Kenny Lake to hold another Community Revenue Sharing meeting on June 15

The state of Alaska DCRA responded to my neighbor's email complaint about the lack of public notices required under the "Minimum Qualifications" for the revenue sharing program. Their response (posted below) assures him the KLCL has done a "great job" with the program in the past and assures him this "oversight" was a "rare occurrence."

After asking several people I know who live in Kenny Lake, I'm still convinced only a few people in Kenny Lake have knowledge of the existence of this revenue sharing program. It appears to me that even fewer residents know that individuals (not just 501cs) in the community can apply for funds that are "irrevocably dedicated to a public purpose."

The issue for me now is finding exactly what criteria constitutes a public purpose. WISE certainly does not belong to the "people as a whole." I don't know anyone in Kenny Lake who benefits from WISE activities and programs. I do know several people and businesses in Kenny Lake that are affected by WISE activities and programs, but affected does not necessarily mean a positive benefit to the people of Kenny Lake, and, there is evidence to suggest WISE actions actually have a negative affect on the community as a whole.

Here's my "problem" with this whole funding scene. The Wellmans own and operate a private Bed & Breakfast that's in direct competition with other business owners in Kenny Lake; this is an important factor in my estimation. How does Patty Ryan at the Golden Spruce, Lisa Boone at the Merc, Ada Wilson's Native Arts, the upholstry shop or the new greenhouse on the Old Road get a positive benefit from public funds going to the Wellman's property (or, for that matter, Billy Williams Ag project)? In addition to it being in their private home and commercial business, it is the office for WISE and the religious School of the Earth, and it may also be the office for the new Wellman Council (which needs to be explained) and the new Willow Creek Watershed Consortium. That they have a firm hand in every organization in Kenny Lake that receives community revenue is enough to make me think we, as a community are in dire need of more transparency and must find a way to include more public input into local "government" funding.

Since we are an un land taxed, unincorporated, non Borough affiliated area, I wrongly assumed this was one of the few "free" places left in the states. We are being sucked into the regional government plans as easily as a fished is slipped back into the river. Local residents are none the WISER, and since the League is a membership organization (now corporate) which requires an application to join, it does not fulfill the constitutional role of a locally elected government entity. The current leadership of the KLCL (excluding the new treasurer) does not adhere to basic constitutional requirements for legitimate government agencies, as is evidenced by their total lack of response to requests for information about their purpose and programs. Apparently their superiors at the State government and their BLM "partners" in the Federal govt support this "new" policy of communitarian balancing.

I would also like to explore the foundation for Janelle Eklund's (President of WISE) private tourism business (Copper River Country Nature Tours) that uses the exact same name as was developed by her and her friends during our Regional Tourism Branding workshops. (And the use of the word "country" is of particular interest since most locals and local companies call themselves the Copper River Basin or Valley.) Then there's the whole Copper River Country Stories Mapping Project, the tourist map that eliminated all the local service and goods providers from the map, ongoing for the past 2 years now, under the lead of WISE buddies at the Copper River Watershed Project. The CRWP is served by One Northwest, whose 2007 Report tells us:

In 2007 we . . .
. . . served 246 organizations.
. . . created 28 new websites.
. . . launched 11 constituent relationship
management databases.
. . . developed 13 new email newsletters.
. . . hosted 1,249 lists with our email list service.
. . . provided service to 195,986 subscribers to
those lists.
. . . provided the 2,767 subscribers to ONEList with
online organizing strategies, tips, and techniques.

So what we have here are a few local (globally connected) businesses that control Kenny Lake. They know how vital a community website is to sustaining local businesses and local residents. They know that over 60% of Alaskan Tourists use the internet to pre-make their travel plans. They know that Alaskan businesses miss out on at least 60% of the market when they do not have an online presence. They know unenlightened local businesses and unevolved local residents cannot compete against their tightly controlled, well connected and well funded group of Enlightened Ones. They surely know the value of Public-Private Partnerships, a term most locals have never heard once in their lives. And yes, they all "volunteer" for various causes and events, but they also make a lot of money off their directly related for profit tourist businesses.

Cost: $119 for Adults

$70 Children under 12

Tours start June 1 and end September 1.

Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment is a partner with Princess Tours. Inc. and a partner with Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge. If you want to book a tour as a Princess Tour customer, you can book your tour by calling 1-800-426-0442 . You can also visit Copper River Princess Princess Activities web page for more information. Look for “Copper River Country Nature Tour.”

Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment (WISE) is a grassroots organization dedicated to teaching science and environmental education. It is our dream to bring a sense of wonder, excitement, and a stewardship of nature so people can carry those special moments with them throughout their life. With this solid foundation, citizens will be able to make informed and enlightened decisions about where they live and their environment around them. Our strength lies in collaborating with many groups and organizations to provide a quality education experience in science and natural history. WISE depends on sponsors, partners, tour receipts and memberships for delivery of its programs http://www.copperrivertours.org/aboutwise.html

The "need" for a Community Website in our area is well established in our Regional Tourism Branding and Marketing Plan. If I had a faster connection I'd open and quote from this:

Grant No: 07-79-05590

Jun 30, 2007 ... Regional Tourism Branding. We developed the “Copper River Country” brand, and a new marketing strategy for the region. The marketing plan is ...
www.commerce.state.ak.us/oed/dart/pub/EDA_Report.pdf

pub·lic (pub′lik)

adjective

1. of, belonging to, or concerning the people as a whole; of or by the community at large: the public welfare, a public outcry
2. for the use or benefit of all; esp., supported by government funds: a public park
3. as regards community, rather than private, affairs
4. acting in an official capacity on behalf of the people as a whole: a public prosecutor
5. known by, or open to the knowledge of, all or most people: to make information public, a public figure
6. Finance owned by shareholders whose shares can be freely traded, as on an exchange: a public company

public purpose legal definition

n
A governmental action or direction that purports to benefit the populace as a whole.

Webster's New World Law Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
pur·port (pʉr pôrt′; also, and for n. always, pʉr′pôrt′)
transitive verb

1. to profess or claim as its meaning
2. to give the appearance, often falsely, of being, intending, etc.

Origin: Anglo-Fr purporter <>
Can definitions change? http://www.indianexpress.com/news/govt-expands-definition-of-public-purpose-as-it-works-on-a-new-land-acquisition-law/30142/

This blog had visitors from the DOA in Juneau this past week. The State of Alaska came in directly to the page I wrote about the revenue program. Yet my email to Tara Jollie at DCRA, where I requested the proper procedures for administering the program and the exact process for contesting the results of the unpublicized community revenue sharing meeting on May 11, 2010, has not been answered. My quest for evidence of a a public purpose for WISE and the legal standards by which we can judge if WISE programs serve a public purpose is ongoing.

