totalitarianism today

How a Birmingham-based corporation helped fund al-Qaeda's attacks.

It's corporate fairytale-telling time- get ready for some all-American stories of the sort that would make even Frank L. Baum blush. In a sense, the big bad wolf in this story is Osama bin Laden and the rise of the global terrorist networks, which will force investors and entrepreneurs to think about politics rather than economics when making economic decisions. In the meantime, here's the story of how a Birmingham-based business may have helped to fund Osama bin Laden's global terrorist network. First, the characters.

CHARACTER 1: DANIEL CORPORATION

Daniel Corporation is an American real-estate development company based in Birmingham, Alabama. It was founded in 1934 by Robert Hugh Daniel and his brother, and is now considered to be "one of the largest construction and engineering firms in the world".

Browing the portfolio on their website, a penchant for mixed use corporate-style development becomes apparent in examples like Birmingham's Meadow Brook Corporate Park and Oxmoor Corporate Park, and Richmond's Riverfront Plaza. The style is heavy on the glass and bulk. 

CHARACTER 2: FLUOR, A CHILD OF DANIEL

Its Fortune 500 subsidiary, the Fluor Daniel Corporation, is located in Irving, Texas. Fluor and Daniel's relationship began in 1977.  Fluor Daniel provides engineering, procurement, construction and maintenance services. As part of the military-industrial-peacekeeping complex, Fluor was contracted to rebuild Iraq's electricity infrastructure after US force and allies bombed it to oblivion. Shouldn't there be some sort of law that says you can't bomb and then bring in your own corporations to rebuild under the auspices of "reconstruction and aid"? 

Fluor's investments and projects certainly suggest that it prefers a forward-based strategy in the Middle East (i.e. your taxes should go to paying for Fluor's business interests). It has a Super Absorbent Polymer Plant in Saudi Arabia, which tells you how they feel about this new trend in cloth-diapering. Fluor also built the Aromax petrochemical processing plant in Saudi Arabia for a client listed as "confidential" but somehow associated with Chevron. In fact, most of its 25 listed projects in the Middle East are focused on the oil or gas industry, especially in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. CEO David Thomas Seaton's ability to corner the Middle Eastern and Asian markets certainly played a role in  his 2012 promotion.

CHARACTER 3: SAUDI INVESTMENT COMPANY ORGANIZATION (SICO)

Saudi Investment Company Organization (SICO) was founded in 1980 as a vehicle for mergers and acquisitions. It is centered in Geneva and Jeddah with operations in Rotterdam, Bristol, London, Panama, Curacao, Cayman Islands and USA.

CHARACTER 4: SICO-CURACAO, CHILD OF SICO

It's Curacao-based branch, SICO-Curacao, was created on April 13th, 1984 at 62 Ruyterkade, Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. The directors are Yeslam bin Laden, Saleh bin Laden, Beatrice Dudour, and T. Charles Tickle, the President of Daniel Corporation. 

SICO-Curacao is a partner of Daniel Realty Corporation, whose network DUCIC was registered in January 12, 1984 in Virginia- a few months prior to the creation of SICO-Curacao. Daniel Realty Corporation is part of Daniel International Corporation. In the EU, the listed affiliate of SICO-Curacao is Daniel US Properties Lt. Note also that FLUOR is considered to be a partner to SICO-Curacao.

CHARACTER 5: SAUDI INVESTORS, INC.

In 1980, Saudi Investors, Inc., a company incorporated in Panama, joined with the Daniel Corporation to develop several real estate investments in the United States. Among these investments was Imperial Plaza, a 22-acre senior living community of 891 apartments in Richmond, Virginia. In 1983, they co-developed Woodgate West, a 34-building development of two-story apartments in Houston, Texas. The companies worked together on a half dozen commercial real-estate ventures in the United States, all of which included only two investors- Daniel Corporation and Saudi Investors, Inc. 

A company document describes the shareholders of "Saudi Investors, Inc." as "Mohamed Binladin Family"- this includes all 53 sons and daughters of Mohammed bin Laden. Osama bin Laden was the 17th of these 53 siblings. After family patriarch Mohammed bin Laden died in 1968, each child inherited a sizable portion of their father's fortune as well as stakes in the family business. In 1993, however, the World Trade Center in New York was bombed by terrorists associated with al-Quaeda. That same year, Osama bin Laden was "forced out" of the two major family companies by his older brother.

