“Red Eden” Science Fiction Story Becomes Real in Arizona Mining Fight

A Recent Futuristic Story About Native Americans on Mars is Coming True in Arizona

by Ed Murray

Dateline: Hollywood

In this case, it’s Life imitating Art. A recent science fiction graphic novel called Red Eden a Vision of Mars, has become eerily real in the Arizona Oak Flat fight pitting a huge multi-national mining company against a small band of Apache Indians fighting to save their paradise from destruction. First, a look at the graphic novel.

Red Eden was a story idea that Greg Simay had kicking around in his head for years. He envisioned some Native Americans leaving the hellish Earth and going to Mars and terraforming the planet to create a paradise like the one they had previously enjoyed before the arrival and invasion of the Europeans in 18th century America. About 5 or 6 years ago, Simay wrote a screenplay on this idea, but it somehow missed the mark, and went nowhere. He then got together with Hollywood documentary film maker and writer R.J. Johnson to help him move his project along. Johnson, at first thought that maybe a novel would be a good starting point, so a writer was hired. This didn’t work out, but then it was suggested that maybe a graphic novel would be a better vehicle to tell Simay’s story. So a team of writers, including Simay, R.J. Johnson, and Mike White, with help from Russell Davis, Steve Stern, and Paul Hunt, crafted an exciting story that tells of Native Americans, using profits from casinos to leverage technology and finally settle and terraform Mars. They created their own paradise and were free of the constrictions they had suffered on Earth.

But then comes the dark cloud of war. Earth is so polluted at the time of this story, 2101, that governments have collapsed, and an evil cabal of criminals have taken over, but things are so bad they have to leave the mess of Earth. They set their sights on Mars, an unspoiled paradise, and the thugs from Earth invade Mars and once again try to take away what the Native Americans have created. The Indians on Mars resist, and are led by a young woman named Takenya, coming of age and living with her grand-parents. She begins having visions, brought on by a spirit guide named Lozen, and leads her people in an epic battle to save her way of life, aided by a strange remnant of ancient peoples…..well, I don’t want to give away any more of the story. It is an e-book only at this point, available from amazon for download. The full color book is 120 pages, and revolves around the idea that history is once again repeating itself, to steal from the Indians what they have built.

Sen. Flake, former Lobby boy for Rio Tinto

In an astounding coincidence, a very similar drama is now being played out in the deserts of Arizona. A multi-national British mining company, Rio Tinto, operating through a subsidiary called Resolution Mining, has been trying for years to get a hold of what is the largest deposit of copper left on earth. The extended value of these deposits have been estimated to be 140 billion dollars. There was a big problem for them: the deposits sit underneath an area of National Park called Oak Flat, and in the 1950s President Eisenhower gave it special protection to preserve this starkly beautiful area with its massive boulders. Mining under or on the area was forbidden forever.

Rio Tinto, is a massive foreign mining company, and has been salivating for years over this area. They have spent lavishly, because the payout is huge. They had lobbyists, one was a guy named Jeff Flake, who worked for a Rio Tinto subsidiary in Africa, mining uranium. They tried to get a “land swap” bill passed for years, trading some land they had bought in Arizona for the copper rich earth under Oak Flat. It didn’t work, and at one point an Arizona representative went to jail for some related shenanigans. But the British don’t give up easily when it comes to pillaging native lands, a pastime they have engaged in for several hundred years. Lobbyist Jeff Flake is now Arizona Senator Jeff Flake. Hmmm…..my golly, how in the world could that happen? Teaming up with Sen. John McCain, in the spring of this year they attached the “land swap” bill as a rider to the National Defense Authorization Act, which had to be passed by Congress due to the Obama Administration’s concerns about National Security issues. So McCain and Flake got it done, in what is probably the most underhanded, sneaky, despicable operations in Arizona history, giving away 140 billion dollars of American natural resources to a foreign corporation. No vote on that issue, just a “rider” on another bill. It is an outrage to all America, and especially to the San Carlos Apaches, who count the area as their ancient land.

The fight at present is being carried on by a group of Apache Indians who have called themselves the Apache Stronghold. They have marched across the country, they have been to Washington, D.C., they are trying to get this rotten “land swap” deal overturned. One of the leaders of this group is a young, well spoken teen-aged Apache woman named Naelyn Pike. She travels often with her grandfather, Wendsler Nosie to save the Oak Flat area. This is a stunning coincidence to the Red Eden story, where the young Indian woman Takenya, living with her grandparents, leads the struggle against the thugs from Earth.

Another coincidence is that Takenya, in the story, is guided by Lozen, who was a real Apache woman in the early days of the so-called “Indian Wars”. Lozen was a guide who could foresee certain events and protect her people. The real life counterpoint to Takenya, the young Apache woman, Naelyn Pike, counts her main heroine to be Lozen, the same historical Apache guide. The Red Eden story also has a traitor, you will have to read the book to find out who it is. The real life Oak Flat story also has a “traitor”, Rep. Anne Kirkpatrick, who dressed in “Indian style” clothing when she was running for election, making promises to the Apaches. Now that she is in Congress, things have changed. How much in campaign contributions does she get from the Rio Tinto boys? McCain gets some, a lot in fact, and so does Sen Flake, the former lobbyist for the Corporation.