I remain unconvinced that Gay Wellman's private for profit and non-profit tourist businesses serve any LOCAL public purpose. I say it's not a coincidence that the two men who objected to my proposal to build a community section at kennylake.com have both been top receivers of these community funds for the past four years, including $12,000. out of this years' pot. Isn't it interesting that the WISE nature tours just happen to go along the same creek the WISE ones decided they needed an extra $4000 to "study" this summer?

----- Original Message -----
From: Jollie, Tara L (CED)tara.jollie@alaska.gov
To: *********
Cc: "Doyle, Anne M (GOV)" anne.doyle@alaska.gov; "Machulsky, Mara M (CED)"
mara.machulsky@alaska.gov

Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 10:49 PM
Subject: Public notice postings

May 21, 2010
Dear Mr. ******,

DCRA staff talked to several members of the Kenny Lake Community League including its treasurer and president.

The FY 11 Community Revenue Sharing Program public meeting notice for Kenny Lake was advertised in the local newspaper “Copper River Record”, on the local radio, and emailed to community members. However, there was an oversight on the posting of the public meeting notice in three prominent and public places for at least 5 days before the meeting.

President Gay Wellman agreed today to hold another community meeting on June 15, 2010. That meeting will be noticed in at least 3 prominent and public locations for at least 5 days before the meeting. She will be providing DCRA with copies of the notices.

The Kenny Lake Community League has done a great job with its revenue sharing in the past. DCRA considers this posting oversight a rare occurrence and after the second public meeting is conducted, this issue should be resolved.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. If DCRA can be of further assistance or if you have other questions, please do not hesitate to let me know.

Sincerely,
Tara Jollie
DCRA Director

From: "Doyle, Anne M (GOV)" anne.doyle@alaska.gov
> Date: May 18, 2010 4:29:39 PM AKDT
> To: *********
> Cc: "Jollie, Tara L (CED)" tara.jollie@alaska.gov, "Machulsky, Mara M
(CED)" mara.machulsky@alaska.gov
> Subject: Public notice postings
>
> Dear Mr. *******,
>
>
>
> Thank you for your email to Governor Parnell regarding your concerns with
the notice postings for the Revenue Sharing meeting on Tuesday, May 11th. We
have requested the Director of Community and Regional affairs, Tara Jollie,
to work with you in this respect. She can be contacted at 907-269-4580 or
tara.jollie@alaska.gov.
>
>
>
> Thank you, again, for your email to the Governor’s office and please do
not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
>
> Anne Doyle
>
> Executive Secretary
>
> Office of Governor Sean Parnell
>
> PHONE: 907-465-3500
>
> FAX: 907-465-3532
>
>
>
> anne.doyle@alaska.gov
>
> www.alaska.gov

Now here's another group I never heard about yet. Their Annual Report confirms the region has an established need for aggressive online marketing campaigns.

The Copper River/PWS Marketing Association
A beautiful image of Cordova Alaska

The Copper River / Prince William Sound Marketing Association incorporated in 2005 after an overwhelmingly successful election of the Area E drift gillnet salmon fleet to self assess a 1% marketing tax on their annual catch. This election established Alaska’s first Regional Seafood Development Association (RSDA) and ushered in a new era for Alaska seafood marketing. Regional marketing allows individual fisheries to promote their regional seafood products in the marketplace and introduce the world to specific Alaska seafood brands. This model allows each region to tell the story of their fishermen and fishery, highlighting the attributes that set their fish apart from the rest. The CR/PWS Marketing Association works to promote all wild Alaska salmon, while educating consumers about the taste, texture, oil content and flavor variations that make our salmon so special. The story of our region reaches far beyond the premium salmon we produce to encompass the rich history, environment and people that have fished these pristine waters for generations and call Prince William Sound home. http://copperrivermarketing.org/index.php/about_us/the_association/

Annual Meeting - May 5th at 10am - Published on Apr 21, 2010

Join us on Wednesday, May 5th at 10am at the Masonic Hall for our annual meeting.

Does Sam McCallister, a Captain of a dipnetter fishing boat operating out of Chitina, pay this 1% marketing tax? Here's another funding program that appears to think marketing is important:

Alaska http://www.americantrails.org/resources/funding/bywaysfund06.html

Bike and Pedestrian Trail at Homer Terminal - Alaska's Marine Highway - $63,000

On-board Traveler Information Display Signs - Alaska's Marine Highway - $74,760

Statewide Communications Plan - $76,000

Corridor Management Plan Implementation: Glenn Highway - Year 4 - $25,000

Marketing Southeast Alaska's Inside Passage - Alaska's Marine Highway - $54,560

DVD Brochure - Alaska's Marine Highway - $69,530

Kodiak & Aleutians Interpretive Plan - Alaska's Marine Highway - $48,600

Auke Bay Coastal Trails Interpretive Program-Alaska's Marine Hwy - $75,000

Total for Alaska (8 Projects) - $486,450

Alaska's Grant History

http://www.dot.state.ak.us/stwdplng/scenic/org-funding.shtml

Alaska and its byway communities have received over $4.8 million in federal funds for 34 scenic byways projects between 1993 and 2004. A few of the projects that have been funded include the:

• Construction of the Bird Creek Scenic Overlook and the McHugh Creek Overlook on the Seward Highway.
• Construction of the Bird Pt. Overlook & related pedestrian improvements on the Seward Highway.
• Preparation of corridor management plans for the AMHS and the Seward, Dalton, Glenn and Sterling Highways.
• Restoration of Historic Mining Buildings in Hope.
• Construction of Kawabe Park in Seward.
• Restoration of the Pt. Retreat Lighthouse along the Alaska Marine Highway in Southeast Alaska.
• Construction of improvements to interpretive centers in Moose Pass and Cooper Landing.
• Development and installation of Byway markers along designated roads.
• Design and maintenance of a web site for the Seward Highway All-American Road.
• Interpretive planning for the Seward Highway, the Alaska Marine Highway and the Glenn Highway.
• Design and installation of interpretive panels in the Palmer Commuter Center.
• Design and printing of the Official State Highway and Scenic Byway Map.

View a complete list of NSB Grants awarded to Alaska's Byways

The Scenic Byway plan was blocked by Glennallen and Kenny Lake locals several years ago. So where are the local efforts NOW to bring this whole planning issue into the public arena for discussion and debate prior to any actions taken on behalf of our entire community?

WISE guys and gals

seven new mouths to feed

Osa is a very good mommy!

one of the 2 pups that resemble daddy

Spent the past week learning (what little there is) about our Community Revenue Sharing program, after the Kenny Lake Community League rejected my proposal last Tuesday to upgrade kennylake.com to include a community toolbox, classifieds and visitor information.

