"The sports facilities are the detention/relocation camps..." ?

Originally posted by steppenwolf86
reply to post by maybehelpful

 

Yep, they sure do notice your ranting and raving about military take overs. You are nothing but a self serving lunatic with too much time on his hands, keep stroking your own ego and tell yourself it is all due to your efforts to make something out of nothing.

did I just get debunked? Do you feel better about yourself after calling other people names and fantasizing/pontificating about their mental state and intentions?

thanks for not contributing

reply to post by maybehelpful


Your delusions of grandeur have debunked themselves. CNN just posted an article related to something I was talking about, and they also made a cryptic reference to a previous post of mine. Unfortunately, it is a coded message and requires advanced schizophrenia to decode.

I would say my scenario is much more likely than the alleged allusion you speak of.

Waves of Marine helicopters to take to Yuma skies

October 17, 2012

Waves of Marine helicopters will be swooping down from the skies into two Yuma locations Friday afternoon and into the evening.

They'll be part of a real-world training exercise to simulate the emergency rescue and evacuation of civilians in the event of a natural disaster or other crisis.

The aircraft, along with a column of military vehicles and ground support Marines, will be conducting a Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) exercise, which is held twice a year during the Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) Course.

A separate group of aircraft will also be flying to Twentynine Palms, Calif., to participate in a similar evacuation exercise there.

A highlight of WTI, the NEO exercise is held within the city limits to make the training as realistic as possible — training the Marines may need to execute in a future mission.

...

From a historical perspective, 16 NEOs have taken place throughout the world since the Korean War, including such places as Vietnam, Somalia and Lebanon.

The exercise will begin at 4 p.m. and last until 10 p.m. There will be two landing zones within the city of Yuma where non-combatants will be waiting to be extricated.

The civilians, portrayed by active-duty Marines wearing reflective vests, will be taken via airlift to an auxiliary landing field in the desert to the southwest of Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.

The two landing zones will be Kiwanis Park, 8th Street and Magnolia Avenue, and Trinity Christian Center, 4309 W. 16th St.

“Those are the locations we have used over the previous few courses, and those locations actually work out pretty well for us,” Lewis said.

In explaining the exercise, Lewis said it will begin with the insertion of security forces via helicopter, who will then fan out around the landing zones and secure them against “hostile” forces. As part of the training, a consular affairs officer with the State Department will work in tandem with the Marines at the Kiwanis Park landing zone to coordinate the evacuation.

“What you can expect there are several waves of helicopters, day into night, landing into Kiwanis beginning with the insert of the security forces, followed by the evacuation, taking everybody out in reverse order,” Lewis said.

During the exercise, a Quick Reaction Force convoy of military vehicles will make its way through the city of Yuma to the Trinity Christian Center landing zone to provide security and aid during the evacuation procedure being conducted there.

...

Lewis also said Marine Crash Fire and Rescue will be stationed at both landing zones, as well as Yuma police and military police. As always, spectators are welcome to observe the exercise, although they are asked to remain a safe distance away.

Helicopter flights, in groups of one or two at a time, will land at both landing zones during the six hours to take on civilian evacuees. The exercise will end with the extraction of the security forces by 10 p.m.

...

More ground troops are participating this time, said Gering, as they try to incorporate more of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) concept into the training. An MAGTF combines both ground and aviation units into a balanced expeditionary unit.

Gering said a full infantry division of Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C., is participating in the current session, as well as an air defense battalion from the U.S. Army.

“That is more than what we have had in the past, and something I think you will see more of in the future.”

the landing zones are sports facilities. look back through this thread at the HR:645 stuff I've posted for an idea of how they may be securing/setting up the relocation centers

maps.google.com...

Trinity Christian Center, 4309 W. 16th St - 32.698161,-114.672675

The only Kiwanis park I could find was in Tempe - 33.367202,-111.935971, but the 8th&magnolia address puts it somewhere around here 32.71285,-114.641508

rahm says the chicago cubs cannot be expected to be a World Series team while playing in less than world class stadium. Therefore, he has (had) plans to redesign Wrigley Field. He's doing this all over his hub ( 'hub' meaning the part of the nwo geography he is responsible for battening down the hatches).

