ATLANTA, Georgia (Reuters) -- A state of emergency went into effect Monday in six Georgia coastal counties as the state prepared to host world leaders at the G-8 Summit.

Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed an executive order this month establishing a central command to coordinate law enforcement operations for the summit, which will be held June 8-10 on Sea Island, located about 90 miles south of Savannah.

"The expectation is that everybody will go down there and voice their protest in a very law-abiding, peaceful manner," said Harold Melton, executive counsel to Perdue.

"Knowing the sensitivity of having the world's leaders all in place, being extra cautious given the state of the world right now, you just want to be sure that you are prepared in the event something should go wrong," he added.

The governor's order brings together a number of agencies under the authority of one office and sets up a chain of command to govern communication in case of an unexpected event.

The Group of Eight includes the United States, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada and Russia.

Protest groups called the state of emergency an overreaction.

Jamie Loughner, a self-described anarchist, known as "Bork," said she feared the Georgia order would lead to violence she experienced at last November's Free Trade Area of Americas talks in Miami, where police fired rubber bullets and pepper spray at demonstrators.

"I don't think anybody dismisses the fact that in this modern world we've made, there's a need for security," she said.

"Nonetheless, overreaction, paranoia and fear directed toward protesters is bound to produce more violence against people who are merely trying to speak their mind."
PLEASE READ THE SOURCE AT
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/South/05/24/g8.plans.reut/index.html

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FTAA was something we talked about some time back...
I was really taken aback that they are declaring a state of emergency already!

"FTAA was something we talked about some time back..."

Did it have anything to do with the riaa the first time ?

I have footage of the exact moment the "riots" broke out at the FTAA protests.

the cops walked in a solid line of riot gear right up to peacefully protesting people and MACED THEM.

they never became violent once.. they were torn to pieces by the cops who are supposed to "serve and protect" just to justify the millions spent on the securty.

this state of emergency was called because they need an excuse to tell the press later when they jail the "dissidents" again.

he's out.. and i'm voting him out.. byebye chicken man.

for those of you far away from georgia, allow me to offer a bit of insight. sonny perdue was elected governor primarily because a lot of "real" southerners, mainly in rural areas, thought he was going to have a referendum so they could vote to restore the 1950s state flag with the confederate battle embelm. this didn't happen, so now i have to look at all these damned signs people put up along the roadsides with confederate flags and "sonny lied!" printed below it. but the guy he was running against was an even worse choice, after all..

anyhow, the point is that this is what you should expect from a guy elected on those premises. i've been ostracized for saying it before, but i'll say it again -- the south has deffinitly earned its reputation and stereotypes.

--ash, who probably disagrees with the protest groups about everything except that this is an over-reaction.

"the south has deffinitly earned its reputation and stereotypes"

two f's? hehe..

on a serious note, he's right.

sheep.. you want human sheep, go to the south.

living here for 13 years getting angrier day by day at the morons which are supposed to be the intelligent sector of the population.

people there with rationality are precious, few, and ostracised.

Thank you CodeWarrior! Great article as usual.

"'FTAA was something we talked about some time back...'

Did it have anything to do with the riaa the first time ?"

Do you think things would be different if we protested against the RIAA? I have heard many people on this website alone talk about protesting the RIAA in the streets. It is good to hear these things so people are prepared incase they do take the protest against the RIAA to the streets. Besides, the FTAA benefits corporations like the record labels. Come on, we should all have a positive attitude instead of shutting people down for pointing something out.

The powers that be couldn't pick a more remote location to try to wall off their deliberations. As Code and I keep up our contacts with the attendees at the Geneva WIPO meeting in June, it's all one effort to harmonize copyright laws worldwide, and as expected the so-called harmonization goes automatically to the longest term available.

The WIPO efforts are particularly insidious. The issue on the table is the Broadcast Treaty, which seeks a new layer of copyright protection (the economists word is friction or transaction cost) that extends to broadcasting of content. For example, you would now need to seek permission not only from the record label, the composers, Harry Fox, and publishers, but an entity like CBS.

Leflaw and I have been invited to participate in monitoring the WIPO meeting.