Billy Williams, owner of Grizzly Pizza, member of the Copper Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the Chamber should be the one building the website for the community. Williams has received $16,500 for his Tonsina Agricultural Project over the past 4 years (The Chamber of Commerce got $3000 in 2009 - what did they do with that money I wonder.)
http://www.alaskaconservationdistricts.org/programs/agriculture.htm

Paul Boos (the same WISE guy who wrote the snarky editiorial about me in the local paper last December) wondered at my "credentials." Yet it was his girlfriend, Janele Eklund, the president of WISE, who tried to enlist me to work on WISE's website after I finished kennylake.com for her buddy Sharon Forster in 2007. I told them then I don't work for communitarian non-profits.

My proposal was the only one rejected by the group. I sent an email complaint on Wednesday to the State of Alaska but the office hasn't responded.

I learned about this revenue sharing program 2 days before the dispersal meeting from a neighbor who brought me a copy of the notice in the CRR. He later emailed me a copy of his letter to the governor and the attorney general for the State of Alaska. I don't think anyone's responded to him yet either. His reference to "conspiracy theory nonsense" is directed at me and my work, and while it distances his complaint from people like me who are vilified for spending thousands of volunteer hours researching these groups, it also shows the level of arrogance and ignorance our most educated people must use to communicate with government officials.

As of Sunday, 9 May, I was informed that a revenue sharing meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, 11 May. I checked the two most prominent bulletin boards in Kenny Lake for further information. These were the community well and Wenger's Country Store which is the largest business in the area and has a large bulletin board. No mention on either. I contacted Tara Jollie at Community Regional Affairs Sunday regarding this on via email.

I was under the impression that State of Alaska regulations required posting a notice in three prominent locations three days prior to the meeting.

On Monday, I rode my bicycle to the other store, Kenny Lake Merchantile, and to the Golden Spruce Expresso to check for postings. None were posted and the owner of Golden Spruce told me no notice had been posted. Again on Monday,10 May, I again contacted Tara Jollie via email.

I have found notice in the local paper that I had to purchase. I was dismayed to see that the notice had the following prerequisite: Public-serving organizations please bring your requests at that time. There is a simple application process for these state funds. Recieving orgs do not
have to be 501c, but funds must serve a public need. The role of the League is to distribute the funds and report to the State what the funds were used for.

On the surface, this procedure appears innocuous. However, careful reading of this will reveal that only organizations be afforded any opportunity to request funding.

As of Monday evening, I was informed that the Kenny Lake Community League maintained an limitted email list and those who desired notification of the meeting recieved such. Those who neither have email or are unwilling to share their email addresses were not notified of the meeting.

It would appear that the notification of this meeting was outside of the regulations and there is a concerted effort to deny the public process. In the same newspaper, Copper River Record, 6 May 2010, on page 16, Gay Wellman has been extensively involved with a select group of local
organizations: President of the Kenny Lake Community League, Chairman of the Kenny Lake Library, founder and board member of the Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment, active member of the Copper Country Alliance and the Wellwood Council.

I'm not prone to conspiracy theory nonsense, but the lack of public notification for the meeting coupled with heavy involvement by Ms Wellman in select organizations could certainly be fodder for the conspiracy theorists.

When the affiliations by the other members of the Kenny Lake Community League board are factored in, the conspiracy theorists got my attention.

With our declining local, state and national economy, I would hope that the community prioritized any revenue sharing monies by placing the most essential services foremost. I have no dogs in this fight. I am subscribed to the Kenny Lake Community Well and I donate money to the library. I contend that the community decides where to distribute the funds, not the organizations.

I'm appealing to your administration to force the Kenny Lake Community League to follow the public process for the determination of revenue sharing disbursement. With the economic environment hitting every family across the nation and more specifically locally, any fuel added to the conspiracy theory arguments can't and won't come to any good. The people must have confidence in the public process. No matter what may come, as long as the people are notdisenfranchised, we can solve our problems as a community working together."

I checked into this and was told by the newly elected League treasurer (also the Merc owner) that anyone could apply for the money and we didn't need to be a 501c to qualify. My proposal was short and I emailed it to the president of the league a couple hours prior to the meeting. Gay Wellman's response email expressed how sorry she was that I didn't get my request, but that her and her WISE guy husband think I should build a website for the Community League (and she plans to bring that issue up at the next Board meeting on May 18).

Yesterday I got hard copies of the league's records from the treasurer back to 2007-8, (no idea when the program began) and it was no surprise to me to see that WISE has received a payment every year for the last four years. Most of the money went to legitimate community needs, (sort of anyway, I really don't see what $4000 to paint the library will do to help this community). But why is WISE such a high priority every year? They're number 5 on the list of beneficiaries, ranking above the EMS program and well above all the school sports programs. And now the WISE guys slipped a new idea into the budget; in addition to the Wellman's $4000 for WISE this year, the Wellman's Willow Creek Watershed Consortium got another $4500. The Wellmans received 15% of our community money this year, yet nothing they do benefits the community I live in, and it can be argued that what they do actually detracts from our community's economic base. Our community is very dependent on tourism and almost every roadside business needs tourist money to survive the winter. What kind of system pays for one family's tourist business and leaves every other tourist business to compete against the funded "favored" businesses?

The President of WISE, Janele Eklund, owns a tourism company called Copper River Country Tours which STARTS and ENDS its tours at the COPPER RIVER PRINCESS LODGE! Their website explains: "Copper River Country Nature Tours is featured on www.visitwildalaska.com and is a proud member of the Alaska Wilderness Recreation & Tourism Association, Alaska's leader in eco tourism and sustainable travel with a commitment to environmental protection and wildlife conservation." What is AWRTA? They're our "collective voice."

"The Alaska Wilderness Recreation & Tourism Association (AWRTA) is a members-driven trade association formed to be a collective voice for wilderness-dependent businesses. We advocate for the sustainability of Alaska's natural and cultural resources, responsible tourism and tourism planning for communities. View AWRTA's Ecotourism Guidelines to learn more. "

These are also the same WISE guys making the Copper River Country Stories Map, a tourist map that does not include ANY tourist businesses (besides theirs) out here. As is par for the course, they claim to be in a partnership with my community and claim they want our stories in their map. When I made the point that a map that doesn't show the tourists where gas, food and lodging is will not help the local tourist businesses, I was called a "conspiracy theorist." heh.

In the May 6 issue of the Copper River Record, Arlene Rosenkrans (DOA) wrote a glowing article about Gay Wellman being honored with the 2009 Donna Tollman Award. Arlene wrote:

"Gay serves as President of the Kenny Lake Community League and Chairman of the Kenny Lake Library Board. She is a founder and board member of Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment (WISE), which partners with CDVA (Copper Valley Development Association) on trail projects and environmental education programs. She is also an active member of Copper Country Alliance and the Wellwood Council and past president of the Kenny Lake School PTO. As a skilled group facilitator, she excels in bringing divergent peoples and opinions together to solve complex issues, bridging people, organizations and communities.