I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Yes, he will turn it into a detention center. That is exactly his plan. Good catch, OP.

The cubs rewarded him with 101 losses. A-and their star pitcher (who never learned to pitch) walked off the field right in the heat of the early season. Was he injured? Nope. He pitched on the same day he retired. A true quitter. A true cub.

We're looking through you, rahm.

Originally posted by davidmann
rahm says the chicago cubs cannot be expected to be a World Series team while playing in less than world class stadium. Therefore, he has (had) plans to redesign Wrigley Field. He's doing this all over his hub ( 'hub' meaning the part of the nwo geography he is responsible for battening down the hatches).

I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Yes, he will turn it into a detention center. That is exactly his plan. Good catch, OP.

The cubs rewarded him with 101 losses. A-and their star pitcher (who never learned to pitch) walked off the field right in the heat of the early season. Was he injured? Nope. He pitched on the same day he retired. A true quitter. A true cub.

We're looking through you, rahm.

You have no idea what you are talking about. Kerry Wood had pain with every pitch he threw. Trust me. Besides, what does he owe us? He can retire whenever he wants. You know so little and are making all of this up, there are no plans to build a completely new structure..

Originally posted by steppenwolf86

Originally posted by davidmann
rahm says the chicago cubs cannot be expected to be a World Series team while playing in less than world class stadium. Therefore, he has (had) plans to redesign Wrigley Field. He's doing this all over his hub ( 'hub' meaning the part of the nwo geography he is responsible for battening down the hatches).

I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. Yes, he will turn it into a detention center. That is exactly his plan. Good catch, OP.

The cubs rewarded him with 101 losses. A-and their star pitcher (who never learned to pitch) walked off the field right in the heat of the early season. Was he injured? Nope. He pitched on the same day he retired. A true quitter. A true cub.

We're looking through you, rahm.

You have no idea what you are talking about. Kerry Wood had pain with every pitch he threw. Trust me. Besides, what does he owe us? He can retire whenever he wants. You know so little and are making all of this up, there are no plans to build a completely new structure..

Honestly, what would you expect of people here? Half of this thread is people trying to make something out of nothing. There's still nothing to support the title of the thread. The whole thread needs to die, just like those of the nibiru hoaxers and the birthers.

Originally posted by flyswatter

Honestly, what would you expect of people here? Half of this thread is people trying to make something out of nothing. There's still nothing to support the title of the thread. The whole thread needs to die, just like those of the nibiru hoaxers and the birthers.

What's your real problem with this thread? If you're going to whine and cry, at least give a real reason. Why are you even on this forum? Does it make you feel better about yourself when you call people names or proclaim that everything they've posted is worthless?


I've posted more than two dozen historical, verified examples of stadiums/sports complexes being used as PRISONS all across the world, even from as recently as this past year in libya, somolia, mexico, etc, and we (america) are constantly using them in emergency/evacuation/terror drills.


If you actually go back and look through the whole thread you'll see verified example after verified example. The statement "There's still nothing to support the title of the thread" is complete idiocy when there are countless drills across the country involving sports complexes being used in evacuations as RELOCATION centers, and scores of examples from all over the world, including america, of them being used to relocate and DETAIN people against their will.

"nothing to support the thread title" ... except a ton of examples of it actually happening...

I'm not saying every baseball field or tennis court is a prison camp, but many CAN be used for that, it's not impossible, it's not unfeasible, and it's not unprecedented

Originally posted by 1825114

Originally posted by flyswatter

Honestly, what would you expect of people here? Half of this thread is people trying to make something out of nothing. There's still nothing to support the title of the thread. The whole thread needs to die, just like those of the nibiru hoaxers and the birthers.

What's your real problem with this thread? If you're going to whine and cry, at least give a real reason. Why are you even on this forum? Does it make you feel better about yourself when you call people names or proclaim that everything they've posted is worthless?


I've posted more than two dozen historical, verified examples of stadiums/sports complexes being used as PRISONS all across the world, even from as recently as this past year in libya, somolia, mexico, etc, and we (america) are constantly using them in emergency/evacuation/terror drills.


