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Tribute to Vine Deloria Jr
GUESTS: Larry Smith, co-host of American Indian Airwaves from the Lumbee nation, Henrietta Mann, Cheyanne Nation, George E. Tinker, Osage nation.

Vine Deloria Jr, a prominent Native American activist and best-selling author died last Sunday at the age of 72 in Colorado. Born in 1933 and raised in South Dakota, Deloria served in the Marines in the 1950’s, earned a Master’s degree from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, and become a professor of History at the University of Colorado. His activist career raised his profile internationally with books like, “Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto,” in 1969. He also established the Institute for the Development of Indian Law, and initiated a lawsuit against the use of the Washington Redskins NFL football team’s name and logo. A prolific author of twenty books and once hailed by TIME magazine as one of the eleven great religious thinkers of the twentieth century, Vine Deloria Jr. will be greatly missed. Today we begin the show with a special tribute to him in collaboration with American Indian Airwaves which airs on KPFK Wednesdays at 3 pm. Larry Smith is co-host of American Indian Airwaves.

Will California Certify Diebold Voting Machines?
GUESTS: Sarah Rath, with the California Election Protection Network

This morning at 10 am in Sacramento, the California Voting System Panel was scheduled to hold hearings on whether to re-certify Diebold Corporation’s electronic voting machines for use in all California elections. But when the office of California Secretary of State, Bruce McPherson was contacted, it was revealed that the Voting System Panel had been disbanded. No reason was given. Today’s Sacramento hearing will go ahead, however activists have complained there was very little notice given. Diebold machines are notorious for their lack of security, and error rates. I spoke on Friday with Sarah Rath who is with the California Election Protection Network – she will be at today’s hearing.

For more information visit www.califelectprotect.net.

Secretary of State Bruce McPherson’s office can be reached at 916-653-6814.

Empire Notes
GUESTS: Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade

We go now to our weekly commentary Empire Notes by Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade. Today’s commentary is about the recent congressional vote.

Empire Notes is online at www.empirenotes.org.

East LA Cemetery Desecrated by MTA
GUESTS: Sophia Quiniones, East LA Activist, Nadine Diaz, anthropologist and documentary film maker and 3rd generation resident of Boyle Heights

Last June, MTA workers began the Eastside expansion of the Gold Line by digging land near the Evergreen cemetery in Boyle Heights. Two days into the project, they unearthed skeletal remains and initially halted their work. However, the expansion, an $898 million dollar project scheduled to open in 2009, resumed on August 28th. Residents of Boyle Heights are angered about the apparent lack of knowledge by MTA planners of the land near Evergreen Cemetery. That land, in public records, was known to have been a crematorium in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. To date, seventy-eight skeletons have been discovered on that land. Community activists are calling it a desecration and are outraged.

The District Attorney’s office can be reached at: 213-974-3601.

The Attorney General’s office can be reached at: 916-445-9555.

Sophia Quinones can be reached at 323-262-9071, or by email at xicanasofi@sbcglobal.net.

Nadine Diaz’s films can be viewed at www.carpediemfilms.org.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day:

“When asked by an anthropologist what the Indians called America before the white man came, an Indian said simply, “Ours.”” – Vine Deloria Jr.