IT'S ALL ABOUT CRIME

Joe Biden Sabotages Democrats' D.C. Statehood Dream

BY DARRAGH ROCHE 

 3/3/23 

Democrats Turn On Biden As He Vows To Sign Bill Vetoing D.C. Crime Reform

President Joe Biden may have sabotaged Democrats' ambition for statehood for the District of Columbia (D.C.) by saying he will approve a congressional resolution to veto reforms to the district's criminal code.

Biden made the announcement on Twitter on Thursday, saying he would sign a resolution that appears set to pass the Senate as early as next week after it was passed by the House of Representatives on February 9 with bipartisan support.

His decision comes at a time when support for D.C. statehood among Democrats has been growing. In April, 2021, the Democrat-led House passed a bill aimed at making the district the 51st U.S. state.

President Joe Biden speaks at the Kempsville Recreation Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia on February 28, 2023. Biden has been criticized for saying he will sign a resolution overriding criminal justice reforms in the District of Columbia.

ANNA MONEYMAKER/GETTY IMAGES

The D.C. Council approved the Revised Criminal Code Act (RCCA) by a vote of 12 to 1, overriding Mayor Muriel Bowser's veto. The revised code includes reductions in the maximum penalties for burglary, carjacking and robbery, as well as expanding jury trials and abolishing mandatory minimum sentences.

"I support D.C. Statehood and home-rule—but I don't support some of the changes D.C. Council put forward over the Mayor's objections—such as lowering penalties for carjackings," Biden tweeted on Thursday.

"If the Senate votes to overturn what D.C. Council did—I'll sign it," he said.

Democrats Criticize Biden

Democrats on the D.C. Council offered harsh criticism of the president and they were joined by Democratic Representative Elizabeth Holmes Norton, D.C.'s delegate in the House of Representatives, and Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

"Today has been a sad day for DC Home Rule and DC residents' right to self-governance, but a powerful argument in favor of #DCStatehood," Norton tweeted on Thursday.

"Today the President of the United States and many Senate Democrats turned their backs on DC residents and our fundamental right to self determination," tweeted D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George, who is also a Democrat.

Newsweek has reached out to the White House about Biden's decision.

Republicans oppose statehood for D.C. and argue that making it a state would hand Democrats' a political advantage.

"Republicans have long argued that national Democrats' support for DC statehood is rooted in a desire for political gain instead of a principled stance on self-determination," tweeted Austin Ahlam of The Intercept on Thursday.

"Today, Biden confirmed that that critique is, in fact, dead on," Ahlam added.

Political scientists who spoke to Newsweek on Friday suggested that Biden had damaged the cause of D.C. statehood but said the president found himself in a difficult position.

Tough on Crime

Biden may be concerned about the recent defeat of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. The mayor came third in a race against Paul Vallas, a moderate Democrat endorsed by the city's police union, and Brandon Johnson, a progressive backed by the Chicago Teachers Union.

She has been criticized for her response to rising crime levels in the city, while the approach to crime is an issue that has divided progressive Democrats and those with a more traditional approach to the issue.

Crime was also a major issue in Mayor Bowser's successful re-election campaign last year.

In a statement on Thursday, Representative Norton argued that "with the nationwide increase in crime, most senators do not want to be seen as supporting criminal justice reform."

Mark Shanahan, an associate professor at the University of Surrey in the U.K, and co-editor of The Trump Presidency: From Campaign Trail to World Stage, told Newsweek that perceptions about his handling of crime were a key issue for Biden.

"President Biden is stuck between a rock and a hard place in trying to support D.C. statehood while also being seen to be tough on crime—an issue that consistently rates high with voters starting to turn their minds to the 2024 presidential race," Shanahan said.

"Biden doesn't want to be seen to be supporting the activist D.C. Council's move to lower some sentences as it's somewhat out of kilter with national policy," he added.

Weak Endorsement

Statehood for D.C. has been a long-term project and despite the 2021 bill, it appears unlikely that the district will become the 51st state any time in the near future, though many Democrats continue to argue in favor of it.

Shanahan told Newsweek that Biden's decision "does make his endorsement of statehood sound particularly weak if he's not seen by D.C. residents and politicians alike as supportive of their self-governing actions."

"It's a classic case of a disconnect between Biden's national political interests versus particular policy at a local level," he added.
A Losing Cause?

With Republicans in control of the House and a slim Democratic majority in the Senate, the cause of D.C. statehood appears to be stalled and controversy over criminal justice reform may be a bigger issue for Biden than a long-term goal of creating a 51st state.

Robert Singh, a professor of politics at Birkbeck, University of London, told Newsweek, that Biden signing the resolution "will certainly damage the case for D.C. statehood—although the actions of the mayor and the city council are probably more serious in terms of the damage that they're doing.

"It's probably sensible politics for Biden, inasmuch as he needs to show that he is not tolerant of 'soft on crime' measures by Democratic cities, with rising crime rates a major concern to mainstream voters."

He added that the president "can maintain that he supports statehood at the same time, while doing little or noting to push a losing cause."