If you actually go back and look through the whole thread you'll see verified example after verified example. The statement "There's still nothing to support the title of the thread" is complete idiocy when there are countless drills across the country involving sports complexes being used in evacuations as RELOCATION centers, and scores of examples from all over the world, including america, of them being used to relocate and DETAIN people against their will.

"nothing to support the thread title" ... except a ton of examples of it actually happening...

I'm not saying every baseball field or tennis court is a prison camp, but many CAN be used for that, it's not impossible, it's not unfeasible, and it's not unprecedented

edit on 18-10-2012 by 1825114 because: (no reason given)

Cant and wont attempt to speak about what the less-than-upstanding leaders and military in other countries do. The people and the laws are too different for me to sit here and judge their use of a stadium for anything. For all we know, it could be normal somewhere else.

As far as here, sure, they can be used in drills and exercises by the local police and/or military. Other locations used for drills and exercises are places such as shopping malls, parking lots and structures, etc. There is no evidence for the use of these facilies as a detention center, jail, prison camp, or anything like that. The only thing we have is speculation and guesses as to this being possible.

Could they be used as such? Sure. Is there evidence that they are geared for that? No. But saying they could be and claiming evidence that they WILL be are two very different things.

Originally posted by flyswatter

Originally posted by 1825114

Originally posted by flyswatter

Honestly, what would you expect of people here? Half of this thread is people trying to make something out of nothing. There's still nothing to support the title of the thread. The whole thread needs to die, just like those of the nibiru hoaxers and the birthers.

What's your real problem with this thread? If you're going to whine and cry, at least give a real reason. Why are you even on this forum? Does it make you feel better about yourself when you call people names or proclaim that everything they've posted is worthless?


I've posted more than two dozen historical, verified examples of stadiums/sports complexes being used as PRISONS all across the world, even from as recently as this past year in libya, somolia, mexico, etc, and we (america) are constantly using them in emergency/evacuation/terror drills.


If you actually go back and look through the whole thread you'll see verified example after verified example. The statement "There's still nothing to support the title of the thread" is complete idiocy when there are countless drills across the country involving sports complexes being used in evacuations as RELOCATION centers, and scores of examples from all over the world, including america, of them being used to relocate and DETAIN people against their will.

"nothing to support the thread title" ... except a ton of examples of it actually happening...

I'm not saying every baseball field or tennis court is a prison camp, but many CAN be used for that, it's not impossible, it's not unfeasible, and it's not unprecedented

edit on 18-10-2012 by 1825114 because: (no reason given)

Cant and wont attempt to speak about what the less-than-upstanding leaders and military in other countries do. The people and the laws are too different for me to sit here and judge their use of a stadium for anything. For all we know, it could be normal somewhere else.

As far as here, sure, they can be used in drills and exercises by the local police and/or military. Other locations used for drills and exercises are places such as shopping malls, parking lots and structures, etc. There is no evidence for the use of these facilies as a detention center, jail, prison camp, or anything like that. The only thing we have is speculation and guesses as to this being possible.

Could they be used as such? Sure. Is there evidence that they are geared for that? No. But saying they could be and claiming evidence that they WILL be are two very different things.

Great point, and the other problem is that most stadiums are at least partially owned by a private citizen. Why not point to any public building like a school and go on and on about how that can be used as a detention center?

reply to post by Domo1


That and state facilities will be placed on government property. oh the conspiracy!

Originally posted by 1825114
As mentioned above, look how they handled the emergency response center at the superdome during katrina...
But I'm sure FEMA is "better trained" by now, right?

Correction, the superdome was NOT a FEMA site. Use common sense, it was a mandatory evacuation, why would FEMA put a center in the middle of an evacuated city?

The superdome was PREVIOUSLY used by the city of NO as shelter. After the last emergency, people wrecked the superdome, so the city declared that it will no longer be used as a shelter.

But since it was an evacuated city, with no shelters around, people went to the only one they were aware of, the Superdome.

