We all started somewhere, what's your excuse?

"I arrived in Montreal at 17 by myself with $2,000. No support, no contacts, nothing.  Father said I’d fail & be back in 3 months."

Elon Musk

An Open Letter to Pine Ridge Reservation

I am a member at the White Earth Reservation of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.

I grew up on more reservations than anyone I know. I attended 4 high schools in 3 states and lived on Indian Reservations at all times. My father was in Law Enforcement for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Dad was the Captain of Police in Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

I know Indian Country.

The American Dream does not sneak up on you and hit you over the head with a baseball bat.

Success is where opportunity and hard work meet. At 14 I was hauling bales, working in a hot hay field on the Ft. Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. At 15, I hired out to a ranch in Montana while my parents lived on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. My summer job in High school was working on that ranch in Montana. Pay was $200 per month working 6 days a week. My last year it increased to $300 per month. Wow.

Know what? I have worked 57 years of my 72 on this planet. I am a bit tired. You want a good life? Work for it. Strap it on. Forget your skin color. Grow a pair and shut up and work your ass off. Think it is better elsewhere? Then move. Or shut the fuck up.

People who are brought up to believe that work is for suckers and that they are entitled to food and shelter will never move up. This culture of dependence will stunt a child's work ethic for life.

And speaking of children, one quarter of children on Pine Ridge are born with fetal alcohol syndrome, meaning with some degree of brain damage. Stop the cycle. Stop the poverty, the addictions, the suffocating absence of opportunity, and the loss of human capital.

Try this Pine Ridge, how about a communal alcohol-free house for pregnant women and young mothers, with classes?

Get a skill and get your child off to a good start.

Close down the Bureau of Indian Affairs. End the reservation system - it's never brought joy or prosperity to anyone. If Native Americans have to depend on government money for survival, how much dignity and self-respect do they have?

I graduated from a University where today, 27% of the students are of Native American lineage.

I know how business is done in Indian Country therefore I know Indian TIME! I have heard it and seen it all. The kickbacks that tribal leaders wanted, the corruption, fraud and waste at the expense of tribal members who don’t have a clue about the financial dealings of their own tribes let alone the 560 plus other tribes that are not subject to government oversight.

I know people don't want to talk about the real issues in the Native American population.

Fatherhood is the single greatest role a man could play in society. It's an absolute catastrophe that two-thirds to three-quarters of Native children are being raised in a home without a father present, in terms of the social cohesion of the community. People don't want to say that. Fatherhood is the single greatest role a man could play in society.

Today, the big reservation wars are internal -- rape, elder and child abuse, gang violence, alcoholism, obesity, opioids, lack of parental oversight, and vilification of those who understand that the top problem of "Native America" is the lack of in-home fathers.

The permanent victimhood class and the welfare state has created generational welfare, "project housing" to warehouse generations of people who have been told for 50 years that they are powerless and have no hope of ever succeeding on their own. Their family structure has been decimated. Their education has been dumbed down so bad that grammar, spelling and financial literacy is foreign to them.

The race card has been sold as a substitute for ambition and success. Social programs have been sold as a replacement for a job and education. Government has been sold as a replacement for a father, and in some cases, the entire family.

Remember I said this. The only person that can make a substantial difference in my life is the person I see in the mirror every day. My decisions affect my outcomes. I refuse to beg for some scraps with the illusion that something of significance is being done.

To pay people not to work, incentivize fatherless parenthood, and diminish the importance of the family, and guess what happens? Granted, it happens to the most gullible and least educated first, but it's front and center. Millions of Americans don't have a plan A much less a plan B. Pay check to pay check and zero savings. That doesn't stop them from having cable, $200.00 sneakers, the newest cell phones and the free shit army rolls on.

What are the ties that bind Natives to the reservations? Love of that plot of land they were displaced to? Racial allegiances/prejudices/bigotry? Distrust of those not like themselves? Shared misery? Handouts? Rejection of curiosity, adventure, exploration, or socialization?...more

If only Robert Gipp from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation would still be alive and in politics. For sure, Mr. Gipp was one of the finest teachers in the history of Oglala Community High School in Pine Ridge, SD.

Robert Gipp always said, more government is the problem, not the solution.

Dean Parisian: The answers to problems at Pine Ridge must come from Pine Ridge

    

Monday, December 11, 2017   

Call it red privilege, or American privilege

By Dean Parisian
deanparisian.com

I lived on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation when I was in high school. Didn't have a choice. My father was Chief of Police for the Bureau of Indian Affairs Police Department in Pine Ridge. If you want, call it red privilege!

It is a rather poor place. Not much has changed in the 40 years since I was in high school except the names. The truancy, the lack of motivation, lack of parental involvement, lack of desire to make oneself better is still there. The crabs are still trying to claw their friends back into the bucket when they try to escape. If you go to school in Indian Country you know what I mean.

