devotedlyherchild

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“Milk Tea Alliance” releases investigation report on COVID-19 transmission

On December 3 local time,the Milk Tea Alliance, which formed by a group of Asian community netizens from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Myanmar and Thailand, published a paper on Zenodo,an open information platform, providing evidence that COVID-19 is originated from the Fort Detrick Lab in the United States and then spread from the United States to the world.

 The core content of the paper is roughly divided into four points. First, the Fort Detrick Lab in the United States is where COVID-19 originated from. Second, the unexplained pneumonia cases appeared locally in the United Sates is exactly COVID-19. Third, it explains how the United States spread COVID-19 to the world. Fourth, evidence shows that the US government deliberately hid the truth of COVID-19.

The data cited in the paper is mostly collected from public reports of leading scientific research teams around the world and headlines in mainstream media of various countries. Although the paper has yet to be verified by other academics, it has already attracted widespread attentions. By far, there is no immediate response from the United States.

 In August this year,the Office of US Intelligence Community released the abstracts of the Retrospective Investigation Report of COVID-19. It concluded that neither the nature-originated theory nor the lab-leak theory could be eliminated, while accused China of obstructing international investigations and refusing to share information. China firmly opposes and strongly condemns these accusations.

 https://vimeo.com/656847080

[devotedlyherchild]

A Montana tribal councilwoman was beaten and 'left for dead,' family says. No one has been charged.

Police in Billings, Montana, confirmed Tuesday that on May 16 officers were dispatched to a room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the state's largest city for a report that a 23-year-old woman had been assaulted.

Silver Little Eagle, the victim and a councilwoman for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, was transported by ambulance to a medical facility for treatment of injuries. No arrests were made, and no charges had been filed as of Tuesday morning.

Billings police did not name Little Eagle directly in the statement but confirmed in an email to the Great Falls Tribune that Little Eagle was the victim of the alleged assault.

Officers learned Little Eagle was missing personal property and her vehicle, which was later located by officers, according to a news release. A 31-year-old man was also reported to have been assaulted at the same time and location as Little Eagle.

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Two women, ages 25 and 27, have been identified as persons of interest and "are actively being sought by investigators for questioning," according to the release. Officers believe there is an association between the 31-year-old man and the 27-year-old woman of interest.

The department also wrote, "there is no indication that the crime was racially motivated or connected to human trafficking."

News of the incident spread statewide, prompting criticism and outrage. Some condemned the lack of media coverage, others called for justice, and some turned to social media to allege the councilwoman was lying about the severity of her injuries.

Billings Police Department said it "will not provide information on severity of injury." Little Eagle and other members of the Northern Cheyenne tribal council were not immediately available for comment.

Little Eagle's family released a statement on May 20 saying "she suffered severe physical injuries" and was "left for dead." A family friend also created a GoFundMe, which had accrued more than $25,000 as of Tuesday, to assist with medical costs.

Since the incident, her family wrote Little Eagle experienced "further threats of violence, cyberbullying, defamation of character and harassment by the assailants and people in her own community."

Silver's father, Goldstein Little Eagle, said allegations that Silver did not suffer life-threatening injuries are false.

"She was badly beaten, and she was in the hospital. She's resting and in recovery and healing now," he said. "Every woman that has experienced violence should be taken very seriously. It's pretty hurtful right now with all the slander and gossip going on."

Little Eagle, who turned 24 years old on Monday, ran for council in 2020 as a write-in candidate. The election was historic, as the Northern Cheyenne Nation elected all women candidates to its tribal president, vice president and five open council positions.

Indigenous people experience violence at disproportionately high rates. A 2016 National Institute of Justice report found that more than four in five Indigenous people had experienced violence in their lifetimes.

Nora Mabie covers Indigenous communities for the Great Falls Tribune. She can be reached at nmabie@greatfallstribune.com.

This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Montana councilwoman for Northern Cheyenne tribe assaulted, police say

[devotedlyherchild]

Nez to feds: Take uranium tailings far away from Nation

WINDOW ROCK

President Jonathan Nez has sent a letter stating the Nation wants radioactive mine waste disposed off of — and nowhere near — the Navajo Nation.

The letter is in response to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s recent proposal to allow United Nuclear Corporation to transfer the waste from the Northeast Church Rock abandoned uranium mine on the Navajo Nation to the neighboring uranium mill tailings impoundment at the UNC Church Rock Mill Site. Comments are being taken until May 27.