It was NOT a designated shelter of any kind.

reply to post by 1825114


YOu do know that the Red Cross is an NGO.

I imagine the situation could get a lot worse if the disaster is worse, or if real civil unrest is involved...

40.308822,-74.01412 maps.google.com...

www.app.com...

Nov 10, 2012

Brian Sotelo is a man who has finally reached his breaking point.

Anger drips from every word as he peers out at the tops of the white tents rising over the trees in the distance. The depth of despair in his eyes is difficult to fathom.

And he makes it clear he’s was not going down without a fight.

We stood and talked in the cool morning air a short distance up the road after security at the front gate threatened to have our cars removed outside the entrance to what Sotelo’s identification tag calls “Camp Freedom,” even though it more closely resembles a prison camp.

...

“Sitting there last night you could see your breath,” said Sotelo. “At (Pine Belt) the Red Cross made an announcement that they were sending us to permanent structures up here that had just been redone, that had washing machines and hot showers and steady electric, and they sent us to tent city. We got (expletive).

“The elections are over and here we are. There were Blackhawk helicopters flying over all day and night. They have heavy equipment moving past the tents all night.”

...

As Sotelo tells it, when it became clear that the residents were less than enamored with their new accommodations Wednesday night and were letting the outside world know about it, officials tried to stop them from taking pictures, turned off the WiFi and said they couldn’t charge their smart phones because there wasn’t enough power.

...After everyone started complaining and they found out we were contacting the press, they brought people in. Every time we plugged in an iPhone or something, the cops would come and unplug them. Yet when they moved us in they laid out cable on the table and the electricians told us they were setting up charging stations. But suddenly there wasn’t enough power.”



...

“Everybody is angry over here. It’s like being prison,” said Sotelo, who grew up in Wayne. “I’ve been working since I was 10. I’ve been on my own since I was 16. And for things to be so bad that it’s pissing me off, that tells you something.”

After a night of restless sleep in which his cot actually broke at one point, landing him on the floor, what Sotelo wants are answers and action. He wants to go home, and until that happens he wants a little respect.

www.prisonplanet.com...

www.reuters.com...

Nov 10, 2012

...The post-storm housing — a refugee camp on the grounds of the Monmouth Park racetrack - is in lockdown, with security guards at every door, including the showers.

No one is allowed to go anywhere without showing their I.D. Even to use the bathroom, "you have to show your badge," said Amber Decamp, a 22-year-old whose rental was washed away in Seaside Heights, New Jersey.

The mini city has no cigarettes, no books, no magazines, no board games, no TVs, and no newspapers or radios. On Friday night, in front of the mess hall, which was serving fried chicken and out-of-the-box, just-add-water potatoes, a child was dancing and dancing — to nothing. "We're starting to lose it," said Decamp. "But we have nowhere else to go."

...

Outside of the tightly guarded community on Friday, word was spreading that the Department of Human Services would aim to move residents to the racetrack clubhouse on Saturday. The news came after photos of people bundled in blankets and parkas inside the tents circulated in the media.

But inside the tent city, which has room for thousands but was only sheltering a couple of hundred on Friday, no one had heard anything about a move - or about anything else. "They treat us like we're prisoners," says Ashley Sabol, 21, of Seaside Heights, New Jersey. "It's bad to say, but we honestly feel like we're in a concentration camp."

Sabol, who is unemployed and whose rental home was washed away in the hurricane, remembers being woken up on Wednesday at the shelter she was staying in at Toms River High School. Conditions there were "actually fine," said Sabol.

Sabol was told that she had half an hour to pack: everyone was getting shipped to hotels in Wildwood, New Jersey, where they would be able to re-acquaint themselves with showers, beds and a door.

Sabol and about 50 other people boarded a New Jersey Transit bus, which drove around, seemingly aimlessly, for hours. Worse, this week's Nor'easter snow storm was gathering force, lashing the bus with wind and rain.

After four hours, the bus driver pulled into a dirt parking lot. The passengers were expecting a hotel with heat and maybe even a restaurant. Instead they saw a mini city of portable toilets and voluminous white tents with their flaps snapping in the wind. Inside, they got sheets, a rubbery pillow, a cot and one blanket.