"Still, it will likely cause some internal party troubles, especially with Black Democrats and progressives," said Singh.

JOE IS A  'TOUGH GUY' ON CRIME

Did the 1994 crime bill cause mass incarceration? - Brookings

https://www.brookings.edu › blog › fixgov › 2020/08/28

Aug 28, 2020 — The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, commonly known as the crime bill, was sponsored by Joe Biden 26 years ago.

The New York Times

'Lock the S.O.B.s Up': Joe Biden and the Era of Mass ...

WASHINGTON — In September 1994, as President Bill Clinton signed the new Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act in an elaborately&nbs...

3 years ago

Joe Biden's controversial 1994 crime law, explained - Vox

https://www.vox.com › policy-and-politics › joe-biden-...

Jun 20, 2019 — Joe Biden has taken credit for the 1994 crime law. But critics say the law contributed to mass incarceration.

White House unveils National Cybersecurity Strategy

The strategy will focus on ensuring closer collaboration on cyber security between government and industry, while giving software and other tech companies a bigger role in combatting threats due to their resources and expertise

By Sebastian Klovig Skelton, 

Senior reporter
Published: 03 Mar 2023 

The White House has released its National Cybersecurity Strategy, which envisages a much greater role for US software vendors and tech providers in combatting the growing number of cyber threats.

Published 3 March 2023, the strategy sets out the Biden administration’s plan to make two fundamental shifts in how the US approaches cyber security.

The first shift entails much closer collaboration between government and industry, with the strategy noting that organisations with the requisite expertise and resources should be the ones to shoulder the burden of dealing with cyber threats.

“Our collective cyber resilience cannot rely on the constant vigilance of our smallest organisations and individual citizens,” it said. “Instead, across both the public and private sector, we must ask more of the most capable and best-position actors to make our digital ecosystem secure and resilient.”

It added this would include various national and federal cyber security bodies or initiatives, as well as a wide range of private actors: “The federal government [will] also deepen operational and strategic collaboration with software, hardware and managed service providers with the capability to reshape the cyber landscape in favour of greater security and resilience.”

Biden previously signed an Executive Order in May 2021 to harden America’s cyber defences, with a big emphasis on public-private partnerships and information sharing, which was described at the time by the administration as “the first of many ambitious steps” to modernise the US’ cyber defences.

He later signed a new cyber security incident reporting mandate into law in March 2022, making it a legal requirement for operators of critical national infrastructure to disclose cyber attacks to the US government.

On top of rebalancing the responsibility for defending cyber space, the strategy also aims to realign incentives to favour long-term investment, so that the US can make its cyber space “more inherently defensible and resilient” in the future.

“We must ensure that market forces and public programmes alike reward security and resilience, build a robust and diverse cyber workforce, embrace security and resilience by design, strategically coordinate research and development investments in cyber security, and promote the collaborative stewardship of our digital ecosystem,” it said.

To achieve these two “fundamental shifts” in the US cyber security approach, the strategy outlines five pillars: defend critical infrastructure; disrupt and dismantle threat actors; shape market forces to drive security and resilience; invest in a resilient future; and forge international partnerships to pursue shared goals.

In terms of the private sectors role, the White House said on a fact sheet that these pillars would entail enabling public-private collaboration to work at the necessary speed and scale; engaging the private sector I threat actor disruption activities; and diverting liability for security failures to software companies

It added that, more generally, the White House will work to expand the use of minimum cyber security requirements; modernise federal networks and incident response policies; promote the privacy and security of personal data; and strategically employ “all tools of national power” to disrupt adversaries.

The strategy would be implemented by the National Security Council (NSC) in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)and the Office of National Cyber Director (ONCD), which will be tasked with making annual reports to the president and congress on the strategy’s efficacy.

Brian Fox, co-founder chief technology officer at software supply chain management company Sonatype, who contributed to the development of the strategy, praised the strategy’s move to ensure vendors have greater liability for cyber security risks.

“Log4shell was the impetus for calls to action for better software supply chain security by governments worldwide,” he said, adding the strategy is a “landmark moment for the industry” that signals a nuanced understanding of today’s threat landscape.

“Market forces are leading to a race to the bottom in certain industries, while contract law allows software vendors of all kinds to shield themselves from liability...the strategy aptly starts by taking away vendors’ ability to disclaim any and all liability, while recognising that even a perfect security process can’t guarantee perfect outcomes.”

He added that the strategy also moves to hold companies that collect massive amounts of information, and then leave that information open to attackers with little recourse, to account.

“Without regulation changes, the ramifications of these types of breaches can be huge for consumers, while the resulting lawsuits amount to a rounding error and a cost of doing business for these companies,” he said. “Changing the dynamics of accountability is the only way to drive the proper outcomes. But it’s just the beginning of a much larger conversation.”

Michael McPherson, senior vice-president of security operations at ReliaQuest, also welcomed the strategy, saying it “affirms the whole-of-government approach to partner closely with the private sector to impose maximum impact on the adversary”.

