It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
29 September 2013
A judge in Brazil’s jungle state of Amazonas has suggested turning a new 200-million-euro World Cup stadium into a prison once the international tournament ends –an idea that has been swiftly rejected by local Cup organisers and residents.
Brazilian World Cup organisers are banking on a new 200-million-euro stadium to attract tens of thousands of tourists and football enthusiasts to the remote rainforest state of Amazonas next summer. But with just four tournament matches scheduled there and no certain plans for its future use, a local judge wants the sports complex to welcome prisoners.
Sabino Marques, the president of the Amazonas prison system’s monitoring group, told the press this week that he would make a formal request to turn at least part of the Arena Amazonia stadium into a centre for temporary detainees.
Interviewed by news website G1, Marques said it was a reasonable way to tackle rampant prison overcrowding in the northwestern city of Manaus and the rest of the state. He said the main prison in Manaus was meant to house “between 200 and 300 detainees” but currently counted “at least 1,000.”
Marques argued that transforming part of the stadium into a processing centre for temporary prisoners – who represent the majority of the inmate population – would go a long way in easing overcrowding.
“We are not turning into the Pinochet regime, people are not going to sleep on the field,” the judge told the media this week, insisting he himself hoped the stadium would also find a second life as a “health or education” facility, but that it would be largely vacant after August.
Widespread outcry
The unusual post-World Cup proposal, which grabbed headlines across Brazil and the world, was swiftly rebuffed by local tournament organisers and residents.
UGP-Copa, the group in charge of implementing World Cup projects in Manaus, and which is run from the state governor’s office, rejected the plan, saying it failed to meet the pre-established mission for venues to host “entertainment, culture, sporting” events in the wake of the global football competition.
The Amazonas bar association also said in a statement that it “vehemently disagreed” with the idea, which it said flew in the face of the “intended purpose to host the World Cup, as well as its future legacy as a sporting centre in the city [of Manaus].”
Local news outlets said residents were appalled by the suggestion of relegating the state-of-the-art facility to a detention centre. In one report, the popular Blog da Floresta failed to find a single person on a busy Manaus road who backed the plan.
Edenora Picanço, a retired state employee, told Blog da Foresta that it sounded “very dangerous” and would inevitably taint the stadium's image.
Abel Xiavenato, a civil engineer told the web portal Terra.com the plan was “ridiculous”. “The structure of a prison complex is completely different [from that of a sports stadium].
The judge Marques was forced to react on Wednesday to the widespreak outcry: “Every day there are more people entering the [prison] system than leaving it. One prison is already scheduled to be closed, so where are we going to put these people?” he asked...
Families take refuge in an indoor basketball stadium at the Tacloban City Convention Center, which has become a homeless shelter after the super typhoon Haiyan battered the area, Nov. 12, 2013.
Nov. 8, 2013
Considering the staggering statistics available regarding the plight of the homeless nationwide and in our own community, is it really in good taste for Providence House and their sponsors to host a great big homeless people theme party in Independence Stadium?
By inviting the public to design their own box shelter and camp out in a well-secured location with hired security, food, music and movies, they are simultaneously glamorizing and satirizing the very victims of society that they claim to advocate on behalf of. This event is the social-class equivalent to dressing up in blackface...
November 12, 2013
County prosecutors and prison guards would be allowed to carry concealed pistols into so-called "gun-free zones" under legislation approved Tuesday by Michigan's Republican-led House.
The three-bill package would apply to current or former county prosecutors and assistant prosecutors, along with retired corrections officers, parole officers, probation officers and some federal law enforcement officers.
Michigan law currently prohibits most concealed pistol permit holders from bringing their weapon into a school, day care center, sports stadium, bar, church, hospital, large entertainment venue, casino, college dorms or classrooms.
Supporters say that letting prosecutors, prison guards and other retired officers carry concealed pistols everywhere they go will allow them to protect themselves against convicts who may hold grudges against them, sometimes years after their release from jail or prison.
"This is an effort to ensure that those who prosecute some of the worst criminals in our state can defend both themselves and their families,"
...
Hollywood movies are usually presented as a form of entertainment, but their plots often conceal a specific agenda. “Disaster movies”, films about the end of the world through various mass crises, are particularly interesting as they all follow the same basic formula and glorify the same entities. In this article, we’ll look at the disaster movie ‘Contagion’ and how it “teaches” its viewers who to trust and who not to trust during a crisis.
...
...
The north end of Kingston Stadium was home to a campus of FEMA trailers housing District support offices following the 2008 flood.