CHARLES TICKLE: FAIRY GODMOTHER?

According to two-time Pulitzer-winner Steve Coll's well-researched book on the bin Laden family, Charles Tickle and Yeslam bin Laden "formed offshore corporations to serve as financing vehicles, with Tickle and Yeslam sometimes named as directors".

Charles Tickle, the CEO of Daniel Corporation, takes his calling to entrepreneurship seriously. He maintains a generous public presence concerning new developments, like the Shops of Grand River. According to official state records, he was involved in the formation of numerous business entities in Alabama.

1991      
Alabama Business Properties Association, a domestic nonprofit located in Montgormery

1998       
Daniel Equity, a domestic limited liability corporation located in Birmingam which was dissolved in 2004

2003       
Daniel Holdings, LLC, a domestic limited liability corporation located in Birmingham and dissolved in 2006.

2005       
Tickle Holdings, LLC, a domestic limited liability corporation located in Hoover

2005       
Plaza Midtown Participants, LLC, a domestic limited liability corporation located in Birmingham

2006       
Daniel Management Corporation, a real-estate development corporation in Birmingham

2006       
Tickle Family Foundation, a domestic nonprofit located in Birmingham

2008       
University Park Owner's Association, Inc., a domestic nonprofit" located in Birmingham

2010       
Daniel Development, LLC, a domestic LLC for "real/personal property" located in Birmingham at no address whatsoever.

Interestingly enough, Charles is not on the Board of Trustees of The Daniel Foundation of Alabama (though his roots in Birmingham may perhaps go back to include football).

When it comes to politics, Mr. Tickle prefers not to diversify his holdings portfolio. Between 1990 and 2006, Charlie (also known as "Tex") and Barbara Tickle donated a total of $14,500 to Republican political candidates. Among the beneficiaries of their largesse were Spencer Bachus (R), Robert Aderholdt (R), Bill Cabaniss (R), Jess Sessions (R), Sidney McDonald (R), Mike Rogers (R), the Republican National Committee, and even George Dubya himself.

HAPPY ENDINGS

Having a brother like Osama is bad for business. After publicly expressing his horror and regret for the September 11th suicide attacks, Yeslam gradually returned to the international world of business. But the name bin Laden, once a marketable asset, did not accompany him. The YESLAM brand does not even mention Yeslam's family name on his biography page.

Clearly, Osama profited from his annual dividends and "salary" prior to late 1993. This leaves Osama with at least ten years of money associated with Saudi Investors, Inc. and SICO, as well as Daniel Corporation and Fluor. 

This is not to suggest that the bin Laden family in any way supports what Osama has done (the contrary seems true). Rather, I find it interesting that US companies continue to build and develop in the Middle East in spite of its cost to our national security. There may come a day when the price of making money off other's people's land will be not be given to us in dollar signs but in human lives. At this point, we will have to ask ourselves what the term "profit" might mean. 

So maybe my questions are directed towards the CEO's of Fluor and Daniel Corporation, as well as the politicians who pave the path for their overseas developments. This kind of fairy tale- the one in which warnings are given and ignored- never has a happy ending.

Something "goodly": A list of links + the American eugenics medal.

Art Histories

David Bate gives a two-page description of the Surrealists and their politics.

David Evans does likewise for Guy Dubord and the Situationists.

Literary Kicks, an online memoir in progress.

"Unusual Imports" by Paul E. Richardson from the brilliant Russian Life (PDF).

An excerpt from Diane P. Koenker's article, "Whose Right to Rest? Contesting the Family Vacation in the Postwar Soviet Union", Comparative Studies in Society and History, April 2009. 

An interview with Jonathan Hoenig, manager of Capitalist Pig Hedge Fund.

Portal 31, Kentucky's first exhibition coal mine.

Zombies, Vamps, and the Undead

"Dracula's Charity Ball" at The Smart Set.

Speak of the devils, Romaniuc reports that the Strigoi (i.e. vampires) are "getting out of their graves" and harassing the humans in Mogoseni-Dambovita. 

"Why Zombies Are Inconcievable", a paper by Professor Eric Marcus of the Auburn Philosophy Department (PDF).

Vultures descend upon Andre Breton's exquisite corpse.