“Ultimately, the US government wants to degrade the adversary’s ecosystem and impose consequences for their illicit activities,” he added. “Agencies like the FBI will continue to play a leading role in coordinating efforts and driving these disruption operations. While there will be enormous challenges for collaborating with the private sector, this strategy outlines it is imperative to national security.”

Read more about cyber security strategies

Dutch national cyber security strategy aims to protect digital society: Cabinet sets up national cyber security strategy to make the Netherlands digitally secure.

Assessing the aims of the UK Government Cyber Security Strategy: The clear aims of the Government Cyber Security Strategy are welcome, but are they realistic or achievable?

Europe’s cyber security strategy must be clear about open source: Europe’s cyber security policy on open source is lagging behind the US, and despite growing government awareness of the issues, that poses a problem.

FDA rejected human testing proposal for Elon Musk’s brain chip company, report says


Federal agency reportedly said the company needed to address ‘dozens of issues’

Vishwam Sankaran

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had reportedly rejected a proposal by Elon Musk’s brain chip company Neuralink to begin testing its implants on humans.

Neuralink has been working on chips that can be implanted into the skull for the possibility of a computer-brain interface, some purposes of which could be to help restore vision in the blind and even help paralysed people walk again.

When Neuralink applied for human testing with the FDA in early 2022, the watchdog rejected the proposal and said there were “dozens of issues the company must address,” Reuters reported, citing current and former employees at the startup.

Concerns raised by the FDA included worries that Neuralink implants are powered by lithium batteries and fears that wires used in the implants may potentially “migrate” to different parts of the brain.

The FDA also reportedly raised concerns about whether the Neuralink implants could be removed without causing brain damage.

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Employees cited by Reuters didn’t share the FDA rejection paperwork from November 2022 due to legal implications.

Mr Musk had said in November last year that the company expected to begin clinical trials in humans in “about six months”.

Previously in 2021, replying to a Twitter user who claimed to be paralysed in a car accident, Mr Musk said Neuralink was in “close communication with the FDA”, adding that, “if things go well”, the company “might be able to do initial human trials later this year”.

Then he tweeted in November 2022 that he was confident the Neuralink device was “ready for humans” and said the timing for beginning trials in people was a “function of working through the FDA approval process”.

“We want to be extremely careful and certain that it will work well before putting a device into a human but we’ve submitted I think most of our paperwork to the FDA and probably in about six months we should be able to upload Neuralink in a human,” the multibillionaire had said at a much-awaited “show and tell” event.

The company has so far unveiled the working of its technology in monkey models, including one demonstration of a nine-year-old macaque learning to play the 1970s video game classic Pong in return for a banana smoothie reward.

But following complaints by animal rights groups, including the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), criticising the company’s “inadequate care” of its research monkeys, Neuralink was also subjected to at least one US government probe over alleged mistreatment of its animals.

Citing public records, PCRM also pointed out that Neuralink transported “contaminated” devices removed from the brains of “infected” monkeys without safely packaging them.

In a blog post, Neuralink defended the use of monkeys in its research, adding that “all novel medical devices and treatments” must be tested on animals before they can be trialled on humans.

Nearly 1,500 monkeys, pigs and mice have been killed undergoing Neuralink testing since 2018, Reuters previously reported.

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“Neuralink doesn’t appear to have the mindset and experience that’s needed to get this to market anytime soon,” Kip Ludwig, former programme director for neural engineering at the US National Institutes of Health, told Reuters.

Neuralink could not be immediately reached for comment by The Independent.

CRIMINAL CAPITALI$M

City watchdog launches enforcement probe into London Metal Exchange after embattled bourse's controversial nickel trading halt

• LME has been under pressure since suspending trading amid a short squeeze
• It faces hundreds of millions of dollars worth of lawsuits from investors
• The BoE will appoint a 'a skilled person' to monitor LME's progress 

By MIKE SHEEN FOR THIS IS MONEY 

PUBLISHED:  3 March 2023 |

The Financial Conduct Authority has launched an enforcement investigation into the London Metal Exchange's controversial decision to halt nickel trading early last year.

Chinese-owned LME faces hundreds of millions of dollars worth of lawsuits from investors like hedge fund giant Elliot Associates and Jane Street after it suddenly suspended trading and cancelled all trades of the metal on 8 March.

The City watchdog was scant on details when confirming the probe on Friday, but said it would cover 'some of the LME's conduct and systems and controls in place in the period between 1 January 2022 and the time of suspension on 8 March 2022'.

The LME's 'the Ring' is one of the few open-outcry trading floors still operating   

It added: 'The FCA has confirmed an investigation in light of the public interest in these matters and will not make any further comment in line with normal policy'.

LME came under fire when a giant short squeeze resulted in the closure of the market for a week and the cancellation of billions of dollars worth of trades.

The decision to cancel the trades caused uproar among investors, and left the 146-year-old LME's credibility in tatters. Senior management was lambasted for its handling of the crisis.

