Monday, March 22, 2010

“Makah Indian leader remembered for helping create cultural center - Tacoma News Tribune” plus 3 more

“Makah Indian leader remembered for helping create cultural center - Tacoma News Tribune” plus 3 more

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Makah Indian leader remembered for helping create cultural center - Tacoma News Tribune

Posted: 22 Mar 2010 07:21 AM PDT

Nearly 1,000 people in Neah Bay mourned the death of Edward Eugene Claplanhoo, a leader of the Makah Indian Nation who left his mark on the tribe.

Claplanhoo died of a heart attack March 14 at the age of 81. Under his leadership, he helped create the Makah Cultural and Research Center in Neah Bay after the Ozette village was uncovered during a dig.

"His legacy of public service will outlast all of us here in the gym today," said Ann Renker, principal of the Neah Bay school, who delivered Claplanhoo's eulogy on Saturday

Claplanhoo was the tribal chairman when the Ozette village, buried in a mudslide in the 1700s, was uncovered. Lobbying lawmakers and researchers, Claplanhoo managed to maintain tribal artifacts in Neah Bay with the opening of the cultural center.

"I think that's his great legacy — the convergence of these important archaeological finds with a college-educated, just inherently interested person who could provide leadership," said Clallam County Commissioner Mike Doherty, a long-time friend of Claplanhoo.

Claplanhoo was the Makah's first college graduate, earning a degree in forestry in 1956 from Washington State College — now Washington State University. Claplanhoo also served in the Army.

"He was ever humble, ever self-effacing and always more committed to civic and community service than he was to personal glory," Renker said.

The Associated Press

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Iran's supreme leader cold to American overture - Lebanon Daily Star

Posted: 22 Mar 2010 09:23 AM PDT

President Barack Obama told Iranians in an online video message that the US wants more educational and cultural exchanges, and lamented that Tehran's leaders have "turned their backs" on good faith overtures in the past to expand opportunities for their people.

The White House released the video late Friday, timing it, as it did last year, to coincide with Nowruz, a 12-day holiday celebrating the arrival of spring and the beginning of the new year on the Persian calendar. The video comes as the United States has hit a rough patch in its relationships in the region, particularly with Israel.

"The United States believes in the dignity of every human being and an international order that bends the arc of history in the direction of justice – a future where Iranians can exercise their rights, to participate fully in the global economy and enrich the world through educational and cultural exchanges beyond Iran's borders," Obama said in the video, which had Farsi subtitles.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in his new year address to the nation on Sunday accused the US president of plotting against Iran as crowds of worshippers shouted "Death to Obama!"

In his defiant outburst, the all-powerful Khamenei dismissed President Barack Obama's frequent offers of dialogue with Iran which began with last year's historic Nowrouz greeting marking the Persian new year.

Khamenei's personal tirade comes as Tehran is locked in a stalemate over its nuclear program, with Washington pushing for a fourth round of sanctions against the Islamic republic.

The supreme leader lashed out at the Obama administration in his speech, which was broadcast live on state television, saying that after last June's

presidential election, the US had taken a "worst stand" against Tehran. He said Obama's offer last year of a "new beginning" with Tehran turned out to be "deceptive," as he had thought at the time that it would be.

"The US government and new administration claimed they wanted to have fair and correct relations, wrote letters and sent messages and even shouted through loudspeakers 'we want to normalize relations with the Islamic Republic,' but unfortunately in practice they did the opposite," Khamenei said.

"The US president called the [post-election] rioters human rights activists. "You take the side of rioters and call it a civil movement. Are you not ashamed? You are in no position to speak of human rights. Did you reduce the killings in Iraq and Afghanistan?" Khamenei asked as worshippers, their fists raised, chanted "Death to Obama! Death to America!"

Khamenei, who is also Iran's military commander in chief, said that Iran "condemns" such "arrogant" powers.

A significant part of his speech focused on the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying the nation's "enemies had plans" to derail the poll but that this was prevented by a massive voter turn-out.