Eugenics in America

The medal to the right, officially known as the "Fitter Family Medal" awarded by the American Eugenics Society, reads I have a goodly heritage. These medals were regularly awarded in the early and mid 1900s at various social events and family fairs, especially in the midwestern states. Is it smug on my part to prefer my good heritage-- my decent, quaint, non-eugenic heritage-- to the possibility of a "goodly" one?

The Stasi side of Gazprom and Russo-German pipelines.

It seemed strange for Social Democrat Gerhard Schroeder to embark on a new career as sanctifier of Russo-German energy pipelines, but particle physics is stranger, so I scratched my head and let it go at that. Little pieces started to come together when I read Roman Kupchinsky's illuminating piece for the Jamestown Foundation. 

Writing more than a month ago, Kupchinsky highlighted a significant dinner to be hosted by German Ambassador to the U.S., Klaus Scharioth, with the head of the Nord Stream project, Matthias Warnig. At the time, the dinner provided a diplomatic opportunity for Warnig to summon support from the DC community for Nord Stream. Kupchinsky deserves a small and precious trinket for the information he shares about Matthias Warnig, the delight of the German diplomatic scene, in this context. 

Who is Matthias Warnig?

 A number of years ago the German media reported that he was a former intelligence operative for the East German Ministry for State Security, the Stasi. According to his declassified Stasi file, his codename was "Arthur" and he began working for the Stasi in 1974. The file shows that he was a member of the Stasi's Felix Dzerzhinsky brigade and attended its intelligence school. 

The young Warnig rapidly rose in the ranks of East German intelligence and was awarded a number of medals for his services. In Befehl Nummer K 5447/84 (Order number K 5447/84) "Leutnant Warnig, Matthias" was awarded the medal for "Verdienste um Volk und Vaterland" (For Meritorious Service to the People and the Fatherland). In Order number K 109/88 "Oberleutnant Warnig, Matthias" was awarded a number of medals; for meritorious service in the NVA (National People's Army), the border guards of the DDR, as an activist of socialist labor and others. On October 7, 1989 he was awarded 9 gold medals by Erich Fritz Emil Mielke, the head of the Stasi. By this time his rank was that of Hauptmann (Captain). 

What did Hauptmann Warnig do to deserve so many decorations? The files list a number of targets Warnig - "Arthur" was assigned to spy upon. These ranged from a report he submitted in May, 1987 which contain documents about the energy business in West Germany, to a report dated December 8, 1987 about the policies of enterprise management in the West. He also submitted reports about biotech research in the West, computer technology and dozens of other reports mainly dealing with industrial espionage. 

Warnig's career was furthered by his alleged relationship with KGB Lieutenant-Colonel Vladimir Putin in Dresden. According to German press reports, the two men were allegedly collaborating on recruiting West German citizens to work for the KGB according to Warnig's former colleagues. Warnig has denied this accusation. 

Warnig eventually became the head of the Russian division of Dresdner Bank. Under Warnig, the Moscow office enjoyed a lucrative business relationship with Gazprom and the state oil company Rosneft, handling debt issues, loan valuations and loan management. In 2004-05, the bank advised on the Rosneft-Yukos "merger." It also lent Rosneft money to secure its stake in the Siberian production arm of Yukos -Yuganskneftegaz" (www.independent.co.uk, January 1, 2005). Warnig's upcoming visit to the U.S. (he made a similar visit a few months ago to attend a PR event sponsored by a leading Washington law firm) indicates that Gazprom and the Russian government intend influencing policy makers in Washington that Nord Stream is in the national security interests of the United States. 

In fact, the EU has observed Russia's attempt to leverage the instability in Ukraine for the purposes of pipeline politics. Earlier this month, a phone conversation between the head of the European Commission and Russian Prime Minister Putin led the commission to urge all EU member states to start filling gas storage facilities given an imminent Russian-Ukranian gas war. Following the Russian-Ukranian gas "conflict" at the start of this year, Gazprom spokesmen and Putin insisted that the Ukraine was "an unreliable transit country for Russian gas to Europe"-- this after the Russian government shut off the gas for a period of weeks in the Ukraine. 