Its chair Gay Huey Evans, who became the first woman to chair the LME in 2019, recently said she would not seek re-election this year.

In April last year, the FCA, Prudential Regulation Authority and Bank of England issued a joint statement promising 'reviews' of LME's operations.

LME itself appointed management consultants Oliver Wyman to carry out a review of the nickel trading debacle last June.

On Friday, the FCA said: 'Since the suspension the FCA has made clear its expectation that the LME should consider carefully how the events of March 2022 should shape its future approach on market structure, including the role of transparency in facilitating effective risk management.

'The LME has implemented changes to its control framework and committed to a wider package of market reform, informed by the recommendations of an external review LME and LME Clear jointly commissioned.

'The FCA is encouraged by the LME's focus on increasing the transparency of OTC [over the counter] trading to support robust risk management in its on-exchange trading.

'The oversight exercised by the LME Board to drive the effective and timely execution of this programme is being monitored closely by the FCA. The proposed changes to the LME Board will enlarge the skills and experience available to it. The FCA will also work closely with the Bank of England as the programme progresses.'

In response to the FCA, LME chief executive Matthew Chamberlain said: 'The LME notes that the FCA has opened an enforcement investigation into some of the LME's conduct and systems and controls in place during the period between 1 January 2022 and the time of suspension on 8 March 2022.

'The LME will cooperate fully with this process and will continue to take the appropriate steps to ensure the long-term health, efficiency and resilience of its market.'

In a separate statement the BoE, which is responsible for regulating LME's clearing house, said its own reviews had 'pointed to several shortcomings across LME Clear's governance, management and risk management capabilities'.

It added: 'In response, LME Clear will need to strengthen its governance arrangements, increase independence in management and governance at the CCP, and improve on its wider risk management.

'The Bank expects LME Clear to appropriately address all of the findings from the reviews and welcomes LME Clear's stated commitment to the publication of its implementation plan and timely execution thereafter, which the Bank will monitor closely.'

The BoE added that it intends to appoint 'a skilled person' to 'to independently monitor, assess and report to the Bank regularly on LME Clear's implementation progress against remedial actions'.

In response to the BoE, Mr Chamberlain said the group 'acknowledges that the Bank expects LMEC to strengthen its governance arrangements, increase independence in management and governance at the CCP, and improve on its wider risk management capabilities'.

He added: 'To this end, LMEC intends to incorporate all additional findings from the Bank's feedback into the implementation plan that LMEC has already announced.

'This is to be communicated at the end of Q1 2023, setting out how LMEC proposes to deliver against the recommendations of the Oliver Wyman review, and outlining, in addition, the initiatives that are already underway to strengthen its business and markets.

'LMEC welcomes the Bank's intention to appoint a skilled person with respect to the implementation progress, and will continue to take the appropriate steps to support the long-term health, efficiency and resilience of the market as a whole.'

Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski jailed in Belarus for a decade

Ales Bialiatski (60), who was awarded the Nobel prize in October, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday.

Reuters
London,UPDATED: Mar 3, 2023 


Human rights activist Ales Bialiatski. (Image: Reuters)


By Reuters: Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist Ales Bialiatski was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday by a court in his native Belarus which found him guilty of financing protests in a trial condemned by the European Union as a "sham".

Bialiatski, 60, was awarded the Nobel prize in October for his work promoting human rights and democracy in a country which President Alexander Lukashenko, a staunch ally of Russia, has ruled with an iron hand for nearly 30 years, violently locking up his opponents or forcing them to flee.

Footage from the cramped Minsk court showed Bialiatski, who co-founded the Viasna (Spring) human rights group, looking sombre, his hands cuffed behind his back, as he and his co-defendants watched proceedings from a courtroom cage.

Bialiatski, who was arrested in 2021, and three co-defendants were charged with financing protests and smuggling money. Belarusian state news agency Belta confirmed the court had handed down long jail sentences to all the men, including a decade in prison for Bialiatski. He denied the charges against him, saying they were politically motivated.

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said Bialiatski and the three other activists had been unfairly convicted, describing the court verdict as "appalling".

EU cries 'sham' as Belarus jails Nobel winner until 2033

• 
  

  Ales Bialiatski will be 70 when he comes out of prison in 2033 (Photo: Nikolaj Nielsen)

By ANDREW RETTMAN 

BRUSSELS, TODAY, 

Belarus' jailing of a Nobel-prize winning activist was a "fake" verdict in a "sham trial", the EU's top diplomat has said, amid threats of further sanctions.

The EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell spoke out a few hours after a Minsk court sentenced a hand-cuffed and dejected-looking Ales Bialiatski to most of the rest of his life in prison on Friday (3 March).

The 60-year old won a Nobel prize in absentia last year for his work as chairman of the Viasna Human Rights Centre.

But this was not enough to shield him from a 10-year sentence on charges of financing protests and smuggling money into Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko's domain.

Belarus also jailed three other human-rights defenders for between seven and nine years the same day "on fake and politically-motivated charges", Borrell noted.