The people working on modifying or scuttling the Broadcast Treaty have the sharpest sword by pointing out that the efforts of the G8, the World Bank and the IMF have exacerbated the world's misery by promoting ruinous bank interests. In effect, the world's richest countries throttling the developing countries. The corporations are seeking to "venue-shop" by exploiting the differences between the WPPT, TRIPS and WTO for greatest economic advantage over poor nations. It is a thinly veiled effort that is funded directly by banks without consideration of folk cultures or public policy. And certainly the cost of medications and patents are gasoline on the fire of worldwide AIDS epidemic. Jim Griffin expressed it to me well once: It's in our best interests, otherwise they will swarm over our walls and kill us in our sleep.

Those are sober words to consider, given that Christians only comprise 30% of the world's population. What you've accomplished by exploding Iraq like a cancer site is the billions of Muslims swarming over our walls and killing us.

We cannot impose copyright prices on developing natons. It is well established that vulnerable democracies need breathing room for copyrights such as America itself benefited from weak copyright in its tender years. In a nutshell, before America could develop its own authors we needed cheap editions of Thackeray and Dickens in knapsacks that accompanied settlers into the frontier.

The earliest (now-forgotten) American authors slavishly imitated European authors. Mark Twain is widely credited as inventing the "American Voice" rough, big-hearted crude like its heroes, the frontiersmen Paul Bunyan and Davy Crockett. But even Mark Twain stole his writing style from a newspaper columnist in San Francisco. Becoming the most radical copyright extremist in history, Twain was a lifetime plagiarist.

I anticipate this country breaking down this summer. We have a President who will not resign.

I anticipate the deployment of the army against its own citizens in the streets, and the posse comitatus laws apparently have been repealed. As well as using an obscure Secret Service regulation to cordon off protesters two blocks away so that Bush can't see them. Little problem with that, it's called the 5th Amendment, the right to assemble.

So the question in times of Revolution is: which side will the army come down on? Will our cousins and brothers be looking at us from behind face shields across the barricades and tear gas?

If you have doubts about my predictions, think about the Republican Convention in August.

We seemed to have learned nothing form the election fraud of 2000. Do you not comprehend the savage ambitions of Rove and Cheney? Wake up from your TV-induced narcolepsy. The coup already took place four years ago. The president and his advisors took office on Day One with blood in their eyes and war in their hearts. Do not delude yourselves that the incumbents will not protect their mandate with all available powers of war. You may expect a new war front in N. Korea and reinstatement of the Draft. Don't kid yourself that this administration will not use nuclear bombs against the hordes.

We cannot have honest elections until we take out the stranglehold of television money. Until that day, I say, shut down the country in its tracks, throw your bodies under the wheels. You will note that the networks will show no coverage of the demonstrations, but rest assured, you will be photographed by the government.

"FTAA was something we talked about some time back..."

Did it have anything to do with the riaa the first time ?"

Yes, the FTAA as originally proposed had provisions for mandatory criminal penalities for those who traded songs that were copyrighted and the owners didn't want traded.

tomsong,
Poignant and to the heart of the matter. Only one nit I would pick with you. I don't think Korea is a serious player in Bush's game. They have no oil. Look for the U.S. to move against Iran or Saudi Arabia first. Also watch Venezuela. Bush has already tried to oust Chavez, (a democratically elected leader), once and failed. The issue is oil. Oil and the currency used to buy oil. Too many countries are considering a switch from "petro-dollars" to "petro-euros". This was what doomed Saddam Hussein. He dared to switch. Everything else was smoke & mirrors. Making the Euro a reserve currency would put a world of hurt on the U.S. thanks to Bush's irresponsible fiscal policies. He thinks he can overcome economics with military might. He has got to go. NOW.

I bow to you ZipChip. Your global knowledge makes my head swim. Please note that my own postings seem to kill conversations when I enter the chat. I am most interested sincerely in your insights. keep coming back. Leave 'em begging for more.

I agree, Iran is more likely next on Cheney/Rowe's list. (BTW, Bush is just a puppet.) Besides, North Korea has the bomb already ...and probably could hit us with it if the USA got too aggressive. The hawks won't pick on them too much ...yet.