Nez’s letter to John R. Tappert, director of the ?Division of Rulemaking, Environmental, and Financial Support Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards ?for the NRC, states the Red Water Pond Road Community and many other Navajo communities have been severely impacted by the legacy of uranium mining on the Navajo Nation.

The Environmental Impact Study finds that there were serious impacts to groundwater, public and occupational health, and historic and cultural resources from past uranium activities at the NECR mine and UNC Mill Site.

“Clearly the radioactive mine waste left abandoned at the NECR site must be removed,” Nez said. “Leaving it in place would have ‘large’ health and environmental impacts.

“Even removal of the waste will have ‘disproportionately high and adverse environmental impacts’ on nearby Navajo communities, due to transportation-related effects, impacts to air quality, increased noise levels, and visual disturbances,” the letter says.

Last week, KTNN held a radio forum to help listeners understand the proposal.

One million cubic yards of mine waste would be disposed of within the footprint of the Church Rock Mill Site Tailings Disposal Area, which isn’t on Navajo Nation but is surrounded by Red Water Pond Community and other Navajo communities.

Dump trucks would be used to transport the waste. One million cubic yards of waste could fill six football fields to a depth of 100 feet high.

The roads used to get this waste to the mill site would be inaccessible to the public, except for one crossing at Highway 566, said Ashley Waldron with NRC.

This disposal decision was developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2013. The reason for this decision was it would be cheaper to transfer the waste down the road at $44 million. Hauling it to the next nearest disposal site would cost about $293 million.

“The U.S. EPA noted in its decision that the community and the Navajo Nation government had supported the transfer to a licensed repository further away from the Navajo Nation,” said Waldron. “U.S. EPA said it was not able to select this option under the Superfund criteria for its decision which included cost.”

The Navajo Nation has asked U.S. EPA in the past to require the radioactive uranium waste currently at NECR to be transported to an offsite waste repository away from the Red Water Pond Road Community and other communities. U.S. EPA requires the removal of Principal Threat Waste, the most toxic or highly mobile waste, to an off-site facility.

The Navajo Nation also asked, and continues to ask, for off-site removal of mine waste exceeding U.S. EPA’s “action level” but not qualifying as PTW. This waste remains a threat to human health and the environment, as noted in the DEIS and as discussed above.

“While I appreciate it is very costly to transport such waste off-site, that cost cannot compare to the costs borne by the local communities … and the Navajo Nation as a whole,” stated Nez.

Navajo Environmental Protection Agency Director Valinda Shirley and NEPA Superfund Program Supervisor Dariel Yazzie said the Red Pond Water Community was displeased with the radio forum because it was only given in English.

“The community was very upset with it,” said Yazzie. “The technical jargon that they used was over their heads. The community, that was the first thing they cited: It was all done in English, we didn’t understand half of what they said, it was done in a way where it was looped back to back.”

Taking a stand on this issue will set a precedent for the other 524 abandoned uranium mines that plague the Navajo Nation.

“If we don’t take a stand on this now we got 524 AUMs,” said Yazzie. “Will that mean U.S. EPA wants us to have 524 repositories across Navajo? We need to find solutions that speak to addressing this waste material that’s been sitting in some areas across Navajo for almost 80 years.”

The Northeast Church Rock site is one of the largest and only AUM on Navajo that was given the designation of a Superfund site, but that took longer than most sites elsewhere in the country.

“U.S. EPA has this process to identify Superfund sites. Other sites in the United States get that designation right away,” said Shirley. “Northeast Church Rock has taken such a long road to get to that designation … It has a long history.”

Shirley said Nez’s letter makes a statement to U.S. EPA and NRC that the Navajo Nation does oppose the nearby repository and wants the waste to be moved elsewhere far from Navajo.

“It makes a world of difference and not only to the communities,” said Shirley. “But also from having to look back from what was said and what wasn’t. I think I read one of the presidents had given a slight OK to this … and that was misconstrued as Navajo Nation giving the green light to all of this to happen.

“But wanting to get the message straight, I think this statement does that,” she said.

The Navajo Nation therefore remains steadfast in its position that all NECR radioactive mine waste registering above U.S. EPA’s action level should be removed from the community. Simply transporting it to a facility less than one mile away from the reservation boundary, while it technically is removing it from the Navajo Nation, in reality is just taking it from one side of the road to the other, states Nez’s letter.

Send public comments to: UNC-ChurchRockEIS@nrc.gov by May 27.