"The European Union condemns in the strongest possible terms their sham trials that are yet another appalling example of the Lukashenko regime trying to silence those who stand up in defence of human rights," he added.

Lukashenko is holding "more than 1,450" political prisoners in his dungeons, according to Borrell's reckoning.

Reports of conditions inside involve multiple cases of torture and sexual violence.

"The EU stands ready to react to repression and human rights abuses by the regime against its population," Borrell added on Friday, in a threat of further sanctions.

The verdict was a "farce", German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock echoed.

"The Minsk regime is fighting civil society with violence and imprisonment. This is as much a daily disgrace as Lukashenko's support for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's war [in Ukraine]," she said.

The EU blacklisted Lukashenko and 194 other individuals after his crackdown on protests following rigged elections in 2021.

It blacklisted 22 more and imposed trade and financial sanctions last year over Lukashenko's support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But some of Lukashenko's relatives, such as his daughter-in-law Anna Lukashenko are still free to travel and live lavish lifestyles in the EU.

And the EU spared Belarus in its latest rounds of Russia sanctions, despite calls by the Belarusian government-in-exile in Lithuania to do more.

Bialiatski began his activism with anti-Soviet protests in the 1980s.

He already spent four years in Lukashenko's prisons between 2011 and 2014 on tax-evasion charges.

"I think there is an opportunity [for political change] after my release and I think I have to use the momentum," he told EUobserver in an interview at the time.

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said on Friday: "We must do everything to fight against this shameful injustice and free them [Bialiatski and the other three people jailed this week]".

"The case, the verdict against him [Bialiatski], is a tragedy for him personally," Berit Reiss-Andersen, leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, told the Reuters news agency.

"It also shows that the regime in Belarus does not tolerate freedom of expression and opposition," she said.

Belarus: Sentencing of human rights 

defenders a ‘blatant retaliation’ for their work

NEWS

March 3, 2023

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Responding to the sentencing of founder and chair of Viasna human rights centre and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, who received a sentence of ten years in prison, his colleague Valiantsin Stefanovich, deputy chair of Viasna and vice-president of the International Federation of Human Rights, who was sentenced to nine years, and Viasna’s lawyer Uladzimir Labkovich, who was given seven years in prison, Marie Struthers, Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia said:

“This sham trial on politically motivated charges is a blatant retaliation for Viasna’s human rights work. Their sentencing represents a further blow to the already severely repressed civil society and the concerning state of human rights in Belarus. It’s a vindictive act of injustice that requires the immediate attention of the international community.

“These brave human rights defenders were never given the chance of a fair trial. They were handcuffed when escorted in and held inside a cage throughout the trial. The judge conducted proceedings in Russian instead of Belarusian and they were given no time to familiarize themselves with the case materials, to say nothing of them being tried on fabricated charges. We cannot let them suffer under the reprehensible political agenda of the Belarusian authorities. We demand their immediate and unconditional release.”

Background

Bialiatski Stefanovich and Labkovich, have been falsely charged with “smuggling large sums of money and financing group activities that grossly violated public order”. They have all been held in custody since July 2021, while exiled co-defendant Dzmitry Salauyou was sentenced to eight years in absentia.

The prosecution claims that they smuggled at least 201,000 Euros and 54,000 US Dollars across the border and used these funds to finance “unlawful” protest activities.

During and after mass and overwhelmingly peaceful protests against widely alleged electoral fraud in 2020, Viasna was instrumental in documenting and reporting widespread human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and other ill-treatment and unfair trials.

UK

Unions suspend strike action by ambulance workers after government agrees to talks



NHS ambulances parked outside the accident and emergency department of St Thomas' Hospital in central Londo

UNIONS suspended planned strike action by ambulance workers today after the government agreed to resume talks on pay.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay wrote to GMB and Unison earlier today, within hours of workers saying they would reduce emergency cover during strike days on March 6 and 8.

The Department of Health and Social Care has now agreed to discuss pay for both this year and the next, as well improvements to other terms and conditions, GMB said.

Talks are expected to commence next week.

GMB national secretary Rachel Harrison said: “This is a huge shift from the government, who for months have refused to consider negotiations on pay.

“Now, they are saying they are willing to sit down and talk.

“The government has given assurances of additional cash for both years, above existing budgets, and that any deal will respect the existing Agenda for Change structure.

“The strike will return with a vengeance should talks break down.”

MORNINGSTAR GBCP

Breaking: Government makes U-turn on nurse pay for 2022-23

03 MARCH, 2023 BY GEMMA MITCHELL

Unison members on strike in Liverpool on 23 January 2023

Source: Joe Baldwin

NHS nurses in England look set for an additional pay offer for 2022-23 in what would be a major U-turn from the government and a success for unions’ strike campaigns.

Unison announced late this afternoon that it was suspending its upcoming strike day for 8 March to enter pay talks with the government.

“The government has finally promised extra investment in pay for both this and next year"
Sara Gorton

It said it had made this decision “after the Department of Health and Social Care confirmed there would be additional investment in pay for both this year (2022-23) and next (2023-24)”.

