Richard, I noticed a couple of years ago that most of the shops out here on Pensacola Beach are now run by Russians. I asked one of the girls at one of the shops what brought her so far from home. She said she and the others who worked with her had vacationed here a few years back and decided they wanted to live and work here - At that time it didn't seem unreasonable, since then they (the Russians, Ukraine, etc) have pretty much taken over the beach - Furthermore, when I went to visit the USS Alabama battleship in Mobile Bay in March, we stopped at the Captain's Table Restaurant and lo and behold - almost completely Russian staff. Bizarre no doubt. And I thought GW had sold us off to China! Nyet! ~Kim~ ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 2:11 PM Subject: [CREEK-SOUTHEAST] How do I know about what's happening in WesternNorth Carolina > > How do I know about the Russia Mafia being in Cherokee and Asheville? > Remember I had a pretty prominent position in Asheville and still have > friends > there, who are in the know. Actually, I was a highly respected > professional > until the year 2000 when a certain political change took place! LOL The > last > time I was in Asheville (last November) a close friend point blank told > me that > the Russians are taking over Asheville and already run Cherokee from > behind > the scenes. Most of his appraisals recently were for Russian Nationals > moving > to Western North Carolina. > > Many moons ago, before I even moved to Asheville, I was a consultant to > the > Cherokee Housing Authority and through the years have made friends on the > Qualla Boundary. Last summer I decided to go hiking on my birthday, and > then > stop by afterward to visit with old Cherokee friends, who made the best > barbecue around. Their old restaurant had been torn down and replaced > with a fancy > new one in a shopping center. > > Before eating, I walked around the strip shopping area, looking for a > birthday gift for my sister - who was born in late August. Every single > store I > visited was staffed and managed by Slavic personnel. I finally stopped a > Cherokee lady on the street, and told her I was Creek. Where are the > Cherokees? > She said that they don't work in town anymore. A few worked at the > casino, > but there were getting to be less and less. Of course, the Qualla Arts > Gallery was staffed by Cherokees, but that was it. I bought a gift for > my sister > there, since there stuff were the only "real" looking things in town. > > I then drove back the barbecue restaurant, I walked in and didn't see a > Native American in the place - either eating or working. Two Scandinavian > looking > gals (college age) were the hostesses. I asked them in English, if they > were > Swedish (Jag taler svenska) They said they were college students from > "Southern" Russia. I thought that was strange since the southern Russians > tend to > look Middle Eastern. > > My waitress was from Brazil. I asked her what had happened to all my > Cherokee friends that had worked there for two decades. She said that when > the > Russians bought the restaurant three years ago, all the Cherokees had been > fired. > In fact, she was only person they kept. The manager was from Poland. All > the > other employees were from Russia, Ukraine or Poland. She said that was > pretty > much the situation in all the stores and restaurants. She also was on a > student visa, but had never attended college. The Russian owner got her > card > renewed each year. A little later, I glanced back into the kitchen and did > see a > Cherokee teenager working! He was washing dishes. > > The barbecue was as great as ever. A free ice cream came with the meal. > It > was served by the blond girls from "Southern Russia." As I was walking up > to > the ice cream counter, I heard them speaking a dialect of Finnish. I said > about the only words I remembered in Finish from my days of working in > Sweden - > for "hello." That is absolutely all I said, other than I would like two > scoops of butter pecan ice cream in English. They freaked out. One raced > back to > the kitchen while the other nervously scooped my ice cream order. > > Within a minute or so, a big, black limousine roared up to the front door > of > the restaurant. A big, puffy-faced, evil-looking Russian got out. He > peeked > in the door and said something to the Russian girls or wherever they were > really from. Moments later, three Cherokee Tribal Police cruisers and a > SWAT > squad SUV flew into the parking lot, lights flashing. The four police > officers > chatted briefly with Russian, looked at me through the windows and went > in. > They all sat at the table next to me. > > None of the officers looked Indian. This was a big change. Always > before, > Cherokee police were the best of the best Cherokee warriors - and were > highly > respected. In fact, I would swear that one of the officers was from the > Baltic countries himself. He spoke proper English, but didn't have a > Southern > Mountain accent. > > In a menacing tone, the SWAT officer asked me what I was doing in > Cherokee? > > "Duh-h-h-h-h, eating barbecue and ice cream." > > They grilled me for several more minutes about my purposes on the rez, > where I lived, my drivers licence, did I have criminal record, etc. until > I got > fed up and flashed them my Creek tribal membership card. They immediately > became more polite. They then told me to leave the reservation as soon as > I > finished my meal. They never said one word about what I had done wrong. > After > telling with a friend in federal law enforcement about the incident, we > both > decided that everybody thought I was an INS undercover agent, because I > was > alone and look very athletic - wear my hair very short in the summer. > > I didn't leave immediately. I went straight to the home of an old > Cherokee > friend, who had managed the Penny's store in Asheville, before retiring > back > on the rez. I told him how I was treated. He wept as he explained how > the > Russian Mafia had taken over at Qualla. A few Cherokees were getting > rich, > politicians were getting paid off, and the rest of the people were > basically > welfare Injuns, getting by with checks from the casino profits paid to > the > tribe. Very few of the young people wanted to make crafts anymore, and > the > educated ones were being forced to leave Qualla to get a job, unless > they were > teachers. > > Not going back to Cherokee any time soon. > > Richard T. > > > > > > > > **************Looking for a car that's sporty, fun and fits in your > budget? > Read reviews on AOL Autos. > (http://autos.aol.com/cars-Volkswagen-Jetta-2009/expert-review?ncid=aolaut00030000000007 > ) > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG. > Version: 8.0.138 / Virus Database: 270.6.3/1613 - Release Date: 8/15/2008 > 5:58 AM > > >