Story Updates 5/27/12

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Today we've got updates on Detroit, Emily Miller, armed drones, Tombstone, AZ's ongoing water battle, a new source for Phoenix Society type information, and more on the Ron Paul Revolution.

Detroit Fights Back

Russia Today did a nice job of covering the current state of affairs in Detroit, America's Greece in the following video focusing on private security. "In a city where a reported 7 out of 10 murders go unsolved, it's a service welcome by the community."


Emily Got Her Gun

Some of you will remember Emily Miller for her "Emily Gets Her Gun" series, exploring her four-month trip through Washington, D.C., convoluted process to obtain a handgun legally, and my coverage of that story in Shall Not Be Infringed? There's good news for Emily.

Washington Times Senior Editor for Opinion Emily Miller was awarded the Clark Mollenhoff Award for Investigative Reporting from the Institute on Political Journalism.

The Mollenhoff award was given to Ms. Miller for her “Emily Gets Her Gun” series, which ultimately resulted in review of onerous gun regulations by Washington, D.C., officials.

The Washington Times is proud of her work too.

“Emily Miller’s work exemplifies the guiding principle of our editorial pages, which is that good opinion writing is based on solid reporting” said Editorial Page Editor Brett M. Decker. “Her ‘Emily Gets Her Gun’ series shows what individuals can do to fight back against bad government regulations. It’s investigative journalism up front and personal because the writer is involved in the drama as it unfolds.”

Congratulations, Emily!

Arming Domestic Drones

We discussed Drones Coming Home to Roost, but the story's gotten even worse. Not satisfied with using drones to violate citizen's privacy on a regular basis, some law enforcement officers want to up the ante and arm their drones.

Chief Deputy Randy McDaniel of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office in Texas told The Daily that his department is considering using rubber bullets and tear gas on its drone.

“Those are things that law enforcement utilizes day in and day out and in certain situations it might be advantageous to have this type of system on the UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle),” McDaniel told The Daily.

The use of potential force from drones has raised the ire of the American Civil Liberties Union.

If they start arming these things, they better think about armor-plating them, too.

Tombstone Denied Water Again

When we last spoke of Tombstone, Arizona, they were hoping that an emergency request to repair their water system would be approved by the Federal Courts. The request has now been denied.

It is fire season in the West. Reports say the early start is “not a good sign,” and forecasts claim the “combination of heat and dryness will only make western wildfires worse.” The predictions were made in the same week that US District Judge Frank Zapata made a decision to deny an emergency request by the city of Tombstone, AZ, to repair its water system damaged in last year’s Monument Fire. He doesn’t think Tombstone has a crisis. Zapata said: “Claims of a drastic water emergency related to public consumption and fire needs are overstated and speculative.”

This is another of those stories reminiscent of the breakdown of society foretold in Atlas Shrugged. If fire gets loose in Tombstone, the finger-pointing will be fast and furious.

The Phoenix Society

Reason Magazine had a nice article about MakeShift, "a quarterly print and online magazine about creativity in unlikely places, from the favelas of Rio to the alleys of Delhi."

These are environments where resources may be scarce, but where ingenuity is used incessantly for survival, enterprise, and a self-expression. We believe in an industrial future fueled by networks of makers, from roadside engineers to co-working creatives. We are documenting a movement of hackers, sharers, and entrepreneurs innovating under resource constraints. Makeshift is about people, the things they make, and the context they make them in.

Makeshift features a regular column, "The Misfit Economy," on black-market innovation.

Ron Paul's Revolution

As reported in 30 Seconds to Destroy Democracy , the March 10th Republican convention in Clarke County, Georgia was hijacked by establishment Republicans, who willingly violated the rules they were operating under in an attempt to retain control of the county's party machine.

In a case of justice (partially) restored, the credentials committee of the state Republican Party stripped Clarke County of their representation at the state convention.

Among those representing Clarke County at the convention were Secretary of State Brian Kemp and Secretary of the Georgia Republican party, John Padgett, two well-known and influential members of the Georgia Republican Party. Other prominent local GOP members affected by this decision included Clarke County chairman Matt Brewster and several members of the Clarke County Executive Committee. The entire delegation was asked to leave the convention floor and members lost their delegate status. As a result, Clarke County voters had no representatives at the convention.

Doug Wead reports on the dirty tricks played by the Republican establishment across the country.

• The establishment turned off the air conditioning at the Arizona State GOP Convention last weekend, trying to sweat the Ronulans into leaving.
• In Oklahoma they pulled out a ballroom divider to cordon off Ron Paul supporters and shut them out of participation. Later they turned out the lights. Voice votes that were clearly lost were declared won.
• In Carson County, Nevada they turned off a microphone when a Hispanic tried to speak, they knew that Hispanics were for Ron Paul.
• In Minnesota they told their people not to vote for any delegate under the age of fifty.
• In Alaska, they defeated the majority by retaining the committee which “interpreted rules” and later, after taking the delegation, reluctantly gave up the party control to the new majority but transferred all of the money out of the Republican Party accounts.
• In Virginia, at a District Convention, they coaxed the Ron Paul delegation outside and then locked the door. The pastor of the church that was hosting the event was, himself, locked outside.
• In Missouri they had all the delegates sign up at County Conventions and then had their County Chairman take the rolls outside and lock them in their car trunks so they could block roll call voting and have their chairman declare lost voice votes as won. At another convention delegates were arrested.

Nonetheless, the delegate strategy discussed in Where in the World is Ron Paul? and He's Catchin' On, I'm Tellin' Ya! continues to reap dividends, and Ron Paul continues to change the world.

Ron Paul has had victories in Nevada, Maine, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Alaska, Iowa, Minnesota, and Washington State, as reported on the Rachel Maddow show.



Some other states where the Paul campaign is expected to do well include Colorado, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia.

Four years ago, although Ron Paul was denied access to the Republican National Convention floor, he held a Rally for the Republic counter-convention across town from the Republican National Convention that drew a crowd of 12,000. I don't think he'll find that necessary this time around. He's going to have an awful lot of his friends at the official party. Watch for an interesting convention in Tampa, August 27-30.

...and that's all I have to say about that.

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This Rally for the Republic trailer is also a great 2¹/₂ minute explanation of the Ron Paul Revolution.