Achieving an improvement to the 2022-23 NHS pay award is what health unions have been fighting for through their industrial action campaigns that have been ongoing since last year.

However, the government in Westminster has always insisted that it was not willing to change the pay award for 2022-23, and instead wanted to focus on pay awards for 2023-24.

Unison head of health Sara Gorton said: “Unions said all along they could pause strikes if ministers would only commit to formal talks to boost pay for this year.

“The government has finally promised extra investment in pay for both this and next year.”

However, Ms Gorton warned that strike plans would be resumed if the talks did not result in a deal.

Fellow union GMB has also suspended its strikes that were planned for March 6 and 8 in order to join the negotiations, which will be held through the NHS staff council.

The government's offer for pay talks follows backlash from Unison and other NHS unions over solo negotiations that have been taking place between the Royal College of Nursing and ministers since 22 February.

The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for comment.

WORD OF THE DAY

Cree Actress Alyssa Wapanatâhk Brings Indigeneity to New Peter Pan Film

(Photo: Trailer Screenshot | Disney)

BY LEVI RICKERT 

 FEBRUARY 28, 2023

Walt Dsney Pictures on Tuesday released a trailer for its new film Peter Pan & Wendy, featuring Alyssa Wapanatâhk (Bigstone Cree Nation).

In the new live-action update of the 1953 animated classic, Wapanatâhk plays Tiger Lily, a warrior princess of Neverland’s Indigenous tribe and the daughter of the tribe’s chief.  

The filmmakers said they went to great lengths to ensure the authenticity and properly appropriate how the Indigenous tribe was depicted in Peter Pan & Wendy. They consulted with Dawn Jackson (Saginaw Chippewa) and Dr. Kevin Lewis (Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation) during the film’s development stage and continuing through principal photography and post-production.

Lewis is an alumni from University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills (UnBQ), where he worked in the social work and Cree and Dene language programs, as well as a sessional lecturer for the university. He consulted on proper usage of the Cree culture on clothing, hairstyles, tribal markings, props, and set designs to ensure intentionality and authenticity were infused in every creative choice, including quill work, Tiger Lily’s saddle, and canoes created by Cree artists and craftspeople.

Alyssa Wapanatâhk (Photo/Disney +)

Wapanatâhk’s Cree heritage provided inspiration for the character and her people in the film to ensure they are grounded in authenticity and specificity, the filmmakers said.   

“The filmmakers were looking for somebody who was obviously authentic (and) who actually comes from Native lineage — somebody who's actually Indigenous,” Wapanatâhk told Native News Online during a video interview. “They wanted to correct things to make things right. When I saw that, that was like a really big point for me, I realized I wanted to be part of this. I want to help out and be that person to  help correct this thing that's going on in the world.”

Wapanatâhk said the filmmakers were originally going to depict another tribe in the film, but as time went on, the movie’s director, David Lowery, began to ask her if she wanted to bring Cree history and culture into the film.

“Once I saw them bringing Cree culture into the film, I thought this is really everything for me. And it's gonna be everything for people to see this,” she said. 

Having Dr. Lewis on set was helpful to the young actress, whose character speaks both English and a dialect of Cree in the film.  

“He was there basically the whole time and he helped me with the Cree language because I don’t speak Cree fluently. I was also able to reach out to my grandmother and my adopted grandfather who helped me with the Cree language,” Wapanatâhk said. 

Wapanatâhk says it was important for the Peter Pan & Wendy filmmakers to portray Indigenous culture appropriately. She says playing the role of Tiger Lily helped her understand who she is as a person.

“I'm so in a place where it's like so deep in my heart, where I hold this character, and this film was one of the biggest things that ever happened to me and that ever came into my life. The reason for that is because I think as you're in your healing journey, you go through a lot of trials, a lot of tribulations and this was something that kind of brought me out of that. That deep, the loneliness. It brought me right out of it, and I was in my element. 

“And I noticed that that had a lot to do with my healing because I was able to find myself and even though I was playing a different character, I found out who I am, I found out that I have a voice that I matter. All of these things came together and it's like you when you're talking to that little girl, or that little boy inside of you, and you're holding their hand and you're going through it together. That's why it meant so much to me because I know that a lot of other youth are going to see this though and they're going to maybe have those same feelings,” Wapanatâhk said.

In addition to Wapanatâhk, the background actors seen in Tiger Lily’s village along with her stunt double were all played by Indigenous talent.

While the character was inspired by the Cree culture, Tiger Lily and the Neverland tribe are still intended to be the Indigenous people of Neverland, not an actual Cree community. 

Her people’s indigeneity to Neverland is reflected in both Tiger Lily’s relationships on the island as well as the birch bark teepees in which they reside.

Peter Pan & Wendy will be released on Disney + on April 28, 2023. 

Why AIM Chose Wounded Knee to Occupy 50 Years Ago


Two AIM members at Wounded Knee in 1973

 (Photo: PBS)

BY LEVI RICKERT FEBRUARY 26, 2023

Opinion. Monday marks the 50th anniversary of the takeover of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on February 27, 1973 by the American Indian Movement (AIM).