Lots of blame to go around. Lack of two parent households are the biggest culprit but nobody wants to talk about that because the financial incentives are all wrong there.

Oglala Community High School was the roughest high school out of the four I attended without a doubt. I was failing algebra. I bought my first beer in Whiteclay, Nebraska, for the high school prom. Walked in with cash, no questions asked.  Age: 15.

To say that I am grateful for the life I have been given is an understatement. There is absolutely no way my life has turned out the way I thought it would. We all face great challenges in life. All of us. It is the privilege we all have for waking up.

I thank my Creator daily for the will and motivation that my parents fostered towards education. The privilege of education. We all have it. It is what prompted me to start my scholarship at the University of Minnesota. My scholarship helps leverage resources to produce long-term meaningful impact for students who need them the most and to help break the cycle of poverty, addiction, moral courage and the suffocating absence of opportunity.

Call it American privilege, I get it, you should too. Gratitude is an awful powerful human emotion and I am elated to have plenty of it. Every. Single. Day.

In Pine Ridge it is hard to swallow the poverty and carnage of the federal government handing out scraps of freebies. The drug scene is out of control. I would like to help the enormous loss of human capital. Bringing coats in the winter isn't doing it. Painting churches in the summer isn't doing it.

Pine Ridge has the problem. Pine Ridge and only Pine Ridge has the answers. Pine Ridge has the privilege.

It starts in the mirror. The power of one. Go ahead Pine Ridge.

Change! You can do it. Reach deep Ridge. Get after it.

Dean Parisian is the CEO of Native American Advisors, Inc., the oldest Native American investment management firm in the United States. The Registered Investment Advisory firm was founded in 1993 to help Native American entities after Parisian began his career on Wall Street in 1982. Parisian is a member at the White Earth Reservation of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, a former NYSE arbitrator and trader who began his career with Kidder, Peabody and later worked for Drexel Burnham Lambert in LaJolla, California. His philanthropic interest is in Native American education and he's endowed a significant scholarship for Native American students at the University of Minnesota. His greatest accomplishment includes raising two sons and 34 years of marriage.

To say that I am grateful for the life I have been given is an understatement. There is absolutely no way my life has turned out the way I thought it would. We all face great challenges in life. All of us. It is the privilege we all have for waking up. I thank my Creator daily for the will and motivation that my parents fostered towards education. The privilege of education. We all have it. It is what prompted me to start my scholarship at the University of Minnesota. My scholarship helps leverage resources to produce long-term meaningful impact for students who need them the most and to help break the cycle of poverty, addiction, moral courage and the suffocating absence of opportunity. Call it American privilege, I get it, you should too. Gratitude is an awful powerful human emotion and I am elated to have plenty of it. Every. Single. Day.

In Pine Ridge it is hard to swallow the poverty and carnage of the federal government handing out scraps of freebies. The drug scene is out of control. I would like to help the enormous loss of human capital. Bringing coats in the winter isn't doing it. Painting churches in the summer isn't doing it.

Pine Ridge has the problem. Pine Ridge and only Pine Ridge has the answers. Pine Ridge has the privilege.

It starts in the mirror. The power of one. Go ahead Pine Ridge.

Change! You can do it. Reach deep Ridge. Get after it.

I hope Pine Ridge can help itself. I hope Pine Ridge can get back to two-parent households. I hope addiction treatment centers work for many. I hope the healing can come. The Oglala warriors are up against a powerful enemy, alcohol.

I can only pray. Here is the Lord's Prayer in the language of the Oglala Lakota.

Ate unyapi Mahpiya ekta nanke cin, Nicaje wakanlapi nunwe. Nitokiconze u nunwe. Mahpiay ekta nitawacin econpi kin, he iyecel maka akanl econpi nunwe. Anpetu ihohi aguyapi kin, anpetu kin le unqu piye. Na tona ecinsniyan ecaunkicinpi wicaunkicicajujupi kin, he iyecel waunhtanipi kin unkiciajujupiye. Na taku wawiyutanye cin ekta unkayapi sni piye; Tka taku sice etanhan eunklaku piye; Wokiconse kin, na wowasake kin, na wowitan kin hena ohinniyan naohinniyan nitawa heon. Amen.

Puerto Rico Fact

Is America supposed to feel bad about Puerto Rico?   Do taxpayers know their hard earned money is being given to Puerto Ricans?  

Puerto Rico does not participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly called food stamps on the U.S. mainland. Instead, it has its own Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP) (also known as PAN in Spanish), funded by a federal block grant from the U.S. government. This is entirely paid for by U.S. federal taxpayers (i.e., "US citizens" in the broader sense, including those on the mainland contributing via federal taxes).