There was no heat that night, and as temperatures dropped to freezing, people could start to see their breath.

“We Feel Like We’re In a Concentration Camp”

I saw the new Red dawn movie the other night and the stadium is much more prominent in this one than the baseball fields used in the first.

You first see it at about 22 minutes into the movie, when they're starting to bring people into it.

At about 43 minutes in, a girl mentions being interrogated there, which is something that's actually happened in stadiums-turned prison, which you'll see if you go back through this thread.

At about 51 minutes in you see it being used as a reeducation facility, with the koreans playing propaganda over the intercom aimed at soothing the occupants/making them accept the new rulers.

It's also a major part of the final scene of the movie.

I'm pretty sure none of that is spoilers... The movie was a lot better than the ad campaign and pre-reviews made it seem. I'd recommend seeing it.

Originally posted by 1825114
watching "camp fema" right now, and it points out some pertinent stuff...

just reached a part where they interview a japanese man who was in a WWII US concentration camp, and he talks about how they were rounded up like cattle, and shipped by bus to "assembly centers."

He says "They didn't have the facilities to house 120,000 persons, so they took over racetracks, fairgrounds, places like that..."

Which is exactly what I've been saying.

Originally posted by 1825114
Why do you think they used racetracks, and what are their equivalent today?

Basic search from wikipedia...

List of camps

There were three types of camps. Civilian Assembly Centers were temporary camps, frequently located at horse tracks, where the Nisei were sent as they were removed from their communities. Eventually, most were sent to Relocation Centers, also known as internment camps. Detention camps housed Nikkei considered to be disruptive or of special interest to the government.


...

Civilian Assembly Centers

Arcadia, California (Santa Anita Racetrack, stables)
Fresno, California (Big Fresno Fairgrounds, racetrack, stables)
Marysville / Arboga, California (migrant workers' camp)
Mayer, Arizona (Civilian Conservation Corps camp)
Merced, California (county fairgrounds)
Owens Valley, California
Parker Dam, Arizona
Pinedale, California (Pinedale Assembly Center, warehouses)
Pomona, California (Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, racetrack, stables)
Portland, Oregon (Pacific International Livestock Exposition, including 3,800 housed in the main pavilion building)
Puyallup, Washington (fairgrounds racetrack stables, Informally known as "Camp Harmony")
Sacramento, California / (Site of Present-Day Walerga Park) (migrant workers' camp)
Salinas, California (fairgrounds, racetrack, stables)
San Bruno, California (Tanforan racetrack, stables)
Stockton, California (San Joaquin County Fairgrounds, racetrack, stables)
Tulare, California (fairgrounds, racetrack, stables)
Turlock, California (Stanislaus County Fairgrounds)
Woodland, California

...
en.wikipedia.org...

I just caught a few minutes of "abUSed: the Postville Raid" on pbs. In 2008 we rounded up about 400 people and held/processed them in stalls and makeshift cells in a fairground...

en.wikipedia.org...

www.washingtonpost.com...

[Homeland Security]Buses brought arrested workers from Postville to the National Cattle Congress grounds in Waterloo, Iowa, last week.

the place is at 42.509944,-92.373734 if you want to compare the layout/infrastructure to other places I've pointed out in this thread as possible detention/relocation centers...

from recent paramilitary drills - ~1:27; "...Staging area tonight; Dodgers Stadium...""


from ww2 - ~4:45; "Now they were taken to race tracks and fairgrounds, where the army almost overnight had built assembly centers..."


FEMA disaster domes: preparedness + practicality

Jan 22, 2013

Two new multipurpose domes slated for construction in Kingsville are just the latest in a growing number of domed shelters being built along the Texas Gulf Coast.

When Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005, more than 16,000 refugees around New Orleans sought shelter inside the walls of the Superdome. But although the famed stadium was technically large enough to admit thousands of people, it was, after all, designed as a sports arena, and its facilities were ill-equipped to meet the crushing demand in the wake of the storm.