The siege would last 71 days and would become known as the Wounded Knee II. Some 83 years earlier, on December 29,1890, the U.S. Cavalry Regiment had massacred some 250 innocent Lakota men, women and children on the same land.

The central figures of the 1973 Wounded Knee takeover are now deceased. AIM co-founder Dennis Banks (Leech Lake Ojibwe) died on October 29, 2017; AIM co-founder Clyde Bellecourt (White Earth Nation) died last year on January 11, 2022; and AIM activist Russell Means (Oglala Sioux) died on October 22, 2012.

In 1973, I was still in my youthful days. I was too young to join in the occupation. Years later, my work in Indian Country allowed me to meet and even interview all three of these historic men. I learned a lot about the 1973 Wounded Knee’s history takeover from Banks and Bellecourt.

My friend Paul Collins, who is an internationally acclaimed artist, through a fate of history was in South Dakota painting a series called Other Voices, A Native American Tableau at the time of AIM’s takeover of Wounded Knee.

The previous year, Chief Frank Fools Crow (Lakota), a spiritual leader, was at the United Nations to speak and Collins was there for his Black Portrait of an African Journey exhibition. Fools Crow was so impressed with Collins’ art, he told Collins he should come to South Dakota to paint the Lakota.

Collins met Dennis Banks at Wounded Knee and the two became very close — so much so that they referred to one another as a “brother from another mother.” Because of the close relationship between the two men, Banks would come to Grand Rapids often during the last years of his life. Many times, unexpectedly, Banks would call me to come visit him at Collins’ home. Depending on my schedule, I would take advantage of visiting him and, after founding Native News Online, interviewing Banks.

Even before Native News Online began publishing, I interviewed Banks on stage at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids in November 2009 in a program called A Conversation with Dennis Banks. The conversation covered a broad range of topics, and at one point, I asked Banks how AIM ended up at Wounded Knee in 1973.

“First there was a historical significance of Wounded Knee,” Banks told me. “It was the scene of an absolute slaughter where over 250 men, women and children were slaughtered by the U.S. military. And, up until that point, there was never no closure to what happened there.

“So Fools Crow says, ‘Let’s go back to Wounded Knee. Let the spirits help defend us there.’ They were the ones (spiritual leaders) who told us to go there.”

Dennis Banks, co-founder of the American Indian Movement ,and Levi Rickert at Grand Valley State University for “A Conversation with Dennis Banks” in November 2009.

 (Photo/Native News Online)

Banks further explained that AIM could not take over the village of Pine Ridge because of the strong presence of FBI agents and U.S. Marshals there who were positioned on top of buildings. He said AIM did not want to bring attention to them

He told me that he did not realize how far the U.S. government would go to destroy the American Indian Movement.

What happened at Wounded Knee was nothing short of warfare against Indian warriors. Military helicopters and jets flew overhead. Banks explained at one point there were 35 military tanks there and over 130,000 rounds of ammunition were used against AIM. Most nights were filled with gunfire into the cordoned off town from federal marshals and National Guard members.

With the siege of Wounded Knee, all of the sudden American Indian concerns were front and center in the minds of Americans, who for the most part had thought about American Indians on Thanksgiving. This, of course, was the power of being on nightly newscasts on television. The international media even paid attention to the poor treatment of American Indians.

The American Indian Movement allowed for Americans to get past the Disney version of Indian chiefs galloping through the dusty prairies on horseback wearing long war bonnets. The contemporary warriors—American Indian Movement members—wore blue jeans, cowboy boots, headbands and carried guns.

The longer the siege lasted, the pride in being an American Indian tribal member intensified for many throughout America.

The American Indian Movement leaders became new heroes to a new generation of Native Americans. Average Americans had John Wayne to look up to in movies. In real life, Native Americans had Banks, Bellecourt, Means, and others.

At the end of the 71-siege, two Native Americans were killed and another person remains missing until today.

There is no denying the takeover by AIM of Wounded Knee changed the course of history for Native Americans forever. Later that decade, legislation was enacted in support of Native American rights, including the 1978 American Indian Freedom of Religion Act and the Indian Child Welfare Act.

Fools Crow was right. Maybe there was some closure to what happened to 250 innocent Native Americans in 1890 at Wounded Knee as the result of AIM’s takeover in 1973.

Thayék gde nwéndëmen - We are all related.

Madonna Thunder Hawk: A Firsthand Personal Account of Wounded Knee 1973

Today is the 50th anniversary of the American Indian Movement's takeover of Wounded Knee.

BY MADONNA THUNDER HAWK 

 FEBRUARY 27, 2023

Guest Opinion. Today, I share with you the story of my experience on the ground during that monumental moment. I’ll talk about the way things unfolded and how those weeks under siege were the first domino in a series of events that catapulted our movement into the international spotlight — and also eventually led to the formation of the Lakota People’s Law Project.