After serving as a temporary administration and support campus for nearly four years, the north end of Kingston Stadium is being restored by the District to serve as a track and field event space.
When the 2008 flood damaged five District support buildings, the area became home to a campus of 35 modular trailers housing many of the displaced departments...
Nov 12, 2013
Law enforcement officers and military personnel from at least six agencies will converge in Savannah today for a wide-ranging training exercise to "address civil unrest," a spokesman says.
The exercise "depicts a scenario that residents are returning to the area 24 hours after an evacuation order has been rescinded to find a multitude of unexpected issues. The lack of electrical power, food and water is amplified by protest groups, outside agitators, bomb threats and a riot at the county jail," the spokesman continues.
The training exercises will be centered in Grayson Stadium and Daffin Park and two "undisclosed areas." While most of the activity will be centered on those sites, the training will also involve emergency vehicles caravanning between them....
17 November 2013
A damning Amnesty report has raised fresh fears about the exploitation of the migrant workers building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, amid a rising toll of death, disease and misery...
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?
Originally posted by FurvusRexCaeli
SDFs are not part of the National Guard.
Ok, but my local National Guard Armoury - the one I've been talking about - Is listed as the State Defense Force building. I think part of it's a VFW hall as well. Your statement doesn't prove/disprove anything.
Note the part where I said "Note their locations in relation to" those things. Look at their proximity to each other.
Originally posted by FurvusRexCaeli
Originally posted by 1825114
Get on google earth and look at your local sports complexes.
Note their locations in relation to jails, police stations/hangouts, hospitals, areas for helicopters to land, railroad tracks, and airports...
Sports complexes, being built in cities, are typically near other things that are usually found in cities.
Pretend you're a law enforcement agent and you need to find the best/quickest routes to effectively patrol an area/keep it surveiled/keep people inside.
A school on one side of a city probably isn't related to a college of a different name on the other side of the city.
A school next to a library and a science lab, with a short, well-lit, paved path leading directly into a college dorm and branching off into other nearby academic buildings, covered with banners/posters with the college's name on them posted everywhere... Probably some kind of relationship there.edit on 2-9-2011 by 1825114 because: (no reason given)
gossipnancy
I like your idea of thinking about the prison as an extreme emergency strategy. It might not hurt to arm the captives in an extreme emergency. Im sure they want a taste of freedom more than anyone else.
1825114
FEMA Partnering With Minor League Baseball
www.ready.gov...
Since 2004, the Ready Campaign has partnered with Citizen Corps and Minor League Baseball™ to help spread the importance of emergency preparedness to baseball fans at stadiums nationwide. Minor League Baseball stadiums have provided the Ready Campaign with the ideal venue and opportunity to reach millions of baseball fans and their communities to encourage them to get prepared.
...by "encourage them to get prepared for disaster," it kind of seems like they mean "get them acclimated to the pressence of troops, weaponry, and military vehicles around the sports complex" ...
just look at the list of scheduled demonstrations and their descriptions. here's the year prior... www.ready.gov...edit on 9-9-2011 by 1825114 because: (no reason given)
1825114
from a thread; "Something MAJOR going down in Denver!!"
www.abovetopsecret.com...
Originally posted by Htrowklis82
...Friday there will be a full scale military and civilian agency operation going down in Denver, and they are cautioning residents to remain calm, no matter what they may see! ...
Please be advised that on Friday, 9/23/11, a terrorism-based, full-scale emergency exercise will take place in multiple locations around the Denver Metro area. The exercise will involve first responders from 81 different agencies, will be conducted at ten separate locations, and will include loud noises, simulated weapons, smoke, emergency vehicles and other equipment that will be audible and visible throughout the day. Please see the attached document for additional information. Two of the locations are Park Meadows Mall and Sky Ridge Medical Center so don’t be alarmed if you see a lot of activity in these locations.
I have a whole PDF of information, but I am not sure how to attach it.
Originally posted by Htrowklis82
reply to post by ThinkingCap
There are multiple locations listed on this PDF, including DIA, sports authority field (bronco's stadium) hospitals and light rail stations.
Originally posted by STEADFast
Operation Mountain Guardian Emergency Exercise
blogs.douglas.co.us...
www.douglas.co.us...
Haven't waded through the whole thread to find the pdf or info directly related to the stadium yet, but the exercise is "terrorism-based," and the national guard and a sports complex are involved...
Hopefully we'll get more details in a few days...edit on 22-9-2011 by 1825114 because: (no reason given)
1825114
I thought I posted about this before, but can't find it now...