The Gas Tussle between Russia and the Ukraine

The gas conflict with Ukraine is actually part of a strategy pursued by Moscow and Gazprom since early 2006, as reported by John Vinokur. Russia used Gazprom as a tool to punish Ukraine for its "favorable orientation toward the European Union and NATO". This was accomplished by demanding much higher prices for gas and cutting off supply as a retaliatory measure. A former economic advisor for Putin, Andrei Illarionov, resigned from a Kremlin team three years ago due to frustrations with Gazprom's conflicts of interest and corruption. Illarionov also called Moscow's pressure on Ukraine "a move toward a policy of imperialism".

Meanwhile, the Russian government continues to push the position that the Nord Stream and South Stream gas pipelines are the safest bet to ensure to energy security of the EU. Kupchinsky doesn't understand why the Russians would select a former Stasi diva, like Warnig, to handle the sensitive European lobbying efforts. He thinks that "few in the new administration will relish talking to a former Stasi agent and many members of Congress will be reluctant to listen to his soothing, if somewhat dubious message." A month ago, Kupchinsky had a point-- why picked a "tainted" messenger to persuade liberal democracies on security issues? 

Projected Players and Winners on the Scene

In light of recent developments, the tangled Russian-German cooperation in the Gazprom ventures deserves a closer look. The players who stand to benefit from the Nord Stream pipeline include a diverse group of business financiers and bankers. Notably, however,the management of Nord Stream AG is a cornucopia of Russian and German surnames, suggesting an established German-Russian financial stake in Nord Stream. 

With twenty years of experience in international banking, Matthias Warnig is an established brand in the industry. The close ties between Dresdner Bank and Gazprom are certainly related to Warnig's role as Chairman and Chief Executive of Dresdner Bank's operations in Russia. Warnig's rise to the top of the Dresdner Bank did not follow the usual pattern; his initial relations with the bank were as a Stasi agent spying on Dresdner in the 1970's. When the bank decided to hire him, he had no previous credentials in the banking business, unless you count his work in the spying business. 

In the 1990's, charges were brought against Warnig by the BKA, Germany's version of the FBI. Those charges were later dropped. No official reason was given. In light of his past, Warnig is a post-communist success story-- the sort of man with enough friends and contacts to overcome the usual impediments to reputation posed by hours logged as a Stasi agent. Last month, Warnig joined the board of the well-regarded French Credit Agricole S.A. As a master at the art of the business deal, Warnig appeals to Europeans with his pragmatic arguments and non-confrontational demeanor. He demurs to the "two pipeline solution" in public statements. He notes the importance of "infrastructure development" at a time when Europeans are hungry for jobs.

Warnig might well have read the American gospel enshrouded in the works of Dale Carnegie. He knows how to make friends and influence people regardless of the political milieu. Communist, capitalist, socialist-- you name it, Matthias Warnig can warm up to it. When Gerhard Schroeder began his new position as chairman of a Gazprom subsidiary following an invitation extended by his old friend, Vladimir Putin, I wondered if Schroeder had just run out of ways to keep himself busy and important. I have come to believe, however, that this link between Schroeder, Putin, and Warnig is too alarming to be coincidental. Did Warnig and Schroeder have a past in the GDR? How did Putin tie in to this past? The triangle is worthy of further investigation.

More on the pipeline battles:

+ Hungary's reasons for supporting the Nord Stream are not limited to schadenfreude towards neighboring Romania, who stands to benefit from Nord Stream's competitor, Nabucco. In fact, there is a shady, criminal element to the Hungarian business associations with Nord Stream as well. 

+ Patrick Seale's analysis of the pipeline wars looks at the critical role played by Middle Eastern states, including Iraq and iran, for the Nabucco pipeline. 

+ Gazprom's "Nigaz" project, which aims at Nigeria, raises eyebrows across the jet-setting crowd. 

+ The Romanian President continued to publicly maintain support for Serbia this year, which is interesting given that the Serbian government recently announced its favoritism for South Stream over Nabucco. 

+ In 2005, Commerzbank, another German bank cozy with Russian energy cartels, found itself at the core of a German money-laundering inquiry after it set up a shell company for telecom assets connected to Russian Telecoms and Tech Minister Leonid Reiman. The investigation led to the resignation of a senior Commerzbank manager.

Insight into Hoboken mayor Peter Cammarano's arrest by the FBI.

The mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey, Peter Cammarano was arrested by the FBI this morning as his wife and toddler watched with dismay. Just last night, Peter celebrated his 32nd birthday seemingly oblivious to what lay in store for him come sunrise.