So the fight goes on, the foreigners, in this case from Briton and Australia, taking our gorgeous land with the connivance of snarky politicians, through a pathetic land swap that will net them billions. Why do they even bother to swap worthless land, why not just give McCain, Flake, and the rest of the Congress some colorful glass beads like their ancestors did? Rio Tinto insults not only the Apaches, but our entire nation. The American voters should be outraged at this, but as for now, the only opposition is a small group of Apache Indians, led by a teen-age young woman and her grandfather, trying to save a beautiful wilderness for all of our future benefit. Stay tuned folks, this real life epic is just beginning.

edmurray1955@aol.com

Did Media Frenzy in Terrorist Case Break California Law?

Dateline: Redlands

Media Mob Storms Into Private Home Revealing Disturbing Questions

by Ed Murray

Embed from Getty Images

As the above images from Getty’s top award-winning photographer Justin Sullivan show the media mob storming the house rented by the Farook family. Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik are the accused shooters who gunned down 36 innocent people in a terror attack in San Bernardino, leaving 14 dead.

On December 4, the property owner, Doyle Miller, 81, decided to have a look inside the premises. He said the FBI was done with their investigation and had turned it back to him, and he was curious to look inside. He had some trouble prying off the boards that had sealed the front door, but no problem, British journalist and Sunday Times (London) editor Toby Harnden lent a hand with a large screwdriver to pry off the offending board, allowing the huge crowd of media vultures to storm the house and rampage through the rooms.

Toby Hardin Prying Open Door — Toby Harnden Prying Open Door

Harnden, interviewed on a Fox News segment, the Greg Gutfeld show, said “I wished I had worn a better shirt” to be photographed in. He claimed that owner Doyle Miller had invited the media inside, a claim that was echoed by others from the other news agencies. He said it is in the public interest to see what was in the house. He also said that “it was an absolute gold mine of information.” But what is the actual legal status, and what right does Mr. Miller have to be in the premises himself, and what legal right did he have to break into the property and let in not only the media, but neighbors and others who just floated in?

What California Law Says

The interesting thing in this case is that some reports are saying that Farook’s mother rented the house. If indeed she signed the rental agreement or lease with Mr. Miller, then she is the tenant and it is her sole authority over it until she moves or is evicted. The police authorities and FBI, of course, in a criminal case, can get a warrant and search the home where the alleged killers lived. They can keep this as a crime scene for some time, and it is astounding they “released” the home back to the owner so soon, after 2 days, especially with the breaking story of the next door neighbor being involved in what is now looking like a terrorist cell. The neighbor, Enrique Marquez, allegedly bought the weapons used in the attack, and had planned other, more sophisticated operations with Farook. Did the Sheriff’s Department get a chance to examine the crime scene carefully? Did the FBI “take over” the whole operation? The FBI left a four page list of evidence that they seized on a table inside the house. At lease one page was published in the press.

Mr. Miller possibly had no legal authority to enter the premises without permission from his tenant, especially since there was no obvious emergency, like a burst pipe or flood. And even if he was just checking on the plumbing or something, what legal right did he have to invite in a mob of about 100 reporters and others, mostly unidentified, into the house? Could this be considered breaking and entering? Or Burglary? Or invasion of privacy? And how about Mr. Harnden, a respected British Journalist, wielding a screwdriver to pry off the door? Mr. Harnden claimed he found some interesting intel in the house, including some phone numbers from a middle eastern country, that he is checking out, pointing out that maybe the FBI search was not so thorough, a disturbing thought in itself. Harnden said he found a notebook with numbers in Dubai and other numbers from the Middle East. Possibly good leads now that it is becoming evident that this was the work of a terrorist cell. On December 19th, Farook’s mother Rafia, with other family members, showed up with a U-haul and loaded all the possessions from the Redlands house and drove off. If there was indeed any evidence left, it may now be gone forever.

Garages of Death

According to reports, Farook was making bombs in his garage at the Redlands house. These situations are dangerous to everyone involved, both to law enforcement and a mob of press members. Remember back to February 8, 1986 in North Hollywood. LAPD was investigating a Hollywood make-up artist named Donnell Morse, for shooting a make-up artist union official. Pipe bombs were found in his garage, and the LAPD Bomb Squad was called. Two veteran experts from the Bomb Squad, Detective Arleigh McCree and officer Ronald Ball, arrived and determined that the bombs were booby-trapped. The area was evacuated, but in attempting to disarm the bombs both McCree and Ball were killed when one of the bombs went off. Det. McCree received an award for heroism, and he was known by many in Los Angeles. He had saved lives on Hollywood Boulevard in another incident where an extremist zionist group had allegedly planted a bomb at an Arab Information Office located in a building facing the busy street. Old time reporters remember Det. McCree, he was a great guy and he was much respected for his work in keeping us safe. The point of this is to illustrate how dangerous these situations can be. Could Farook have planted booby-trapped bombs? Probably not in the house where he lived with his family, but the possibility exists in the secretive garage where he had ammunition and pipe bombs. How soon we forget about the past events that has sadly resulted in the deaths of police officers.

