfhood ever calm and unshaken by the storms of existence….his, in the mind of the unlettered sage, is the ideal attitude and conduct of life.”

Imagine, in our rattled and noise-blasted culture today—where stress-disorders and too-much-ness engender most of our costly physical and mental maladies—the daily practice of equilibrium and silence, rather than nonstop entertainment, machinery and shouting news commentaries.

Why did the American Indian—like the Taoists, the Christian Desert Fathers, Trappist monks and Buddhists—value silence as a tonic?

“It is the Great Mystery,” wrote Eastman. “The holy silence is His voice!”

Listening to that voice, Eastman wrote, brought “Self-control, true courage, patience, dignity and reverence. Silence is the cornerstone of character.”

Silence, contemplation of beauty, prayer, exercise, benevolence and the avoidance of excess. These ancient universal values—cost-free and carried out for generations on our own continent—seemed conducive not only to humanity’s health but nature’s.
That’s because they fed and healed the part of man that insatiable materialism can’t begin to touch: his soul, the very core of a whole life.

http://www.swvatoday.com/living/arti...lth_care/9420/

[gazhekwe]

Elder's Meditation of the Day - March 7 "We are responsible for the condition of the Earth. We are the ones who are responsible and we can change that. If we wake up, it is possible to change the energy. It is possible to change everything."

-- Hunbatz Men, MAYAN

The environment we want outside will be created by the mental pictures we have inside our heads. We must have the right environmental picture as well as the right values. These values will give the mental picture its true meaning. If we respected Mother Earth, we would not throw garbage on Her, nor would we put poison in Her. We would not misuse Her in any way. Mother Earth is like She is today because of the mental pictures of previous generations as well as the mental pictures of our own generation. If we want the environment to change, each individual must change their mental picture. "As within, so without."

Great Spirit, today, let me be alert to Your guiding voice.

[gazhekwe]

Woodcarver by a Tribe Called Red

http://soundcloud.com/a-tribe-called-red/woodcarver

[gazhekwe]

This blogger starts out arguing that Ray should not be held responsible,the participants should take responsibility for their own actions. A couple of people comment and agree with her that we are a nation of blamers, always blame somebody else. Then, several people come in with very cogent comments about coercion, and some information how Ray refused to open the door when he was told someone wasn't breathing. The last two comments are the blogger, thanking the commenters and switching to wanting the jurors to throw the book at Ray. The trial began March 1 and is expected to continue six months. Ray could get 35 years for the charges of criminal negligence and manslaughter.

http://www.keen.com/CommunityServer/...al/559731.aspx

[gazhekwe]

Attorneys ask judges to convene grand jury in woodcarver's death

By Steve Miletich
Seattle Times staff reporter





John T. Williams

Attorneys for the family of John T. Williams filed a court petition Wednesday asking the King County Superior Court judges to convene a grand jury to determine if criminal charges should be brought against former Seattle police Officer Ian Birk in the fatal shooting of Williams last summer.

The unusual move comes days after King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg and Seattle City Attorney Peter Holmes declined a request by the attorneys to ask the judges to summon a grand jury of citizens.

"In the circumstances here, Petitioners submit the public interest demands convening of a grand jury," the attorneys said in the filing, asserting there is "clear evidence that criminal activity was involved" in the shooting.

State law allows a superior court to convene a grand jury "where the public interest so demands, whenever in its opinion there is sufficient evidence of criminal activity or corruption within the county."

Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the Prosecutor's Office, said Wednesday that his office had not yet seen the petition.

"There hasn't been a grand jury here since the 1970s, so we're not aware of this kind of request before," he said.

Satterberg announced Feb. 16 there were insufficient grounds to pursue murder or manslaughter charges against Birk.

Satterberg said state law prohibited him from filing charges because Birk believed Williams, 50, a First Nations woodcarver who was carrying a knife, posed a threat and because there was no evidence Birk acted with malice. Police officers are given more protection against criminal prosecution for homicide than ordinary citizens, Satterberg explained.

Birk, 28, resigned from the Seattle Police Department the same day as Satterberg's announcement, shortly after police released a scathing report that found Birk acted outside the department's "policy, tactics and training" when he shot Williams four times Aug. 30 near downtown Seattle.

Satterberg reiterated those reasons in a Friday letter to Williams' family attorneys Tim Ford and Andrea Brenneke, saying with "no evidence of malice or bad faith, the grand jury would be left with no option" but to reject a charge against Birk.

Holmes deferred to Satterberg's judgment.

But Holmes said he invited public debate before the next session of the state Legislature about the "wisdom" of the state statute covering deadly force by police, noting it forces prosecutors into an "all or nothing" situation in which, as a practical matter, manslaughter charges are impossible in cases that don't rise to the level of murder.