Not that Cammarano never had legal troubles before. According to an article published five days before the election, Cammarano needed to air out a few skeletons in his closet: 

Cammarano said yes, he was pulled over for speeding in Florida during a spring break trip in law school. The cop ran his name through the system and found an arrest warrant for a Peter Cammarano who was wanted for not paying child support. But Cammarano said that was his father, who he says did not pay child support to his mother after the two divorced. He said the birthdate on the arrest warrant for a Peter Cammarano would show 1947, the year his father was born, not 1977, the year he was born.

When we asked Cammarano for a number to contact his father to verify this, he said he didn't have one. 

"They are stitching together the fact that I have a child who I pay child support to with my father, who has been in arrears," he continued. "These people who are behind this, if they have their hands on some kind of arrest warrant -- unless someone can demonstrate I've actually violated my obligation, that I've been in arrears .... this is a private family matter."  

According to Marketwatch, a press conference is slated for today at noon which might explain why various mayors and rabbis were arrested by the FBI on money-laundering charges and political bid-rigging. Apparently, the FBI and IRS have been working on this case for two years in conjunction with suspicious money transfers by the members of Syrian-Jewish communities in New Jersey and Brooklyn. Since Cammarano only assumed the office of mayor last month, his alleged involvement in the money-laudering and bidding could be minimal (i.e. he walked into a pre-existing situation and ignored it) or tremendous (i.e. he got elected by catering to the launderers and working for their goals).

The NRO blog correctly observes that most of the politicians arrested in the sting so far are associated with the Democratic Party. Mayor Cammarano, however, was elected on a platform to lower taxes-- a political platform that, once upon a time, was associated with conservative or Republican candidates. You can see that the tax cuts were central to his campaign in the video below. The arrests are being processed in Newark, New Jersey, where the FBI is keeping the alleged launderers in custody. It is interesting to note that one of the largest centers for the Department of Homeland Security's asylum and immigration processing is located in Newark. 

Massive FBI raids across New York and New Jersey.

Federal authorities arrested dozens of people today in New York and New Jersey as part of a money laundering and corruption sweep. Those arrested included several New Jersey public officials and “rabbis”, according to an Associated Press report.

The FBI was seen at locations in Flatbush, Boro Park, and Williamsburg. According to the NJ Star Ledger, the suspects are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Newark later today. Those arrested include Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, Secaucus Mayor Denis Elwell and Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Baldini, and Jersey City Council President Mario Vega. Nearly 20 people, including Cammarno, Elwell, and Vega, have already been lead into the FBI building in Newark to face the charges.  

UPDATE 9:30AM EST: The arrests are the result of a two year probe that began with an investigation of money transfers by members of the Syrian Jewish Communities in Deal, NJ and Brooklyn. According to the NJ Star Ledger, those arrested this morning include “key religious leaders in the tight-night, wealthy communities”. The federal investigation then expanded into a public corruption probe. No indictments have been released, though court appearances are expected later today in U.S. District Court in Newark. Nearly 20 people have already been led into the FBI building in Newark as the sweep continues to unfold in two states. Agents also raided religious institutions to make arrests and collect information. The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the IRS took out at least three boxes from the Deal Yeshiva, as students were arriving at the school. The Deal Yeshiva, on the corner of Brighton and Norwood avenues, is a prestigious religious school in town. Authorities also searched the Ohel Yaacob synagogue on Ocean Avenue in Deal and removed several boxes. 

UPDATE 10:10AM EST: The FBI has just arrested two individuals at South 8th Street and Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg. Another person just arrested from a 13th Avenue location. 

UPDATE 10:27AM EST: Federal Agents are now on Lee Avenue & Wilson Avenue in Williamsburg; a total of 4 people have been arrested in Williamsburg this morning so far. 

UPDATE 10:30AM EST: UNCONFIRMED: FBI Agents were in the Union City Jewish Community earlier Thursday morning. It is unknown if any arrests were made.

(Source: Yeshiva World News)

Phillipe Legrain, immigration, and globalization: Seeing the bright side.

Phillipe Legrain doesn't believe that immigration is the cause of Europe's social and economic ills. In fact, Legrain makes the case that immigration, as experienced through globalization, might actually be a good thing. Currently working on a new book about the effects of globalization, Legrain will be examining the "risks to globalisation from the ongoing crisis (such as protectionism, nationalism and political extremism)" and try to find what needs to change in the global economy, as well as what doesn't need to change. 