She and her husband David are local small business owners of the Wellwood B&B and share their home and community with visitors from around the world. They are willing sponsors and volunteers on many projects and events throughout the community. Every summer, the Wellman's host a One World Camp on their land, and camp attendees participate in a service project." (page 6, top half)

I can't find anything on the Wellwood Council. Nobody's heard of it. The Copper Country Alliance is connected to the big international ecotrust/ Copper River Watershed Project to establish a Citizen's Oversight of the Trans Alaska Pipeline (TAPS). One thing is certain, Gay Wellman is a "skilled group facilitator" who has no problem approving community funding for her privately owned "small business". Their One World Camp is probably connected to their School of the Earth, and it's interesting that Arlene left SoE off Gay's list of associations out here.

OhConsuelo sent me a link to Erica Carle's latest nwvs article on game theory, which is the link above to "skilled group facilitator." I found this article in their archives:

THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
IT'S POWER AND GOALS

By Erica Carle
June 5, 2002
NewsWithViews.com

Most people, including Chamber Of Commerce members, would be astonished to learn the extent of power that organization exerts over international , national, state and local policies. It is common knowledge that the Chamber has lobbyists in Washington and state legislatures, and that it is active in local communities. These activities are no secret. They can be noticed by the casual observer, and are expected by members. But there is a great deal more which must be understood in order to gain a concept of the real power of the Chamber of Commerce -- not only over commerce, education, religion, technology, industry, agriculture, transportation, medicine, communication, labor and government. To understand this power we have to look beyond the local communities to the Chamber's national and international activities, and to Chamber ties with other organizations, both governmental and non-governmental.

The Chamber Is Many Organizations

The Chamber of Commerce is not one, but many organizations. There are local Chambers of Commerce in thousands of communities. These are blanketed by the United States Chamber of Commerce, and since 1920, an International Chamber of Commerce. Once the United States Chamber of Commerce was set up, individual Chambers of Commerce all over the country were invited to join and allowed it to represent and inform them. Such invitations are usually eagerly accepted. No one likes to be left out, and most people like to feel they are part of a big, important group. Local Chambers joined, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce leaders were able to claim the right to make policy for many individual Chambers.

Gaining Power

The U.S. Chamber leaders suggested they had answers to many problems, the most important being the final answer to the problem of war. There is an almost-universal yearning for peace, so that was taken as good news. The home town folks knew they could not solve the problem, or enforce a universal acceptance. How wonderful, they thought, to be associated with those who claimed they could. (It often seems that the farther away from home policies are set on difficult problems, the easier it is to assume that those who are making decisions have all the right answers.) Home town common sense was abandoned for the sake of an unsupported philosophical dream.

The leaders of the U.S. and International Chambers must have known, even as they made the promise, that they did not have the ability to deliver on it, but they also knew that the mere promise would give them a hold on the emotions of many members of local and national Chambers, and of others who believed in universal solutions.

Another problem Chamber leaders claimed to be able to solve was that of hunger and poverty worldwide. The Chamber had one answer to both problems: "rational" world trade. Allow the trade of the whole world to be carried on under the Chamber's "rational" direction, rather than independently under the supervision of various governments; and the world's two most pressing problems would be solved. Two slogans were popularized in order to gain backing for Chamber leadership: "World peace through world trade," and "More business in government and less government in business."

A New Organization

The Chamber sought to commercialize the world under its own direction. To do this it needed to find ways to affect and bypass operating policies of various states and nations. To change national policies, and even laws, required popular support and collective action. An new type of blanket organization was needed, one that could blanket not only governments, but professions, unions, educational institutions, farms, industries, sciences, religions and even families. An organization was sought which could bring about the cooperation and commercialization of all of these. A strong controllable international blanket organization was needed.

Coalition For Change

By the 1930's plans for the new blanket organization to serve the Chamber's purposes, the United Nations, were already well under way. The Chamber had the cooperation of tax-exempt foundations, some of which, such as the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace and the Rockefeller Foundation, had been set up early in the century. Large banks and trusts could see future profits for themselves if they cooperated with the Chamber; and the cooperation of international corporations was assumed, especially since Thomas J. Watson, President of International Business Machines (IBM) was President of the International Chamber of Commerce and a trustee of the Carnegie Foundation for International Peace. University cooperation was no problem because there were many close ties, financial and otherwise, between the above groups and universities such as Harvard, Columbia, etc. University policy planners, economists, and sociologists were also eager to extend their influences and enlarge their campuses.

Wartime Planning

World War II aided, rather than hindered efforts to establish a "national" international commercial system. Chamber representatives from countries on both sides met and planned throughout the war. They were deciding how the world's resources ought to be controlled and divided after the shooting was over, and how to set up the United Nations. The United Nations organization could be used to gain governments' compliance with the Chamber's plans for a unified, controlled world economy, and also the cooperation of various non-governmental organizations.

The Organization Is Born

After the war was over, the system was ready to be put into operation. Through the efforts of the Chamber coalition the United Nations was born. And through the United Nations, the Chamber gained for the first time in history, a permanent vehicle for prescribing policy for governments. It is a crushing dominating type of power.

Economic And Social Council

How could the United Nations be used to increase Chamber of Commerce power and help the Chamber throw its blanket over other activities? It was done largely through what the Chamber regarded as the most important element in the United Nations Charter: the setting up of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). Such a council was the one thing that had been lacking in the old League of Nations. But when the United Nations was set up, the Economic and Social Council opened the way for the Chamber to have direct and continuous influence upon international affairs, even though it was a non-governmental organization. The Economic and Social Council was placed beside the Security Council. George L. Ridgeway said in his Merchants of Peace: "...The world of economic and social enlightenment beside the world of force..." The important thing about the Economic and Social Council was that it made provision to include representatives from non-governmental organizations in its discussions. The Chamber of Commerce was immediately included as one of the most important advisory organizations.

Chamber Power With ECOSOC

With the birth of the United Nations, the Chamber had a vehicle subject to its influence, which could gather under its blanket not only governmental, but all types of professional and other non-governmental organizations. This put the Chamber of Commerce at the center of policy making for every governmental and non-governmental organization that is in any way associated with, or dominated by the United Nations.

Including representatives from non-governmental organizations in its deliberations may seem on the surface to be a way for the Economic and Social Council to learn the needs and wishes of the people, and to allow them to participate in policymaking decisions., but this is not the case. What most people do not understand is that the United Nations is not an open forum, offering opportunities for unlimited discussion on public matters. It is a goal-centered vehicle, dedicated to accomplishing the purpose for which it was founded: that of putting control of all the world's political, social and economic activities under one Chamber of Commerce-dominated blanket.

Goal-Centering Means Behavior Controlling

Because the United Nations is goal-centered, it is also a behavior controlling organization. Chamber coalition leaders know that those who set the goals for others control the behavior of others. Those who participate in the United Nations must support UN goals. Participants must dedicate themselves, their efforts, their personalities, and their resources to the United Nations. They must give up their individuality. The United Nations does not exist for the sake of individuals. From the United Nations point of view, individuals and groups exist for the sake of the United Nations. It is an organization of organizations, dealing only with groups. It works through groups - those groups which gain consultative status and which are recognized as worthy of participation in the Economic and Social Council.

