Chris Hedges at TrugDig Reports: http://www.truthdig.com/...
This Thursday and Friday,
The delegates to the G-20, the gathering of the world’s wealthiest nations, will consequently be protected by a National Guard combat battalion, recently returned from Iraq. The battalion will shut down the area around the city center, man checkpoints and patrol the streets in combat gear. Pittsburgh has augmented the city’s police force of 1,000 with an additional 3,000 officers. Helicopters have begun to buzz gatherings in city parks, buses driven to Pittsburgh to provide food to protesters have been impounded, activists have been detained, and permits to camp in the city parks have been denied. Web sites belonging to resistance groups have been hacked and trashed, and many groups suspect that they have been infiltrated and that their phones and e-mail accounts are being monitored.
The LA Times reports:
Authorities will put 4,000 police on the street and 2,000 National Guard troops on standby in case anti-globalization protests spiral out of control. Activists for an array of causes have poured into the city, and rallies, street theater and workshops began last weekend.
from: http://www.infowars.com/...
Following the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s designation of the summit as a "National Security Special Event," the U.S. Secret Service has taken charge of the event. This means that the Federal Government is directing all of the activities of the police, military, local officials, and by fiat— all of the local citizens. Amtrak has announced that they will not be making stops in Pittsburgh during the summit as well as Greyhound, who is considering temporarily moving their terminal to McKeesport. The Port Authority of Allegheny County announced that the light-rail service into the city will stop as it enters the city and admit that they still don’t know about how bus service will be affected.
KDKA News is also reporting that residents of the Downtown Pittsburgh area will need to show ID to enter their homes. The assorted apartment firms in the area are notifying their tenants that their information will be given to the city, which in-turn will put their names into a database. When the tenants who live in the "security zone" want to get home, they will need to go through a security checkpoint and show proper identification. No word on who will man these checkpoints or whether the residents will have to take their belts and shoes off.
This approaches my worst nightmare of what can happen in American streets as the global economy spins out of control. What is next?
UPDATE:
To explain my bolded comment above: it would seem this is a tinderbox for massive abuse of power. Shutting down transportation strikes me as a bridge too far.
In addition, some below have asked what sort of National Guard troops when I have already bolded they are combat troops returned from Iraq. Excuse me, but I don't like the idea of combat hardened troops unleashed on American civilians. Pardon me for drawing a line there.