FEMA partners with communities to serve local needs

Now the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is partnering with local communities and school districts to build domed emergency shelters that will withstand winds of up to 200 miles per hours to meet the challenges posed by hurricanes, tornados and other disasters. The design of the roughly 20,000 square foot domes includes double-layer cinder-block walls reinforced by heavy-duty steel bars and cement piers sunk 30 feet into the ground.

In a crisis, these sturdy structures will provide refuge for evacuees as well as staging areas for first responders and emergency operations. The rest of the time, the facilities will be used for purposes determined by the local community. Woodsboro and Edna were the first Texas communities to build domes with FEMA assistance. In both communities, the domes serve as high school gyms. Domes approved for other cities include a community center in Brownsville, a wellness and physical rehabilitation center in Bay City, and multi-purpose training facilities in Kingsville.

In each instance, FEMA’s 75 percent share of construction costs comes from the agency’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), which provides grants to states and tribal and local governments to

Implement long-term hazard mitigation measures to reduce loss of life and property due to natural disasters, and
Facilitate mitigation measures during immediate recovery from a disaster.

The remaining costs are picked up by the cities.

Is your community home to one of the FEMA domes? What is your impression?

www.yourhoustonnews.com...

Nov 22, 2010


Spring Branch ISD’s Tully Stadium was a major staging area during the recovery from Hurricane Ike. Now, officials are looking to improve Tully and surrounding facilities as part of a disaster mitigation plan.

Some improvements to Tully Stadium and Coleman Coliseum are part of the district’s bond program, approved by voters in 2007.

But if approved, the district could receive up to an additional $16 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to “harden” the facilities.

Superintendent Duncan Klussmann told trustees Monday night that additional improvements are contingent on state approval of FEMA funds for “some add-ons for major instances.”

For instance, there were as many as 500 buses at the Tully staging area during the Ike recovery, and FEMA money would pay for thicker concrete for parking lots to better handle the load. Security concerns might dictate a perimeter fence, he said.

...

maps.google.com... 30.263793,-97.769061



Military Patrol Austin Kite Festival in Martial Law Prep

March 5, 2013

For the second year in a row, troops controlled civilian transportation at the Austin Kite Festival, which took place Sunday, March 3, utilizing disaster training to facilitate crowds numbering more than 30,000 against an otherwise idyllic early spring park scene.

Video shows guard units ushering lines onto shuttle buses and coordinating over radio while families and children enjoy the park.

These guard units, controlled by the Governor of Texas and part of the Texas Military Forces, volunteered their services at the busy downtown park location at the request of the Austin Exchange Club, who’ve operated the festival for 84 years now.

Internet activists became alarmed last year after video was posted of troops patrolling the 2012 kite festival, controlling crowds at Zilker Park while helicopters buzzed overhead. Observers were concerned that it was part of an acclimation effort and exercise drill for martial law in the event of natural disaster or civil emergency.

That these units were drilling based upon these contingencies at the kite festival was confirmed by a spokesman in a March 2012 article:
www.txsg.state.tx.us...

Assisting the festival organizers and participants gives TXSG soldiers real-world training for the kind of logistical support the organization provides during natural disasters and other emergencies.

“This gives us the opportunity to put our training and expertise into practical use in advance of our response to hurricanes, tornadoes, floods or fires anywhere in Texas when ordered by the governor,” [Warrant Officer Darrell Prather] said.

Festival organizers emphasized that the guard units were volunteering their services, urging the public to “give them a big ‘thank you!’ when you see them.”

FAU stadium strikes deal with prison firm

February 27, 2013

Florida Atlantic University’s announcement to [B]change the name of its football stadium to that of a private prison corporation[/B] accused of human rights violation has surprised and outraged students as well as South Florida’s pro-immigrant activists.

FAU announced Tuesday that it would name its stadium GEO Group Stadium after reaching an agreement with the private prison company that included a $6 million donation to the university, to be paid over 12 years. GEO is the company that owns the immigration detention center in Pompano Beach, about 10 miles from the stadium.