Consultative Status

To gain consultative status with the Economic and Social Council organizations must:

1) Make application to the Economic and Social Council's Committee on Non-governmental Organizations.

2) Be willing to submit reports on its own operations and activities to the Economic and Social Council on a regular basis.

3) Be eligible for one of the categories set up for participation.

Categories Of Participation

Non-governmental organizations having consultative status with the Economic and Social Council are divided into three classifications:

Category I is for those organizations, such as the International Chamber of Commerce, that are closely involved in the economic and social life of the areas they represent, and which are said to have marked and sustained contributions to make to the achievements and objectives of the United Nations.

Category II is for those organizations, internationally known, having special competence in and specifically concerned with only a few of the fields of activity covered by the Council.

The Roster is for those organizations able to make occasional and useful contributions to the Council's work. In 1979, the most recent edition of the United Nations Yearbook which is available , 30 international organizations were listed in Category l; 206 organizations were listed in Category ll, and 357 organzations were on the Roster.

Organizations Included

Some of the organizations having status with the Economic and Social Council are organizations which have been in existence long before the United Nations was born. Others seem to have been concocted for the purpose of organizing people to serve the United Nations. The following were listed in 1979 in Category l, the most important Category: International Alliance of Women - Equal Rights, Equal Responsibilities; International Association of French-Speaking Parliamentarians, International Chamber of Commerce, International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; International Cooperative Alliance; International Council of Voluntary Agencies; International Council of Women; International Council on Social Welfare, International Federation of Agricultural Producers; International Federation of Business and Professional Women; International Organization for Standardization; International Organization of Consumers Unions; International Organization of Employers; International Planned Planned Parenthood Federation; International Social Security Association; International Union of Local Authorities; International Youth and Student Movement for the United Nations; Inter-Parliamentary Union; League of Red Cross Societies; Muslim World League; Organization of African Trade Union Unity; United Towns Organization; Women's International Democratic Federation; World Assembly of Youth; World Confederation of Labor; World Federation of Democratic Youth; World Federation of Trade Unions; World Federation of United Nations Associations; World Muslim Congress; World Veterans Federation.

Indirect Influence

One of the advantages the Chamber of Commerce is able to realize through United Nations is the advantage of anonymity. Policies it promotes do not have to bear the Chamber of Commerce label. They can be presented to governments as United Nations' policies. When the United States and local Chambers of Commerce support these policies, few of the local Chambers or their members are aware of the vital links between the Chamber and the United Nations, or that much of the legislation United Nations representatives suggest to national and state legislatures was actually originally brought to the United Nations by the Chamber of Commerce. The steps in the process that can be followed are:

(1) Planners, perhaps at a university or Chamber-supported think tank, develop legislation.

(2) The Chamber of Commerce accepts the legislation as in keeping with its goals.

(3) The Chamber of Commerce suggests it to the Economic and Social Council.

(4) The Economic and Social Council promotes it through the United Nations.

(5) The United Nations pressures someone in each national or state government to introduce the legislation in that area's legislature.

(6) The United States Chamber (and Chambers in other countries) suggest and/or pressure local Chambers to support the legislation.

(7) The National League of Cities, National Municipal League, U.S. Conference of Mayors, Association of Counties, National Governors' Conference, International City Managers' Association, Advisory Commission on Inter-Governmental Relations, Urban Action Clearinghouse, International Labor Organization, etc....add their weight.

(8) Local Chamber officials get instruction on how to "educate" their members to favor the policy or legislation.

(9) Chambers' paid lobbyists pressure legislatures for passage.

(10) Local Chambers work in communities for more support.

(11) Federal legislation is passed.

(12) Enabling legislation at state and other levels is passed.

Few members of local Chambers are aware of any but the last three or four steps. Even among those who know that local Chambers take positions on legislation, there are few among the members who know what position the Chamber lobbyists actually take on specific legislation.

Chamber-Supported Legislation And Policies

The Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber coalition have supported much legislation which has not only been extremely costly, but which has served to transfer power, responsibility and resources from independent nations, local communities, local businesses, and private professions to the universal system coordinated by the Chamber of Commerce coalition. It has supported measures harmful to many of its own members. The following are some of the measures the Chamber of Commerce has supported to aid in the transfer of power from individuals and independent governments, groups, businesses and professions to the Chamber-advocated management system:

(1) Creation of the United Nations.

(2) Creation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

(3) Regional government or "New Federalism."

(4) Medicare (Commercialization of medical professions.)

(5) Postal reorganization.

(6) Organized Crime Control Act.

(7) Contracting for school services with private industry.

(8) Voucher system for education.

(9) Management and human relations techniques for handling personnel in industry.

(10) Health care planning councils.

(11) Prepaid medical practice (HMOs).

(12) Federal land use planning.

(13) Federally-imposed career education.

(14) Equal Rights Amendment.

(15) Cross-town busing for desegregation.

These and many other measures have been, or will be, extremely costly. Yet, when the Chamber of Commerce calls for decreases in federal spending and speaks out about the costly federal bureaucracy, its sincerity is seldom questioned. Its goals and power are not well enough known and understood.

Use Of This Document

A single document, such as this, may not affect that Chamber of Commerce power, nor diminish the crushing effect of its system to a noticeable degree. But it may encourage some citizens, government officials, professionals, and perhaps even Chamber of Commerce members to look more closely, investigate more diligently, direct their own actions more intelligently, and respond more aggressively against efforts to diminish their personal responsibility and confound their independent judgment.

Major Sources:

Merchants of Peace - The History of the International Chamber of Commerce by George L. Ridgeway, Little Brown & Co., 1938, 1959. Washington Report - Weekly newsletter published by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. Issues from 1968-79. Think - International Business Machines' in-house publication. Issues from 1937-1970. The United Nations Yearbook, 1979

© Erica Carle - All Rights Reserved

---

Erica Carle is an independent researcher and writer. She has a B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin. She has been involved in radio and television writing and production, and has also taught math and composition at the private school her children attended in Brookfield, Wisconsin. For ten years she wrote a weekly column, "Truth In Education" for WISCONSIN REPORT, and served as Education Editor for that publication. Her books are available through Education Service Council, P. O. Box 271, Elm Grove, Wisconsin 53122.

GIVE US THE YOUNG--$5 Plus $2.00 P&H

WHY THINGS ARE THE WAY THEY ARE--$16 PLUS $4.00 P&H

BOTH BOOKS -- $25 Total E-Mail EricaCarle@aol.com

As they explain so perfectly at the AWRTA website:

To learn more about AWRTA's goals, the benefits of AWRTA membership, and how to become an AWRTA member, visit the About AWRTA page.

