"We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us,'' long-time Indian rights activist Russell Means said.
A delegation of Lakota leaders has delivered a message to the State Department, and said they were unilaterally withdrawing from treaties they signed with the federal government of the US, some of them more than 150 years old.
The group also visited the Bolivian, Chilean, South African and Venezuelan embassies, and would continue on their diplomatic mission and take it overseas in the coming weeks and months.
Lakota country includes parts of the states of Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming.
The new country would issue its own passports and driving licences, and living there would be tax-free - provided residents renounce their US citizenship, Mr Means said.
The treaties signed with the US were merely "worthless words on worthless paper," the Lakota freedom activists said.
Withdrawing from the treaties was entirely legal, Means said.
"This is according to the laws of the United States, specifically article six of the constitution,'' which states that treaties are the supreme law of the land, he said.
``It is also within the laws on treaties passed at the Vienna Convention and put into effect by the US and the rest of the international community in 1980. We are legally within our rights to be free and independent,'' said Means.
The Lakota relaunched their journey to freedom in 1974, when they drafted a declaration of continuing independence -- an overt play on the title of the United States' Declaration of Independence from England.
Thirty-three years have elapsed since then because ``it takes critical mass to combat colonialism and we wanted to make sure that all our ducks were in a row,'' Means said.
One duck moved into place in September, when the United Nations adopted a non-binding declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples -- despite opposition from the United States, which said it clashed with its own laws.
``We have 33 treaties with the United States that they have not lived by. They continue to take our land, our water, our children,'' Phyllis Young, who helped organize the first international conference on indigenous rights in Geneva in 1977, told the news conference.
The US ``annexation'' of native American land has resulted in once proud tribes such as the Lakota becoming mere ``facsimiles of white people,'' said Means.
Oppression at the hands of the US government has taken its toll on the Lakota, whose men have one of the shortest life expectancies - less than 44 years - in the world.
Lakota teen suicides are 150 per cent above the norm for the US; infant mortality is five times higher than the US average; and unemployment is rife, according to the Lakota freedom movement's website.
Welcome. Without sounding too egotistical, the purpose of this site is both fundamentally important to mankind and the relevance of the Internet, as well as utterly pointless, futile, and fun in a sea of Internet obscurity.
We aim to inform, entertain, and invoke. This may be through the most serious of news stories that may not be getting mentioned, or this may be through a stupid video of a cat falling off a table. Regardless, the net is an infinite mess of interwoven stories of grave seriousness and ultimate irrelevance, and we aim to bring to the forefront just a few things on the net worth noticing.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Lakota secede from the U.S.
Ron Paul stands up to Neil Cavuto, Fox News.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Dr. Ron Paul cured my apathy.
I know some of you don't care about politics. I know, the U.S. government is far too corrupt and destructive to harbor any positive potential. But, assuming that the voting machines aren't hacked and votes aren't 'lost' and dead people don't vote, your vote could actually make the difference between the future of our country starting WWIII, going bankrupt and losing many more precious lives, or turning around the self-destruction and fiscal irresponsibility towards something sustainable for all of us.
Even if you care about nothing else but your own skin, you've gotta care that the money in your savings account is worth 33% less than it was just 5 years ago. You are witnessing the decline of the American Empire at the hands of corrupt men.
The downward spiral of the American government has many causes, but I believe only one candidate has the potential to help turn it around as President. Say what you want about long shots, but please, inform yourself before you fail to give this man a chance.
If you like to read, please, read at The Ron Paul Library. All of his speeches and writings in one place.
If you are more likely to watch a video, watch this one below, then you'll find yourself searching for more. You won't have to look far, but do not believe what you see and hear on major TV news networks. Most have been trying to smear Ron Paul since day one. And they have all failed to their own embarrassment.
Please, for the sake of your country, your family, your children, their children, please inform yourself, and if you like what you hear, as so many other millions of people have, please register Republican and vote for Ron Paul in your state's primary. That's all I ask. It is a minuscule first step. We have the chance to save this country from the stupidity and fearmongering of past elections. Please help. Please watch this video.
Even if you care about nothing else but your own skin, you've gotta care that the money in your savings account is worth 33% less than it was just 5 years ago. You are witnessing the decline of the American Empire at the hands of corrupt men.
The downward spiral of the American government has many causes, but I believe only one candidate has the potential to help turn it around as President. Say what you want about long shots, but please, inform yourself before you fail to give this man a chance.
If you like to read, please, read at The Ron Paul Library. All of his speeches and writings in one place.
If you are more likely to watch a video, watch this one below, then you'll find yourself searching for more. You won't have to look far, but do not believe what you see and hear on major TV news networks. Most have been trying to smear Ron Paul since day one. And they have all failed to their own embarrassment.
Please, for the sake of your country, your family, your children, their children, please inform yourself, and if you like what you hear, as so many other millions of people have, please register Republican and vote for Ron Paul in your state's primary. That's all I ask. It is a minuscule first step. We have the chance to save this country from the stupidity and fearmongering of past elections. Please help. Please watch this video.
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