American Outrage

The film, AMERICAN OUTRAGE, asks why the United States government has spent millions persecuting and prosecuting two elderly women grazing a few hundred horses and cows in a desolate desert? The United States Bureau of Land Management insists the sisters are degrading the land. The Dann sisters say the real reason is the resources hidden below this seemingly barren land, their Mother Earth. Western Shoshone land is the second largest gold producing area in the world.

> A dear friend of mine, who specializes in human rights shared this movie, American Outrage with me. If she didn't, I'm sad to say I might have never known this was going on. And though I don't necessarily like to keep this energy in my vibration- I do like to be aware and do what I can- even if that is just taking some time to send them good thoughts (this may sound silly, but it does wonders).

I'll be the first to admit I do have a love for gold (as I do for diamonds), but I don't need or want anything to do with blood diamonds or gold that hurts another. Some will go to the other end of the spectrum and say it's all materialistic and if only we weren't such consumers we wouldn't have this problem, but I have to respectfully disagree with that argument.

Diamonds are now manufactured in labs, and I am sure they are doing something similar for gold. Additionally- gold, jewelry, adornment and the craft of making it- is an art. If you have any doubts the next time you are in London, visit the Victoria & Albert (V&A) Museum- specifically the William and Judith Bollinger Jewellery Gallery which displays 3500 jewels. It is an understatement when I say- It will take your breath away. It is one of the finest and most comprehensive collection in the world and you can expect amazing, delicate, extraordinary pieces- handcrafted during the last 800 years. Aside from jewelry and adornment, there is also the surge of late for gold coins- because they hold their value. Something else to think about.

Taking away the desire for diamonds or gold might help in the nearsighted sense, but there will always be something. It is more about us all regarding each other as equal, valid, and important... and finding a better solution while being mindful of others. There is always a better way. It is quite sad that this is going on in this day and age, in the United States no less- and pretty much under the radar. Let's fine tune... Please share.

More about the film:

Carrie and Mary Dann are feisty Western Shoshone sisters who have endured five terrifying livestock roundups by armed federal marshals in which more than a thousand of their horses and cattle were confiscated -- for grazing their livestock on the open range outside their private ranch.

That range is part of 60 million acres recognized as Western Shoshone land by the United States in the 1863 Treaty of Ruby Valley, but in 1974 the U.S. sued the Dann sisters for trespassing on that land, without a permit. That set off a dispute between the Dann sisters and the U. S. government that swept to the United States Supreme Court and eventually to the Organization of American States and the United Nations.