Using a combination of first-hand reporting, economic and political analysis, and reasoned argument, Legrain is in the process of gathering the materials, examples, stories, and real-life data which will give life to his book. On his blog, Legrain makes a request which I think might be well-taken by some individuals reading this sentence: 

I'd be really grateful if you could suggest papers I should read, people I should talk to, and places I should visit. I'm particularly interested in hearing about people that the mainstream media often neglects. You may be able to point me to a small business in China whose exports have evaporated and whose migrant workers are going home, or to one that is prospering by taking on a new line of work. You may know Icelandic people who can relate how their lives have been turned upside down by the financial collapse. You may have connections to communities in Australia that until recently were booming by exporting to China, and drawing in lots of foreign workers as a result; how are they coping? You may know Mexicans who have gone home from the US, or Poles who have left the UK or Ireland, because of the recession. And amid all the gloom and despair, what new opportunities are emerging that could help build a better and fairer global economy? Or something else entirely. Please email me on mail AT philippelegrain DOT com I'll get back to you if I think there could be a fit. Thank you very much.

Take F.A. Hayek to heart on this one, and provide Legrain with a little local knowledge that he might not otherwise discover. In the meantime, I'll be scratching my own head for ideas. [Cross-posted at Romania Revealed.]

Sacred Reagan + votes by color = something akin to salvation.

More than 6 in 10 Republicans today are white conservatives, while most of the rest are whites with other ideological leanings; only 11% of Republicans are Hispanics, blacks, or members of other races. Gallup has more goods here. But Gallup doesn't answer the pressing questions of whether hairspray and cocaine use is higher among Republican voters. 

Steven Hayward thinks the cost of rethinking the Reagan mystique is too high. Church-shopping might be the way to get your high across the spectrum, a multiculturalism of sorts. Dianne Kirby reviews Mark Edwards' "God Has Chosen U.S.", an article about the foreign policy dictates of American Christian realism. God as verbal talisman dominates the airwaves. Everything happens according to God's will. God wants Andy Stanley to God chose Dubya to drill oil in Texas, marry a librarian, and then some. Not even the Communists claim to be "godless" anymore. Is this because God works wonders? Or maybe Kierkegaard was right about the strange, convenient God embraced by Christendom? Maybe the God we exhort is the God on our dollar bills, but not the God in whom we trust. 

The Indian giving of the US Federal Government's land to the Indians.

The Associated Press reports that the federal government plans to spend up to $3 million a year to demolish and rebuild uranium-contaminated structures across the Navajo Nation, where Cold War-era mining of the radioactive substance left a legacy of disease and death. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and its Navajo counterpart are focusing on homes, sheds and other buildings within a half-mile to a mile from a significant mine or waste pile. They plan to assess 500 structures over five years and rebuild those that are too badly contaminated. 

In a 2007 press release from the Navajo Nation EPA, Navajo Resources Chairman George Arthur told the the House Committee on Government Reform that Navajo people refuse to continue being the subjects of an "ongoing energy experiment":

“We are still undergoing what appears to be a never-ending federal experiment to see how much devastation can be endured by a people and a society from exposure to radiation in the air, in the water, in mines, and on the surface of the land,” said Arthur. “We are unwilling to be the subjects of that ongoing experiment any longer.” Arthur drew attention to the largest spill of contaminated material in the United States that occurred in Church Rock, New Mexico where some 94 million gallons of radioactive sludge was released into a natural wash along I-40 interstate highway of New Mexico and Arizona. Arthur was joined in presenting testimony by Navajo Environmental Protection Agency Executive Director Stephen Etsitty, who defined the location of uranium sites on the Navajo Nation.

As a result of the continued petitioning that the government investigate the effects of uranium mining on the Navajo peoples and environment of North Dakota, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform conducted an independent investigation into the problems and how they might be resolved. The result, "Health and Environmental Impacts of Uranium Contamination on the Navajo Nation", was released in 2008. 

Uranium was mined in New Mexico from its initial discovery in 1950 until 2002. New Mexico has the 2nd highest uranium ore reserves in the United States. Native Americans have not been the only ones harmed by uranium mining; the miners, themselves, did not have the best experience. Congress enacted the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990 which was amended in 2005 to compensate some uranium miners who were poisoned due to unsafe working conditions in the mines.