‘Contagion’ or How Disaster Movies “Educate” the Masses
Hollywood movies are usually presented as a form of entertainment, but their plots often conceal a specific agenda. “Disaster movies”, films about the end of the world through various mass crises, are particularly interesting as they all follow the same basic formula and glorify the same entities. In this article, we’ll look at the disaster movie ‘Contagion’ and how it “teaches” its viewers who to trust and who not to trust during a crisis.
...
...
Contagion, The Siege, Red Dawn (the new one and the old one,) The Crazies, etc... What other movies have showed stadiums being used like this?
This is supposedly from the upcoming Godzilla movie...
planetxcontrolroom.com...
edit on 18-11-2013 by 1825114 because: (no reason given)
Jan. 26, 2012
Five U.S. military helicopters were spotted flying low over the streets of Los Angeles late last night, as part of a tactical exercise coordinated with the Los Angeles Police Department.
According to CBS, one Black Hawk helicopter and four smaller OH-6 Little Birds flew from the U.S. Bank building downtown to the Staples Center, where the Lakers were playing below.
After lingering above the game, the Black Hawk was later seen making a hasty drop-off in a nearby park.
...
Throughout the exercise, the five rotorcrafts were staged at Dodgers Stadium.
1825114
I saw this from the situation in the philippines right now...
www.voanews.com...
Families take refuge in an indoor basketball stadium at the Tacloban City Convention Center, which has become a homeless shelter after the super typhoon Haiyan battered the area, Nov. 12, 2013.
in stark contrast to this...
Lakey: 'Homeless' event at Independence Stadium glamorizes plight
...
...
During the violence that erupted in the first weeks of April 1994, thousands of people were displaced from their homes. Government officials directed many to take refuge in places such as schools, churches and stadiums. In previous attacks, these types of locations had been safe shelters. But during the 1994 Genocide, they became extermination centers.
Kibuye, a town in the northwest corner of the country, was the site of two such massacres that resulted in the murder of thousands of people over four days. The first massacre occurred at the St. Jean Catholic Church and Home Complex which sits on a piece of land surrounded on three sides by Lake Kivu. By April 17, thousands of unarmed men, women and children, predominantly Tutsi, had taken refuge there. Using guns, grenades, machetes, spears, cudgels and other weapons, members of the Gendarmerie Nationale, police from the Commune of Gitesi (where Kibuye town sits), Interahamwe fighters, and armed civilians attacked and killed those who had gathered.
The second massacre happened at Gatwaro Stadium, located on the main road in Kibuye town. As with the people who gathered at the St. Jean Church and Home Complex, those who congregated at the stadium were told to go there by government officials. Once there, they were not allowed to leave. Without food or water, the captives ate grass. Gatwaro Stadium is located next to a steep hillside. On April 18, Gendarmerie Nationale soldiers; Gitesi Police; Interhamwe fighters and armed civilians surrounded the stadium and the neighbouring hillside. A gunshot in the air initiated the massacre. Men armed with guns were perched on top of the neighbouring hill and tried to shoot everyone in the stadium. When they started throwing grenades, everyone in the stadium lay down so a grenade hit would kill less people at once. It was then that the stadium was gassed, which caused everyone laying down to stand up and start running around, making them easier targets. Thousands were killed that day. The next morning, the attackers returned and killed any who had survived.
At first it was the Muslim Brotherhood. Now dozens of journalists, non-Islamist activists and students have been detained and beaten.
12/9/13
...
Like many other prisoners, the worst abuse Abdullah suffered occurred when he was first detained. Officers arrested him as he was walking out of Rabaa with Gehad past a security checkpoint. They asked for his ID, but all he had was his passport, which was filled with entry stamps from the countries across Africa where he had been deployed for Al Jazeera. “They considered me a spy,” he says. “They thought I was a big catch.”
He was taken to the nearby Cairo stadium, where prisoners were being mistreated and harassed by the police. The next morning he was transferred with several dozen others to a police station, where they were greeted by the notorious “welcome party”—a common practice of forcing incoming detainees to run through a gantlet of waiting soldiers, who beat and whip them with sticks and belts. Once inside, police stole money, watches and IDs from the prisoners while continuing to beat and humiliate them, Abdullah says.
All of them were eventually transferred to Abu Zaabal, where they have remained ever since, relying on regular supplies of food, water and other essentials from relatives, as is customary in Egypt’s crippled prison system.
...
Another online link which leads to a google calendar entry for this drill.
Another screenshot for when this inevitably gets removed from the site.
And finally a full screenshot of the quickly removed original drill link.