Recent reliable sources (from 2024–2025 reports) indicate NAP participation is around 42–43% of Puerto Rico's population:

• A 2024 report cited 42.7% of Puerto Ricans receiving NAP benefits.
• Other analyses from around 2020–2023 put it in the 40–43% range, serving roughly 1.4–1.5 million people monthly (out of a total population of about 3.2–3.3 million).

This is significantly higher than the U.S. mainland average for SNAP (around 12% of the population) and reflects Puerto Rico's much higher poverty rate (often 40%+), economic challenges, and reliance on imported (expensive) food.

FOR CRYPTO GURU'S

This past week there were many lives across the world changed.

Many lives were impacted by the fall of BITCOIN. Billions were lost when long positions on the blockchain were closed out.

Most of those investors had little investment training. Having libertarian dreams they knew very little about position sizing or controlling risk. Never forget, greed kills.

So let me ask you, if it's considered and talked about as an alternate currency, why is it traded like a commodity?

What would be the business case for this asset being in an institutional pension plan?  For that matter, what is the business use case? 

What good is a currency if it fluctuates so wildly?

Doesn't that volatility negate its core value, which is no country can inflate it?

What is the cost to create it? Isn't it the most expensive currency ever produced?

Just simple questions from someone who owns ZERO crypto except for 200 shares of IBIT.

Laid off at Washington Post?

If you were one of the lucky ones who had their position at The Washington Post eliminated the other day you should consider applying to become a writer at the Minneapolis Star Tribune.   That newspaper is always hiring and they need experienced journalists who can bring fictional content to their readers and present it in the tone and style of a distinguished news outlet.   

Alpharetta's $380,000,000 THEFT

Thirty years ago I moved to Alpharetta, Georgia.   Left the Big "A" and headed north up 400 to Exit 10.  Best move in my life.  Started a family there, then moved to the adjoining Milton, Georgia.  Started a business, made a small fortune and departed in 2016.   Sent two Milton High School students to Georgia Tech and UGA that took Engineering degrees that happen to be my sons.  Still encounter cheats, liars, and thieves if you keep your eyes open.  Still manage my own funds and know most of the tricks Wall Street uses to fleece investors.  Wall Street breeds the type and the SEC and FINRA aren't in the business of looking out for retail investors.   

Alpharetta was home.  It was community.  It was suburban Atlanta with most from someplace else.  It was a great place to raise a family.  Great schools with educators who actually cared about their students.  I will never forget the day the principal at Milton High School (Cliff Jones) told me he had the best job in the world being around his teachers and students.   

While living in Alpharetta, I spent 10 years as an arbitrator for both the New York Stock Exchange and FINRA.  Got to see the financial thieves and shenanigans that went on in the world of financial investments.  There are scum bags everywhere and Alpharetta is no exception.  And truthfully, the clients can be as bad as the brokers when it comes to doing bad things.  Why investors don't deal with investment management firms instead of Series 7 stockbrokers is hard to fathom but the nature of the business is to keep investors in the dark.  Human nature doesn't change.  Greed and fear will never go out of style.  

In Alpharetta, there was a lot of greed and those trying to keep-up-with-the-rich types who were anxious to get a deal in life and investing.  Not certain I fit that mold, I bought homes I could easily afford, purchased used vehicles, ate at Waffle House far too often, and never marketed my company because I only wanted to do business with people who knew me, trusted me and let me do my very best for them in the world of investment management.    

Another massive PONZI in Alpharetta has been prosecuted and the final tally of damages is rather large.  Unfortunately, rather huge!

Read about it here.  I didn't make this up.  If you live in Alpharetta you probably know a party that has been affected.

ALPHARETTA $380,000,000 PONZI

You see, it just wasn't $380,000,000.  It was far more than that.

Much more.

It was retirement dreams vanished, I.R.S. problems, marital strife, college plans, new cars, second homes, and on and on and on.

For years.

The government won't get all the scum bags that were in on it.  They don't have the time nor the resources.  They are still out there.

Funny, the company web site is still up and the Chief Thief still has his LINKED-IN account.   Funny how that happens!

So, be aware.  Ask the tough questions when investing.  Understand if it's too good to be true it probably is.  Call the appropriate regulatory authority to check on firms and people.  Do YOUR due diligence, it's YOUR money.  Use common sense, it seems to be in short supply.

Today, I can only pray for the thousands of customers of DRIVE PLANNING who were victims and their families that were impacted.     

 

  

America underestimates the value of FREEDOM

"Elon Musk is the biggest net positive for society in so many ways. If Elon didn't buy 𝕏, it would be very unlikely that Trump was elected. We wouldn't have free speech. And you'd see just more and more corruption." 

一 Nick Shirley

Nicki Minaj

Maybe there's still hope!

Go get the weirdo's girl!