"They wanted to divide the people between majority and minority … and to spark a civil war, but the nation was alert," the cleric said. – AFP, AP

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In direct appeal, Obama tells Iranians US wants educational, cultural exchanges - Washington Examiner

Posted: 19 Mar 2010 09:15 PM PDT

WASHINGTON — In a fresh appeal directly to the Iranian people, President Barack Obama says in an Internet video that the United States wants more educational and cultural exchanges for their students and better access to the Internet to give them a more hopeful future.

In the video, the second of his presidency directed at Iran, Obama said that the United States' offer of diplomatic dialogue still stands but that the Iranian government has chosen isolation. He said the U.S. believes in the dignity of every human being.

The White House released the video late Friday, timing it, as it did last year, to coincide with Nowruz, a 12-day holiday celebrating the arrival of spring and the beginning of the new year on the Persian calendar. The video comes as the United States has hit a rough patch in its relationships in the region, particularly with Israel.

"The United States believes in the dignity of every human being and an international order that bends the arc of history in the direction of justice — a future where Iranians can exercise their rights, to participate fully in the global economy and enrich the world through educational and cultural exchanges beyond Iran's borders," Obama said in the video, which had Farsi subtitles.

Obama has signaled a willingness to speak directly with Iran about its nuclear program and hostility toward Israel, a key U.S. ally. At his inauguration last year, the president said his administration would reach out to rival states, declaring "we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

It's been a rough road for Obama, and there have been few signs Tehran is loosening its grip after bloody elections marred with allegations of fraud. And efforts to impose new sanctions have been slow to find unified support from U.S. allies.

"Our offer of comprehensive diplomatic contacts and dialogue stands," Obama said in the video. "Indeed, over the course of the last year, it is the Iranian government that has chosen to isolate itself and to choose a self-defeating focus on the past over a commitment to build a better future." The United States has not had formal diplomatic relations with Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has criticized Obama as merely a continuation of President George W. Bush's policies toward Israel. Khamenei has called Israel a "cancerous tumor" that is on the verge of collapse and has called for its destruction.

Last year, Obama's message to the Iranians warned that better relations "will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said then that Iran would welcome talks with the U.S. — but only if there was mutual respect.

___

On the Net:

Obama video: http://www.whitehouse.gov/Nowruz

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France rules out opening embassy in N.Korea - AsiaOne

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 03:30 AM PDT

TOKYO - France will not open diplomatic relations with North Korea but plans to establish an office there to support non-governmental groups, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Thursday.

'We are not going to open an embassy, certainly not,' Kouchner said at a press conference in Tokyo. 'Open an office, yes, in order to help the NGOs (non-governmental organisations) there.'

France is the only European Union country other than Latvia that does not have diplomatic ties with the communist state.

Paris has argued that the human rights situation in North Korea must improve and has cited concerns over nuclear proliferation.

In December the French special envoy to Pyongyang, Jack Lang, said France had offered to forge permanent cultural links with North Korea but not full diplomatic ties, hoping to pressure it on the nuclear issue.

'Our proposal... is to open a permanent structure of cooperation with North Korea - humanitarian, cultural and linguistic cooperation,' Lang told a hearing of members of the French parliament at the time.

Kouchner, asked to clarify the French position during his Japan visit, said that 'we are not rewarding them at all in opening an office' that would support French NGOs working in the isolated country.

France is not part of six-nation nuclear disarmament talks - involving North and South Korea, Japan, Russia, the United States and China - but is one of the five veto-wielding permanent UN Security Council members.

The North quit the talks last April - following international criticism for its firing a rocket over Japan in what it claimed was a satellite launch - and conducted an atomic weapons test in May, its second since 2006.

Kouchner told his Japanese audience that for them it would be 'certainly very difficult to understand (if) we will reopen diplomatic relations, as North Koreans are sending missiles over your country.'

He criticised the Pyongyang regime for developing a weapons programme while its population is suffering desperate poverty.

'When I consider these very poor conditions and sometimes starving conditions of the people, this is a scandal to develop an atomic bomb in that case,' said Kouchner, a co-founder of French NGO Doctors Without Borders.

Kouchner, who arrived in Japan Thursday, later met his counterpart Katsuya Okada to discuss issues including climate change and non-proliferation, especially the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea.

He was due to meet Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama later Thursday and fly to South Korea on Friday.

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