For detailed information on AWRTA membership and rates, please view the 2010 Membership Rates page or contact the AWRTA office.

All membership applications are subject to final review and approval by the AWRTA Board of Directors.

And in case we're still unclear on what types of businesses are promoted with state funding grants, rest assured ONLY ecotourism businesses will be featured in community marketing.

Plan Your Trip to Alaska

Plan your wilderness adventure trip or ecotourism vacation to Alaska by using our Visit Wild Alaska website (www.visitwildalaska.com) featuring AWRTA wilderness-dependent ecotourism businesses. You can search for businesses offering: natural history tours, rafting, fishing, kayaking, hiking, backpacking, wilderness lodges, hunting, and day ocean cruises & charters trips to Alaska's wild lands.

Explore Alaska with tourism businesses committed to Ecotourism Guidelines. Our members are committed to traveling with care and concern for protecting Alaska's environment and wilderness areas. Some of our members provide their customers an opportunity to directly contribute to efforts to protect & conserve Alaska's natural resources through our Dollars a Day for Conservation program.

"Adventure Green Alaska certifies Alaska tourism businesses that meet AGA standards for economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Administered by an independent Alaska nonprofit corporation, AGA encourages tourism businesses to use sustainable management practices and operations, thereby earning the right to use the AGA logo."

No wonder Patty Ryan's Golden Spruce Espresso and Cabins is still such a big secret. Like Camp Redington, they're not in the club. (Is the Wellwood Council the "secret" club?)

Organizing for Community

Doing some research into how to start a community development association. Ever since the Kenny Lake Community League refused to answer my question as to whether they have expanded their purpose to become a development league... I've been thinking of how to deal with that. It's pointless to write about them or try to engage them in legitimate debate. They publish one sided lectures against me in their communitarian local paper (The Copper River Record) and sneer at what they perceive to be my "selfish" character.

Our local community activists are lining their pockets with grant money that's supposed to be used for rural economic development. In my four years here I haven't seen them do ONE thing to boost the local economy. I have seen them enrich themselves and their private/NGO businesses after convienently writing themeselves into the Kenny Lake Plan. These people do not create jobs, they get grants that help them shut down the local resources to locals who don't live off the taxpayers. Grants that are supposed to be used to help promote locals and tourism are in fact used to promote the internationally protected heritage site called Wrangell St. Elias.

The Copper River Country Mapping Project is still underway, and it will not help local non Native/non enlightened businesses at all. The bottom line out here is the Ahtna Indian Tribe, the same ones who got the 5 million to improve community health, just hired 6 unarmed police officers to "help" the State Troopers patrol our roads. Land Protection officers are armed, so this is a new development for our area and I can find nothing online to corraborate the information about the new cops that came to me from a local resource. So who controls the land and the roads in the Copper River Valley? http://www.ahtna-inc.com/ldmt.html Last fall Ahtna was charging $1500.00 for a permit to cross their lands to get into public hunting grounds.

No wonder the issue of whether we should become a bourough is moot. The feds have a much easier avenue into our area called Tribal Government. It's a lot easier to convince the tribes to demolish freedoms guaranteed under the constitutions since they were not included in that deal. My personal theory is that genocidal Imperialism (practiced or admired by many Europeans in the Americas) was an absolutely necessary "step" to achieving global communitarianism. In my naive world view I used to believe the USA was expanding national constitutional protections to people of color and women. I used to believe my generation was going to be the one who truly broke away from the racism of our parents, and that's how I lived my life.

Thanks to Alinsky I now know the Declaration of Independence was unbalanced propaganda:

"Saul Alinsky uses the example of the American Declaration of Independence to elaborate on this statement: To the Colonists who drafted it, the Declaration was self evidently true; to the British, it deliberately ignored the benefits of the British presence. The colonists recognized at the time that the document was not balanced and was to some extent propaganda." http://www.infed.org/thinkers/alinsky.htm

Here's our local development association and their mission statement. I've been keeping tabs on their website since I built kennylake.com in February 2007. It's still under construction and has next to nothing at the site. What's almost funny is this is the group that helped write the Marketing and Branding Plan which said a website of the area would be a good idea couldn't manage it. They had a website making workshop, maybe even more than one. But their website remains so benignly empty... as if they're barely active at all. I'll base our mission statement on theirs, getting a feel for the lingo now. My comments are in red.

Our mission is to facilitate partnerships to improve the quality of life in Alaska's Copper Valley through economic development while protecting our natural and cultural resources. We serve the Copper Valley as an Alaska Regional Development Organization and Resource Conservation and Development Council.

Our mission is to restore confidence in the American work ethic and provide real jobs so people can eat all winter through building businesses based on profits while protecting all our right to be part of the local economy. We serve Kenny Lake and Chitina as an Alaskan owned operation, we don't have any affiliation with the federal or state government and do not survive off grants.

Copper Valley Development Association, Inc. is a non-profit (501(c)3) organization that serves the region as an Alaska Regional Development Organization (ARDOR) and Resource Conservation and Development Council (RC&D). CVDA is funding primarily through the ARDOR program, with federal support from RC&D Program with USDA Natrual Resources Conservation Service. Funds are also leveraged through various donations and fundrasing projects.

CVDA Helps Bring Economic Opportunities to the Region by:

Assisting Small Businesses (I have yet to see any evidence of this.)
Supporting Community Groups to Build Capacity and Develop Projects (Ohhhhhh.)
Coordinating Community Events and Workshops (Like the new nobiz tourist maps?)
Leveraging Funds to Provide Needed Infrastructure, Training, and Services in the Region (???)
Building Partnerships to Improve Communications and Share Resources (Partnerships with me?)
Providing Enviromental and Leadership Education for Area Youth (Enlightenment for all!)

http://www.coppervalley.org/

The International Journal of Neighbourhood Renewal

clear days mean cold nights

Mt Wrangell peeking out behind gertee

revised platform bed with new shower!

We're having a gorgeous spring in Kenny Lake this year. I got a little ahead of myself when I put my sleeping bag in the wash and store pile though. After two nights of freezing and thrashing about and finally dragging myself awake to start a fire and get the house above 20 degrees, I dug my dirty, smelly down sleeping bag out of the laundry pile and slept like a baby last night. It's so lovely in my gertee now I almost forget I'm still camping in sub zero temps, until early morning comes and it always reminds me. Got another cord of wood delivered which means I can burn hot fires and make use of the new shower set-up I built in the living area. Put it right next to my bed where the coat/winter gear closet was. Pure luxury and I really don't mind having all the nice smelling soaps and lotions near my head while I sleep. With a steady water source I could take a bath every night!