By the time the standoff began that February, I was already a seasoned activist. I’d met with the local American Indian Movement (AIM) chapter in the Twin Cities in the 1960s, and I’d joined relatives in California to occupy Alcatraz. When the call went out from the people of Pine Ridge to help lead discussions to confront issues in their communities, I didn’t hesitate. Little did I know that a planned series of strategy meetings would turn into an epic, months-long siege that would threaten our lives and gain international media attention.

On the evening of February 27, 1973, after we finished talking with folks in a village called Calico, our caravan headed toward Porcupine. We were several miles north of Wounded Knee when the word went out that the feds were upon us. Armored personnel carriers had been spotted, and the Army, FBI, and other law enforcement agencies were converging on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. We realized we had to get the caravan and our people to safety. And when we got to the village of Wounded Knee, the first firefight started.

Many people, including everyone in our car, got arrested that night, and for the first four or five nights of the occupation, I was in jail. Once released, I did what everyone else was doing: I loaded up on supplies and headed back to Wounded Knee. And there I remained until the siege ended more than two months later.

On the ground, it was minute to minute, day to day. It was a full military action, and we never knew what would happen. Firefights occurred almost every night, with flares and tracers raining down to light up the area. My job — I was one of four women doing this — was as a medic. We each had different bunkers to cover in case someone got shot. I was assigned four bunkers on the south side. Every night, it was nonstop activity. People would sneak in and out, hiding in the grass, bringing food and other supplies. Many were arrested. In that situation, you’re just trying to make sure everyone’s alive and healthy. If you couldn’t find someone, you wondered if they’d been killed or taken to jail.

During this time, I met Danny Sheehan, who would go on to lead several seminal legal justice fights and become our Lakota Law president and chief counsel. During the standoff, Danny was staying with my brother-in-law, Herman Thunder Hawk, in the house where we monitored government communications via CB radio. He was among many legal volunteers who showed up when it mattered most, and he stayed busy prepping criminal defenses for our people. It’s notable that no one was ever convicted after the standoff. All charges were eventually dismissed because of prosecutorial misconduct. The FBI had illegally wiretapped attorneys.

Those weeks under siege were hard, but they were worth it. We took a stand that mattered, and we held the world’s attention on nightly newscasts. We inspired later landback and occupy movements, and we formed connections that last until the present day. 32 years later, in 2005 — when South Dakota’s Department of Social Services wouldn’t stop taking our children — Russell Means urged me to talk with Danny again, leading to the founding of Lakota Law. We’ve been in this fight together, off and on, for half a century.

Madonna Thunder Hawk is the Cheyenne River organizer for The Lakota People’s Law Project.

SEE

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2023/02/legacy-of-wounded-knee-occupation-lives.html

Legislation Would Ensure Equal Treatment for Michigan's Native Children, Guardians

(Photo: Adobe Stock)

BY NATIVE NEWS ONLINE STAFF MARCH 02, 2023

LANSING, Mich.— Two state Senators in Michigan have introduced bipartisan legislation that would ensure Native American children can benefit from guardianship assistance, including permanent placement with guardians instead of temporary foster care.

The bills, introduced Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) and Sen. John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs), would fix a “fundamentally unfair situation” in the state’s Guardianship Assistance Program (GAP), according to Irwin. Currently, children with guardianship orders from tribal courts or out-of-state courts do not qualify for assistance through GAP.

“We know of at least 10 Sault Tribe families and many other Native families from around the state who have been impacted by the current laws on Guardianship Assistance Program benefits because their cases involve a tribal rather than a state court,” Austin Lowes, chairman of the Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians, said in a statement. “When this happens, children have to remain in unfamiliar foster homes rather than in the home of a close relative, and those foster families may not uphold tribal cultures or customs.”

The United Tribes of Michigan, which works on behalf of Michigan’s federally recognized tribes, supports the bills.

“Guardianship is greatly needed, as it most closely resembles and honors our traditional practices, while ensuring legal protections for our children,” according to Jamie Stuck, President of the United Tribes of Michigan. The legislation would allow for all of the 12 federally recognized Tribal Courts in Michigan to access GAP funds and serve Michigan’s Indigenous children.

“The Tribes and the state have recognized each other’s sovereign status by the implementation of conforming laws for the protection of minors, such as the Michigan Indian Child Welfare Protection Act,” Stuck said. “The GAP amendments continue this laudable process of mutual recognition of tribal protection court orders and state guardianship processes to offer seamless protection of children across jurisdictional borders of the Tribe and the State, while at the same time, recognizing the legitimate independent interests of each tribal sovereign and the state.”

Whitney Gravelle, president of the Bay Mills Indian Community, expressed support for the bills.

“Over the last several decades at Bay Mills, we have had multiple children who have not been able to participate in the Guardianship Assistance Program but desire guardianships to preserve the established familial relationship with their parents,” Gravelle said in a statement. “By enacting this (legislation), both the State of Michigan and Tribal Nations will strengthen services provided in guardianships so that we can better serve our children and our families across the Great Lakes.”