Free Republic

Thermal, Calif. (AP) -- Life is harsh for the 4,000 migrant workers who live in the Desert Mobile Home Park, where hundreds of dilapidated dwellings sit along dirt streets. The 110-degree air is thick with large black flies and the stench of raw sewage. Wild dogs prowl the alleys. But conditions could get even worse if the federal government follows through on its threat to close this site on a sun-baked Indian reservation because of rampant health and safety violations. "Where are we going to go, where are they going to put us?" asked Angelina Cisneros, 59, who lives with...

NEW YORK — The Southampton, N.Y.-based Shinnecock Indians (search) on Tuesday fired the first arrow in their battle to reclaim ancestral lands — filing a federal lawsuit seeking the return of 3,600 acres of prime real estate "stolen" by the state a century and a half ago. The 1,300-member tribe also is asking for monetary damages — conservatively estimated at $1.7 billion — and 150 years of back rent and interest in what it called "the largest Indian land claim ever filed." The suit is seen by many locals as an attempt to force favorable action on the Shinnecocks' bid...

TESTIMONY SOUGHT ON GAMBLING - INDIAN CASINO RESERVATION SHOPPING A House committee is considering gambling law changes and wants your input by today Thursday, although even if its late they STILL want it. There is an easy questionaire that is pretty self explanatory. Way cool way to get your ideas to Congress. http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0036864.cfm A House committee is considering gambling law changes and wants your input. Congress is currently accepting public testimony about off-reservation gambling. Rep. Richard Pombo, chairman of the Committee on Resources, held an oversight hearing on the issue last week in Sacramento — one outcome was a request...

<p>High on a hilltop overlooking miles of Alexander Valley vineyards and the sparkling Russian River, at the dead end of a twisting narrow access road, two circus-like tents front a parking lot carved from the steep slope.</p> <p>Inside, 269 slot machines clang and chime around the clock, powered by diesel generators until power lines can be installed. Gamblers' waste goes into a temporary septic system because a sewage treatment plant isn't ready. Senior citizens bused 75 miles north from San Francisco file past hard-hatted construction workers into a complex banned by the local agricultural zoning code.</p>