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According to Native News Online, a delegation including McCain and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) was visiting the Navajo Nation's capital in Window Rock, Arizona in observance of Navajo Code Talkers Day on Saturday.
Navajo Code Talkers were Navajo Native Americans who worked for U.S. Intelligence during World War II. The Navajo language proved to be too complex for the Axis Powers' intelligence agencies to decipher, making it the perfect code language for encrypted U.S. communications.
McCain and Ducey were in Window Rock for a public meeting with Navajo Nation President Begaye and Vice President Nez about a prospective Navajo Code Talker museum, but instead found themselves talking about the millions of gallons of toxic sludge that have spilled into two life-giving rivers that run through the heart of the Nation's territories.
"I keep saying when are we going to hear from the White House? Not a word. When somebody wins the Super Bowl or an NBA Championship, they get a call, right? And when something like this happens and people are suffering, nothing," said President Begaye.
The spill was accidentally triggered by EPA workers inspecting the abandoned Gold King Mine. The spill now stretches from Colorado through Utah to New Mexico and Arizona. The slurry is believed to contain mercury, lead and arsenic.
Vice President Nez told McCain that his people have a natural distrust of the government and are currently unconvinced by what they are hearing from the EPA regarding the safety of the water from the two rivers.
"This is just one mine out of hundreds and there's no Superfund designation," Vice President Nez said. "Right now, we don't trust the U.S. EPA's data and their collection. And one of the things we're still suffering from are the uranium mines, they need cleanup as well."
Comment: If you are waiting for your government to save you, please rethink that plan. It is increasingly obvious that we are in a changing world, one that is less and less likely to sustain humanity unless we comprehend what is at hand and adjust accordingly. As global economies falter and food production deteriorates, prices for food will escalate as will systemic civil unrest, violence and conflict. Over 7 billion hungry inhabitants. Think ahead. Plan now.