In their petition to the judges, the Williams family's attorneys argue that Satterberg's position on the freedom of officers to shoot "raises a question of grave public concern."

[gazhekwe]

The hard part is keeping it that way.

Elder's Meditation of the Day - March 22

"Everything's so simple, and we make everything so complicated. That's why we're confused."
-- Vickie Downey, TEWA/Tesuque Pueblo

The Creator designed a very simple set of Laws for us to follow. If we follow these simple things, we'll be happy. If we don't follow these simple things, our lives become complicated. For example:

• Respect Mother Earth
• Love one another
• Be truthful
• Give to your brother and sisters
• Be gentle with each other
• Be happy

Following these simple Laws will have great rewards.

Great Spirit, let me lead a simple life.

[gazhekwe]

This is news to me. Of course, I know about the Sacajawea coin, but a series? Sacajawea and her son Batiste are on the front of all of them. The reverse sides celebrate different aspects of culture or history.

The first one is Agriculture, and features a woman sowing seeds in field.

The second celebrates the great Iroquois Confederacy, which contributed many aspects to our Constitution. On the reverse side is the Hiawatha Belt.

The third and most recent celebrates the Wampanoag Treaty of 1621, and features the hands of Massasoit and Governor Carver sharing the peace pipe.

I can't imagine the Treaty is really cause for celebration for Indians, but for the US, certainly.

The oddest thing, and probably the most telling thing about the US relations with Indians, is that they ISSUED the coins, but will not stock them. You can buy them from the US Mint, dollar for dollar and postpaid.


PHOTO GALLERY: U.S. Mint unveils newest Native American $1 Coin
www.wickedlocal.com

[Wingnatic]

Here's the history of the coin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacagawea_dollar

I got the 1st year at a Walmart promo for the coin . You can buy P & D coins from the U.S. Mint , but they generally sell the S mint mark . P-Philly mint D- Denver mint S - San Francisco mint . San Fran stopped making coins for the general public in the 1960's where P & D make them for the general public , a coin with no mint mark comes from Philly . It looks like this dollar has seen its fair share of trouble , outside of the promo's for the coin , the only way I got one after that was getting stamps at the post office machine and you'd get them back in change , sometimes you'd get a Susan B. Anthony as well . The public apparently doesn't like dollar coins , the S.B.A. dollar was a flop . Until we do away with the paper dollar , dollar coins won't be popular , even though the life of a paper dollar is very short . I'm for dollar/two dollar coins like Canada . The mint has also thought of doing away with the penny because it cost more than a penny to make one , maybe we should go back to the '' steely '' penny like the ones they made during WW2 .. 1943 ? I think the Presidential coins aren't real popular either , I had to go to my bank and ask for my 1st one . The answerwould be ask your bank for the new dollar , and do away with the paper dollar because people don't like dollar coins .

[gazhekwe]

Unfortunately the new dollars won't be at the bank, they are available only at the mint, according to the article. I like going to the PO to get stamps in the machine. Buy one book and pay with a twenty to get a batch of dollar coins. I like using them for tips and presents for kids. The token machines in Chicago give dollar coin change, too. <3 <3 <3 Another thing you can do, as they are decorative and collectible as well as spendable, get one of those acrylic picture frames and line it with different dollar coins, and add a nice picture, great shower or bon voyage gift.

[Wingnatic]

Same here with the PO , unfortunately the USPS is doing away with those machines and my PO has already done away with ours . My question would be if you can ask at a bank for a Presidential dollar [[4 different ones per year ) and its likely they'll have them , why wouldn't they have these coins ? They make them all with the S mint mark [[for collectors only-US Mint ) and with the P&D mint mark [[US Mint for collectors and general circulation ) I'll ask next time at my bank and may even contact the US Mint as I'm confused by this at the Mint's website .
Overall $1 Coin Production
'' In general, five distinct $1 coins will be issued each year—four Presidential $1 Coins and one Native American $1 Coin. The United States Mint will continue to produce Presidential $1 Coins and Native American $1 Coins so that the total quantity of $1 coins minted and issued for circulation is sufficient to meet the needs of the Nation. The law requires that at least 20 percent of all such $1 coins minted and issued in any year be Native American $1 Coins.
Until the conclusion of the Presidential $1 Coin Program, the Native American $1 Coins will be issued, to the maximum extent practicable, in chronological order of the events or lives of the persons being featured on the reverse design.
After the completion of the Presidential $1 Coin Program, the Native American $1 Coin Program will continue. It will feature designs in any order determined to be appropriate by the Department of the Treasury after consultation with the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, the Congressional Native American Caucus, the National Congress of American Indians and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. ''
http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/nativeAmerican/

And it looks like the Native coin program will continue once they run out of Presidents lol