STOP THE TTC & TOLLS ACROSS TEXAS RALLY

March on Austin is Saturday, April 5 at 12:15 p.m. with line up by 11:45 a.m. The rally is from 1-4 p.m. Staging area for the march are parking lots at the corner of Hwy. 343/Ceasar Chavez/Red River streets, one block west of I-35. Speakers include Rep. Ron Paul, Va. Rep. Virgil Goode, Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur, Okla. Sen. Randy Brodon and many Texas state legislators who are fighting against the Trans-Texas Corridor and tollways.

Last year I marched in the Don’t Tag Texas / Anti Toll Road Rally rally here in Austin, Texas. I posted a Gallery of my protest pics from the event that happened Independence Day of last year. Click the Pic below for a link to my gallery. For more information about tomorrow’s march follow this link to Sal Costello’s Anti-Toll Road blog.

Recall that back in late 2001 the RIAA wanted Congress to pass laws allowing them to hack into your computer (aka “Break the Law”) so that they could snoop around your hard drive for pirated materials (and who knows what else they might find and turn you in for). Well now a training video has surfaced that supports the RIAA’s privacy invasion campaigns because … they can lead to discovery of evidence of other non-piracy related crimes.

Hat tip to Disinfo.com & Slashdot.org

Leaked RIAA Training Video: Find Pirates and Also Find… Crack Dealers and Terrorists? There’s a leaked RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) training video produced with the NDAA (National District Attorneys Association) floating around the web that argues U.S. prosecutors should pursue piracy cases because it leads to bigger and badder wares, like handguns, drugs, terrorist organizations, and hardcore repeat offender criminals. In other words, in their minds, music and video piracy is the new gateway to the criminal underworld…

www.disinfo.com

Leaked RIAA Training Video - “Gizmodo has a clip of that RIAA training video produced with the NDAA for US prosecutors that was leaked to torrent sites a few days ago. It argues they should pursue piracy cases because it leads to bigger and badder wares, like handguns, drugs, terrorist orgs, and hardcore repeat offender criminals. It’s kind of sad how far they’re stretching to bring law enforcement into the matter.”

yro.slashdot.org

Ron Paul rings the Liberty Bell at his University of Texas rally — February 23, 2008.

Footage courtesy of CITIZINE News.

OBAMA/CLINTON DEBATE IN AUSTIN

Obama, Clinton differ slightly on Castro - Yahoo News

Kenn Thomas Interviewed by Kali of Karmapolis.

1 - FEMA detention camps have been subjected to a lot of writing and speculation during these last years in United States. Videos, images and detailed descriptions of these camps are available on the net. It is difficult to source the origin of these descriptions. Do they really exist? What are their final purpose?

Activists in parapolitical studies - let’s call them “conspiranistas” - come up with these identifications to underscore the idea that America still has disaster areas that suffer from federal emergency mismanagement. As Randy Newman sings, “free to live in a cage in East St. Louis and the south side of Chicago,” with the obvious most recent example being post-Katrina New Orleans. The kind of detailed thing you refer to, with video images and all, rarely reaches a level above rumor. The conspiracy-denial world sees it as benign neglect; the conspiranistas would call it a deliberate, planned effort to corral the poor and dispossessed for future execution. I would characterize it more as malevolent neglect. Certainly when George Bush patted former FEMA management head Michael Brown on the back and said “Good job!”, he was rubbing it in, and announcing that he really didn’t give a damn about taking responsibility for the Katrina aftermath. Brown previously had been professionally wrapped up in cosmetic surgery for horses. On the other hand, someone like Lt. General Russell Honoré, who led the relief convoy into New Orleans, is certainly not anyone people would expect to round up and execute civilians. He was a real hero, in fact, heading the largest military deployment in the American south since the Civil War in order to rescue people. But whether or not the concentration camps you describe exist, no one doubts the existence of large lots of empty, unused FEMA trailers while people displaced from disasters supposedly managed by FEMA remain homeless.

2 - Are these camps the same ones that were used for Japanese and German civilians during World War II?

No. Different thing entirely. The equivalent of the old internment camps for the Japanese would be something like having a camp for people of Middle eastern ethnic origin. The Japanese camps, for instance, were in very specific places in Arkansas, California, Utah and Wyoming and were closed by official order in December 1945. These are not the places where the current FEMA camps are rumored. Read more »

by Mack White

Police Chief Acevedo wants to keep you safe. He wants it more than he has ever wanted anything. Why, he stays up late worrying about your safety. He walks the floor at night, he loses sleep, he frets, he wrings his hands, he cries bitter tears, so great is his concern. For you are his pet, his darling one, his treasure, and he wants so badly to keep you safe.

And now, at last, he has come up with a plan. In his nocturnal pacing and fretting, and crying, and rending of garments, and gnashing of teeth, he has come up with a plan to keep you safe. It is a foolproof plan, a fine plan, a noble plan, a grand plan that will (cue the drum roll, sound the trumpets) end all violence for all time in the City of Austin. And here it is … Read more »

By Thom White
CITIZINEmag.com

AUSTIN January 23, 2008 - On Tuesday, recently-appointed Austin police chief Art Acevedo announced to the media a proposed police surveillance camera system that would attempt to record all public activity in the Sixth Street district in order to reduce the likelihood of crime. The cameras’ recordings would be reviewed in secret by police personnel who would use the footage as evidence in prosecutions against individuals they identify committing crimes on video.

Chief Acevedo said if there is no public opposition to the installation of the public spy cameras, the equipment will be installed and begin recording around 6th Street in a few months.

According to news reports, Chief Acevedo told reporters, “As I travel around the city, I have been approached by residents in high-crime areas who are not only asking, but who are really starting to demand the use of technology.” Acevedo said. “People in this community want us to do everything we can to keep them safe. This is one of those strategies.”

According to KEYE-TV, Chief Acevedo said, “This is to put people on notice: criminals, the community, and the cops — that, yes… You’re in an area to be surveilled that’s out in the open. So, guess what? Before you start fighting with somebody, before you start stabbing somebody, before you start trying to victimize somebody, your action may be caught on tape, and you may be prosecuted and convicted, because we’ll have the best evidence.”

Read more »

By Thom White
CITIZINEmag.com

AUSTIN, Tex. January 12, 2008 — Opponents of the Wal-Mart Supercenter that is planned for Northcross Mall gathered together yesterday at St. Louis Catholic Church for a town hall meeting. Responsible Growth for Northcross (RG4N) leaders proposed their next steps after a recent court ruling effectively gave the developer, Lincoln Property Company, a green light to begin construction of the giant retail store.

According to a December 21, 2007, report by the television station News 8 Austin, “District Court Judge Orlinda Naranjo ruled that the site plan in question complied with ordinances and that it did not require public hearings.”

Responsible Growth for Northcross leaders remarked in a written statement that, “In December, the 200th Judicial District Court of Travis County issued its ruling on our lawsuit. RG4N is disappointed with the verdict, but we are not done fighting yet.” Read more »