FAU President Mary Jane Saunder initially agreed to talk about the news, but after hearing questions about the immigration detention center, a university spokesperson said they would have to return the call later. At press time, the university had stopped responding to El Nuevo Herald’s calls.

But in a press release sent out earlier on Tuesday, Saunder praised GEO’s philanthropic gesture of making the largest donation the university’s athletic department has ever received.

“This gift is a true representation of The GEO Group’s incredible generosity to FAU and the community it serves,” she said.

...

Besides the United States, GEO Group also has private prisons in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Australia, where in 2003 it lost a contract after evidence was found that children detained in its facilities suffered cruel treatments, The New York Times reported in 2011. The company, which controls thousands of beds in private prisons and is worth almost $3 billion, is now in the middle of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit about mistreatment of prisoners...

www.guardian.co.uk...

The 30,000-seat Florida Atlantic University stadium, home to the Florida Atlantic Owls, will now carry the name GEO Group Stadium, which is quite the firm to watch in the increasingly competitive arena of for-profit incarceration.

If that sounds to you like the sort of ballpark Snake Plissken might stroll past in the forthcoming movie Escape From The Premier League, you are strongly urged to get with the programme. Urged by GEO, that is, which is massively affronted that its move should be seen as anything other than straight-up philanthropy.

And yet, there are always the sneerers, as Tony Blair used to call them. "It's like calling something Blackwater Stadium," one prominent activist against private prisons told the New York Times, making reference to the private military contractor that has since rebranded to Academi after years of its activities being misunderstood in places from Afghanistan to Iraq to various CIA black sites. "This is a company whose record is marred by human rights abuses, by lawsuits, by unnecessary deaths of people in their custody and a whole series of incidents that really draw into question their ability to successfully manage a prison facility." A US judge described one GEO facility for teenaged prisoners as "a cesspool of unconstitutional and inhuman acts and conditions" and "a picture of such horror as should be unrealised anywhere in the civilised world".

But it's not only the activists and judges. The move has set marketing folks a-wonderin' why a firm like GEO has parted with $6m for the rights. After all, most stadium sponsors purchase these tie-ups in order to sell their product to the consumer – either the consumer who attends the stadium or the one watching at home. But GEO's "consumer" is effectively government – it angles for government contracts. Indeed, it is specifically angling for the spoils of a potential privatisation of Florida's state prisons. So either this is a typical attempt to affect consumer choice by reaching out to future criminals – because really, nothing says "Go Owls!" like choosing to commit your felony somewhere within the catchment of one of GEO's facilities. Or we've officially moved into the era where firms are openly co-opting sport to lobby government.

I hope, hope, hope that this was just an industrial accident. Please, no more terrorism this month...


People trapped in burning buildings, dozens critically injured after explosion at fertiliser plant near Waco, Texas

...

The entire town of West has been evacuated as toxic smoke from the explosion spreads.

The nearby Rest Haven nursing home has collapsed, with residents feared trapped in the rubble, a Texas Department of Safety spokesperson said. Others, including children are trapped in an apartment building.

An emergency triage area has been set up at a nearby baseball field with at least nine medical helicopters landing to evacuate the injured, while police officers drove others to the West to Hillcrest Hospital in their patrol cars.

...

...

Authorities are going door to door in the area checking on residents. The explosion knocked out power to a large area surrounding the plant.

The explosion was felt up to 100km away in Dallas, with many residents believing it was an earthquake.

It comes after a week where America has been on high alert after the Boston Marathon bombings which killed three people and wounded another 170.
Although there is no suggestion that the events are related, 'Fahrenheit 9/11' filmmaker and author Michael Moore has tweeted: “This is the anniversary week of the Columbine massacre, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Virginia Tech massacre, the Bay of Pigs, and Waco.

The Waco siege ended on April 19, 1993, the Bay of Pigs on April 17, Columbine on April 20, Oklahoma on April 19 and Virginia Tech on April 16.

good aerial video in this one...

www.kwtx.com...

As many as a dozen helicopters were sent to the area and were landing at West High School stadium and at least two-dozen ambulances were waiting there to transport victims to hospitals.

The staging area was later moved because of the threat of an explosion from a second burning tank.