Still having lots of trouble with my browsers but sometimes, like today, super slow but it works well enough to blog. facebook barely loads. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/sns-ap-us-feds-on-facebook,0,6183802.story

So here's the link that's the title of this post:
http://www.neighbourhoodjournal.com/index.html

"We provide training and development services for a range of organisations in the field of evaluation, appraisal, programme management, project development and strategy development. Training is provided at over 40 locations across the UK and Ireland and is also available for in house training if required. "

Somehow I'm on their email list and now I get these updates from them. So today since my browser is working so well I opened their link and poked around their site. Not much there... not much at all... just dates and times where they'll be around England and Ireland training facilitators to evaluate and manage local people. No link to Common Purpose but it's hard to imagine they're not affiliates of this. John?

Been thinking a lot about new articles I'd like to write, and one about neighborhood groups and councils keeps popping up in my brain. Everything at the ACL that deals with these local yokel groups was written in 2000 when I was a pilot test subject under their communiy policing programme. My perspective has changed a wee bit since then and I'm no longer begging them for explanations and definitions of their terms. I know what neighbourhood renewal is today. I know what strategy development is too.

I'm thinking it might be a big ol' hoot to call myself the Kenny Lake Chitina Development Association. I have been working in neighborhood economic revitalization since I got here four and a half years ago and made the deal to build Tim and Lorayne's website in exchange for a campsite with electric at Camp Redington (called R's RV Park then). I fulfilled the plans for a community website which was part of Copper River Development Association's master plan for my community. I've made local fun maps and promoted local businesses online via all my gertee projects and somewhat through the ACL. I can claim to have the best interests of the community at heart, because my record here shows I do. I am just another unelected, self proclaimed development "expert" in what my community "needs." uh huh.

And I didn't give BJ (owner of Pippen Lake Gifts) any trouble when she showed up last Sunday to do the 2010 Census like we were old best friends (we've never met). She accidentally dropped some computer labled readouts of our personally identifiable information. I helped her pick them up and saw names alonside a bar code and a bunch of other codes that I'd be interested in knowing what they were. When I asked where was my address in this new census "short version", she assured me the feds didn't need my actual address since she was making a small dot on the GIS map she was carrying that identified my exact geographical location. I agreed to answer the questions if she placed my dot in an unpopulated, inaccessible roadless area of the map. Oh no worries she said, the ONLY purpose of all that personally identifiable information was to make sure Alaska gets another US Congressman! When I told her I am a political researcher, she said she knew that. hmm. Wonder what else BJ "knows" about me.

As I plod through my chores and spring cleaning my mind drifts to articles I wish I had time to work on. I really want to write something about the Madonna-whore dialectic and the influence it's had on my entire life. I think less about research and validating my position anymore, and more about how many ways the communitarian dialectic has affected my life and the lives of everyone I've ever met. I've also started singing, stretching, dancing and walking, my way of respecting the needs of my aging body. The harsh environment has made me leaner and much, much stronger but if I don't make time to stretch and relax too I will become all hunched over and crippled. Etzioni made me hate the word "balance" because of the way he uses it to destroy freedom, but I have to get over that now. I need balance between my hard core writing and my hard core lifestyle, the need is real and it's always been real. Etzioni didn't coin the term and he doesn't own it, just as the many other words he co-opted for communitarianism and changed the meanings of. He used the word "spirit" in his book title The Spirit of Community and I've avoided using that term too. Most everyone knows how I see/use the word "community".. heh.

The gertee book is coming along, especially now that I can barely get online! heh. We've worked out the PVC yurt design and Tim went to town and bought enough pipe to make 2, 16 footers! He's thinking the PVC gertee may actually be stronger than the wood. I designed it to all fit in a max 4' long box for shipping and easy carrying, but I may need to modify the lengths because the pipe all comes in 10 foot pieces. Adding the specs to the tutorial after we build it and test it in the spring winds. Thinking of ways to cover interior plastic and how to hold the materials up. I want to make one of them my greenhouse this summer and the other into a cute little guest house. Tim thinks I should sell them. :)

Citizen's Advisory Commitees - Real or UN-NGO driven?

"Communitarians sometimes sound like conservatives of both camps because they want to shore up the social and psychological foundations of virtue but also to keep the state in its place. Solving this dilemma calls for a new approach, and this is where communitarians stand apart: they reconcile the social conservative's quest for shared virtues and the laissez-faire conservative's devotion to limited government by relying on the community—not the state or the individual—as the first and foremost protector of the social order." Amitai Etzioni, Community, Yes. But Whose?

Just got an email from Kristin Smith with an update on the Copper River Stories Mapping groups progress. They set up a google group for comments, but you have to join it in order to comment. Kristin is the Director of the Copper River Watershed Project, closely affiliated with major NGO player EcoTrust (although that's not prominently displayed on CRWP's website). No suprise to learn Janelle Eklund, Director of W.I.S.E. is the former president of CRWP. It's always the same people in all these new citzen groups; it's similar to a very small, intermarried coven.

So why do I care about them and what they do? Well, they claim to represent all of us. They claim they provide a forum for our local interests in the region. Yet not one person I know out here is part of this group... not one. And when I showed up at one community meeting and expressed my verifiable concerns for their innovative approaches, I was chastized for being a selfish person in the Copper River Record, in two dfferent editorials published last December. Janelle Eklund and her WISE bubba were given five columns in the local paper to respond to my allegations; my actual complaints were never publically printed anywhere except on this blog.

Mission

The Copper River Watershed Project provides residents with a forum to consider and implement innovative approaches for achieving balance between a diverse economy and healthy ecosystems while maintaining our quality of life and our cultural heritage. {Ed note: Notice how the balance is no longer between rights and responsiblilities, they don't even have to mention individual liberty anymore.}

The communities we serve:

* Chisana
* Chistochina
* Chitina
* Copper Center
* Copperville
* Cordova
* Gakona
* Glennallen
* Gulkana
* Kennicott
* Kenny Lake (Editor's note: where we live)
* McCarthy
* Mendeltna
* Mentasta Lake
* Nabesna
* Nelchina
* Paxson
* Slana
* Tazlina
* Tonsina Upper
* Tonsina Lower
* Tiekel
* Tolsona

Here's their latest attempt to further represent my interests. I contacted my ex-husband about this about a year ago when he was still working for Alyeska and asked him if the company was aware of the expansion of powers these citizen groups assume. He barely responded. :)

Groups seek citizen oversight of trans-Alaska pipeline

CITIZENS: Advocates fear spill in salmon-rich copper river tributaries.