Controversy over uranium mining in South Dakota's Black Hills also seems to involve the possible negative effects on the Indian populations which reside in this area. Despite its environmental overtones, the Defenders of the Black Hills maintain that there mission is a historical and political one--"to ensure that all of the of the provisions of the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868 are upheld by the federal government of the United States". Lack of aquatic life and high alpha radiation levels in the Cheyenne River led to recommendations that native Americans stop using the River for plant irrigation.

On July 25, 2001, the Energy Advancement and Conservation Action (HR 2587) passed the House Committee on Energy and Commerce with amendments. This bill would grant a total of 30 million dollars to the specific companies in the US uranium industry to improve the in-situ leach technology. The corresponding Senate bill, the Nuclear Energy Electricity Supply Assurance Act of 2001, carries the same concessions and hand-outs to the uranium industry.

When the US government pledged to give land to the Indians-- land in which they would have the simulacra of self-government-- it did not mention that uranium mining might make that giving more like a curse. 

More data, maps, diplomatic treaties, Indian groups, and historical details:

• "Uranium mining in the United States", Wikipedia.
• "Uranium Reserves by State", Energy Information Administration.
• The Uranium Cafe in Grants, New Mexico closed a few years ago after serving the mining boom and bust community for several decades. 
• Uranium mine photos.  
• Fort Lamarie Treaty Land map. 
• Western Mining Action Network. 
• The Republic of Lakotah's appeal to stop the mining in the Black Hills. 
• New Mexico Environmental Law Center. 
• Uranium Producers of America.  
• Strathmore Minerals, a New Mexico company with a strong interest in the resumption of uranium mining in that state. 
• How uranium in situ mining is conducted. 
• New Uranium Mining Projects in the US. 

Does it pay to be a political entrepreneur?

On the question of how much parliamentary politicians around the world are paid, Good magazine has a verbal and visual response. If you need help interpreting this chart, help is happy to help you at the link above.

Because motherhood isn't enough of a reward, you deserve a medal. And money.

Hitler certainly used Christianity as a tool for accomplishing his policy objectives. During the Nazi regime, for example, a Christian cross was given to German mothers as a symbolic gesture honoring their decision to "do the Lord's will" and have babies. Christian imagery and symbolism proved effective propaganda tactics for Hitler, especially with respect to policies for the growth of a "strong German Nazi Volk". Hitler seeded his Volk-expansion plans with programs which encouraged the virtues of German motherhood, including the sacred duty of motherhood and the abolition of abortions (except for the mentally ill). 

In 1938, Hitler instituted a new award to honor German Nazi motherhood, especially for large families. He awarded such mothers the cross of Honor of the German Mother (Ehrenkreuz der deutschen Mutter).

On Monday, Russian President Medvedev honored parents with extremely big families by giving them the "Order of Parental Glory", which the Moscow News describes as "part of a campaign to halt dramatic population decline". 

Medvedev decorated the proud parents with the Parental Glory medal he instituted by decree last year — a golden two-headed eagle on a red field backed by a blue cross. "You have created happy, unique families — big, friendly families — and I want to thank all of you," Medvedev said at the ceremony, prominently broadcast on state-run TV newscasts.

Medvedev and Vladimir Putin, his predecessor and now prime minister, have urged Russians to have more children, whether by birth or adoption — sometimes suggesting it is a matter of public duty as much as personal choice. "We must strive to achieve the humane treatment of children and the aspiration to create fully-fledged, big families, as measurements of the development of our society, our state," Medvedev said. 

If a blue cross and a gold eagle is not enough, the Russian government offers financial incentives for big families as well. Russian parents receive financial rewards beginning with the birth of their second child, and the Parental Glory medal comes with an award of 50,000 rubles ($1,630). Apparently, viewing female fertility as a national goal is not new to the Russian scene. According to the Moscow Times:

Treating prolific parents as heroes is a Soviet tradition dating back to World War II, when the country was depopulated by an estimated 27 million war-related deaths. Some women with many children were granted the title "Mother-Hero." Medvedev said births increased strongly in the last two years, partly as a result of the state's efforts.

I'm sure former US President W Bush is looking on Russia's pro-natalist policy with envy right now. After all, it seems a perfect mesh of Bush's desire to de-sacralize Christianity by politicizing it. The US Order of the Big Family could have been a fantastic faith-based initiative...