Legal Issues

According to the book “When Someone Dies in California” by Amelia Pohl and California attorney Bruce Feder, there are strict procedures to follow when someone dies. These would include methods of probate, determining the heirs, finding a will, and many legal issues regarding the transfer of the decedents property. Basically, there are rules of estate administration. Depending on various circumstances regarding the death of someone in California, there are legal rules. The Farook family has attorneys who have given press conferences, so it can be assumed that they are taking care of things. But in reading through the book, it still poses the question as to what authority the landlord had to break into the house and let in a mob of press and others to rampage through the house. A friend of mine who is a property manager, said that if someone dies in one of the apartments, it is sealed off by the police. The County Administrator will try to find a will and to find any relatives, but until things are resolved legally, the apartment is sealed off. The landlord cannot go in. The authorities may keep it locked up for months while they investigate the situation. This is for a normal death, not one of the biggest crime scenes in California history, much less that this could be the home for a murderous terrorist cell. It looks like a chain of incredible blunders have been made by FBI, law enforcement, the landlord, the press, and others. Another crazy media circus, where, as the old adage goes, nothing lost save honor for all parties involved.

edmurray1955@aol.com

Charges That KPFK is on the “Verge” of Committing Mail Fraud

Dateline: Studio City

Do KPFK’s Statements Regarding $70,000 in Unfulfilled Premiums Put Programmers at Risk Legally as Fund Drive “Pitching” Continues Unabated?

by Ed Murray

A recent posting on the Pacifica watchdog website, PacificaInExile.org turned up a nightmare issue that came from KPFK’s General Manager, Leslie Radford. Here’s the paragraph from Pacifica In Exile:

“At the same meeting, Radford stated her intention was not to pay for past-due premium gifts for subscribers unless compelled to by “legal action”. KPFT treasurer Bill Crosier pointed out subscribers are unlikely to donate again if they still haven’t received gifts from previous drives, but Radford stuck to her guns about not paying past due premium bills. She described the unpaid bills as totaling $70,000, which loosely represents about half a million dollars in pledges from 3,000 people. Radford’s statement verges on a declaration of intent to commit mail fraud and may compel the legal action mentioned”.

These statements took place at a Pacifica National Finance Committee meeting on December 14, 2015. You can listen or download the audio of the meeting, click here.

A problem that has been occurring at several of the Pacifica network stations over the last few years is that promises of “premiums” to donors for making pledges have in many instances not been sent to the donors. This, of course, infuriates the donors or subscribers, who have pledged, say, $75 – $300 and are waiting for a dvd or some other gift that never arrives. The question is if this is a continuing pattern of behavior by the station, does it constitute a fraud, possibly mail fraud? The further question is how far down the chain of command the fraud charge would apply? All programmers are expected to participate in the fund drive “pitching” . If the station announces, or it becomes clear after several years of this nonsense, that because of lack of funds to mail out the premiums, or indeed pay for them, that the station is just “blowing them off” to save money, are the programmers also guilty of participating in the scheme?

Ms. Radford, during the Pacifica National Finance Committee meeting, seemed to be saying that KPFK is mainly interested in paying bills that might result in legal or court actions if not paid, and that she wasn’t worried much about the past due premiums of $70,000 ending up in court, so no rush to take care of it? She mentioned that the $70,000 was much less than it was in a previous statement, hopefully meaning that KPFK is trying to “catch up” on the premium mess, but she did not expand on the comment, or give any indication of when, if ever, all the back premiums would be sent out.

WBAI in New York has also had an on-going problem with premiums. It’s actually worse there, as Progressive Radio’s Gary Null has intimated that past personnel at the station may have been involved in a conspiracy of sorts to bootleg Null’s documentaries and offer them as premiums without paying for them. He has threatened a “major” legal action if his demands are not met, and it is possible that the turn of the new year may see this legal action filed against Pacifica and/or WBAI. This would possibly be for a much more serious charge of copyright violations, a Federal crime. Click here to go to Gary Null’s Progressive Commentary Hour archives, check out the three shows of 9-22, 9-29, and 10-6 on Pacifica’s Problems.

Another bombshell was dropped by Ms. Radford at the same Finance meeting, which took place via skype or telephone, was that she had a letter in her hand from someone who was interested in buying KPFK’s building and would then be willing to “lease it back to us”. The property on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City is considered a prime parcel, and any big real estate investment group would be interested in buying it, knowing that there would be a possibility that KPFK would default on the lease in the future, leaving the new owner free to get the high going rents after that. This shocking announcement would dispose of a great capital asset, bring in a pile of cash now, but would be very costly in the long run. It will be interesting to see how this idea goes forward. The looming black holes of debt and mismanagement are pressing in on Pacifica, and disposing of real estate assets may now be on the table.

edmurray1955@aol.com