By ELIZABETH BLUEMINK
ebluemink@adn.com

Published: January 25th, 2010

Environmentalists, fishermen and others in the Copper River region are spearheading a new effort to boost citizen monitoring of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
http://www.adn.com/money/industries/oil/story/1108573.html

Whose idea was it to start empowering citizen groups? Amitai Etzioni's? http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/104.html

Will it become our responsibility as all volunteer citizens to serve on these committees? Or was the program designed to make it look like the people who do serve are the most moral among us? The Essential Commuitarian Reader

"To quote from "The Responsive Communitarian Platform," a manifesto that I helped to draft, we must recognize "that the preservation of individual liberty depends on the active maintenance of the institutions of civil society where citizens learn respect for others as well as self-respect; where we acquire a lively sense of our personal and civic responsibilities, along with an appreciation of our own rights and the rights of others." Communitarians aim, in short, to strike a balance between individualism and social duty," Amitai Etzioni, Community, Yes. But Whose?

I still say we kick the bums out.

No longer will the country be ruled by the huge and unwieldy councils (known as soviets) that the Bolsheviks packed with milkmaids and factory workers and turned into handy rubber stamps for their party machinations--or which more recently, as democracy took hold, turned into the last bastions of the Communist elite.
http://articles.latimes.com/1993-10-16/news/mn-46405_1_council-members

Kenny Lake Community League responds to my emails

This has been a busy and very fulfilling winter so far, and except for finding out our local league has specific plans to destroy our quality of life in Kenny Lake, I've been in a great mood and am getting lots accomplished. We're having a big dinner at Tim's tomorrow night and an "open house" neighborhood pool tournament after the toddlers open their gifts. See ya there!

Special thanks to the people who sent us presents for our Freddie, it took a huge burden off me. I love Christmas in Alaska, it's always been a special time of year for me. Some years I took breaks and didn't do anything more special than hang out watching movies with my kids, other years I had parties and dinners and decorated my house like I'm from Wisconsin.

Tonight Fred and I are making sugar cookies in Granny's Oven and preparing the halibut, crab and smoked salmon cream cheese balls. We'll have a ham supper, and while it won't be the most religious of ceremonial dinners, I will be sure to give thanks for the abundance in my life. I will also be thinking about how to kill these local yahoos with kindness. Gonna need help with that.

Wed, Dec 23, 2009 at 3:24 PM To: nikiraapana@gmail.com

dogsong@northtoalaska.net

"Do not send your emails to this address."

That was it. No greeting. No signature. dogsong just resigned as treasurer for the KLCL. She has been sending things to my inbox for a while. I guess she doesn't know anything about whether the KLCL is a community development agency. I guess as treasurer she can't answer any questions about the league's endorsement of WISE objectives and any taxpayer grants used to further those WISE objectives. I'm assuming our former treasurer can't explain the need for the by-law changes, or the vision for the future here. We're just all supposed to believe they are good people and that the overwhelming burden of the league's duties mandated the changes.

dogsong emailed me this past September and said "Hello, Hello: Here is the agenda for tonight - Lots going on. My apologies to Patty - I haven't gotten together with her since before the fair. Hope to see you soon (tonight:) Kim" ("Lots going on"? Was she saying that tongue in cheek?)

Here's how the league describes "lots":

KENNY LAKE COMMUNITY LEAGUE

AGENDA

September 10, 2009


Call to order

REPORTS:

• Agenda

• Meeting Minutes

• Correspondence

• Treasurer

• Fair Committee

• Well Committee

• Scholarship

OLD BUSINESS:

• USDA Grant

• Grill

NEW BUSINESS:

• By - Laws

• Nominations of Officers (Chairperson – Treasurer – Secretary – 1 Trustee)

•Potential Hall Rental

• Work Day in October

• Form Standing Committees (Scholarship – Activities – Hall Usage)

Other:

• Chair and Table inventory tonight (discuss usage)

I guess "lots going on" didn't mean she knew anything about what was going on, specifically. Now I'm very interested in the placement of the league officers in the government heirarchy of this state. Are the league's leaders recognized public officials whose public positions means they have requirements to their constituents under US and AK state law? Or are only the federal and state employees beholden to us people under freedom of information acts, aka sunshine laws? Do the league members represent us in any way, shape or form? What does it mean to "administer grants locally"? If those grants affect residents in even the slightest of ways, shouldn't all adult residents be 1. made aware of the proposed changes, 2. given a public forum in which to debate all sides of the proposals, 3. asked to vote on the changes after rigorous public debates?

I can't believe I can't find the answer to my main Q:
What authority does the KLCL have over me, my family and my non-member neighbors?

Here's our local house state rep (check out how huge our district is!):
http://www.akdemocrats.org/salmon/042309_fromthedeskof_salmon.htm

Here's our senate rep:
http://senate.legis.state.ak.us/senator.php?id=kos

Silence is all I'm getting from local church members. How creepy is that? Here's part of the Kenny Lake Community Church doctrine: http://www.kennylakechapel.org/doctrine

THE DOCTRINE OF ANGELS

1. God's angels are created beings who are spirit in nature. They can take physical form and have intelligence. The following activities are attributed to angels; they praise and glorify God, they communicate God's message to humans, they minister to believers, they execute judgment on the enemies of God, and they will be involved in the Second Coming of Christ (2 Samuel 14:20; Psalms 148:2; Acts 27:23; 1 Thessalonians 2:18; James 4:7).

2. Evil angels are very real and represent angels that were created by God and then sinned and became evil. The chief of all evil angels is satan. He is the great deceiver and opposes God and the work of Christ. His power is limited and can be resisted (1 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Acts 5:3; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Corinthians 12:7; Ephesians 6:12; 1 Thessalonians 2:18; James 4:7).

"He is the great deciever and opposes God and the work of Christ." Hmmmm.

"His power is limited and can be resisted." Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I guess that's just something nice to include in your doctrine; it doesn't mean anyone who attends the church or follows the minister's advice have to actually DO anything to resist it. It certainly doesn't mean showing support for anyone who actually resists. Thank goodness I've met a few sane people here who don't claim to be so enlightened they're practically gods and goddesses walking on thin air. You know who you are. :)

The WISE symbol is an owl. They have state signs along the roadways out here. Nobody I've asked knows what the signs represent, most have never heard of WISE or SOTE. IT also happens to be the symbol for a few other organizations, like Bohemian Grove. It's too bad that's the way Alex Jones got his "big push up" in the alternative news sector, because I might have paid it a little more attention otherwise. The Bohemian Grove showed up during my McKinley research. Two Hearst reporters wrote an article in Jan 1901, after they attended a ceremony, implying someone had told them McKinely would be dead before the end of the year. Hearst reporters were banned from further gatherings, and the President was assassinated in Sept 1901. Abrose Bierce, author of the Devil's Dictionary, is part of that story. And the way McKinley died is beyond freaky. His tomb and his designated place of death are errily similar buildings.

For those of you who think this stuff about Lucifer worship is all a bunch of hooey coming from wackos, here's WISE's more spiritually advanced gurus as reported in mainstream UK press.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1199650/Inside-upper-class-masked-ball-turned-orgy-stately-home-Halswell-House.html

Consuelo found another perspective on the use of symbols. I am SO out of touch I've never even heard of this singer! http://vigilantcitizen.com/?p=1676