http://www.chron.com/…

Mayors along the Texas-Mexico border have begun a quiet protest of the federal government’s plans to build a fence along the border: Some are refusing access to their land.

Mayors in Brownsville, Del Rio and El Paso have denied or limited access to some parts of their city property to Department of Homeland Security workers assigned to begin surveys or other preliminary work on the fence Congress has authorized to keep out illegal immigrants. Eagle Pass has denied a request from federal officials to build a portion of the wall within its city limits.

Brownsville Mayor Pat Ahumada said Tuesday that he refused two weeks ago to sign documents granting federal workers permission to begin work if it was to be on city property. Del Rio granted limited access and El Paso allowed workers only on its outskirts, said Monica Weisberg Stewart of the Texas Border Coalition, a group that represents local officials.

“This is exercising our rights. This is our property,” Ahumada said. “We are not going to make it easy for them.”

Woohoo… between this and the states refusing to implement the REAL ID we may have a set of very interesting state rights battles in our future. As with the DC gun case to be heard by the Supreme Court… this could accelerate the trek toward tyranny or start applying the break. Lets hope it’s the latter.

http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/…

http://www.freenewmexican.com/…

Anastasio Prieto, a truck driver from El Paso, Texas, doesn’t trust banks and prefers to carry his savings with him in cash. While this is a dangerous way to manage one’s money, a cursory glance at recent headlines tends to validate Prieto’s concerns about the stability of the fractional-reserve banking system.

During a stop at a weigh station in New Mexico on August 8, Prieto made a critical mistake: He cooperated with the police, assuming that as a law-abiding individual he had nothing to fear from them.

A New Mexico state trooper asked Prieto for permission to search his truck for contraband, such as needles or cash in excess of $10,000. Displaying an ingenuousness that breaks my heart, the truck driver consented, informing the officer that he was carrying nothing illegal — but admitting that he had $23,700 on board.

The police “forfeited” — that is, stole — Prieto’s savings. The DEA agents who presided over the theft “told Prieto he would receive a notice of federal proceedings to permanently forfeit the money within 30 days and that to get it back, he’d have to prove it was his and did not come from illegal drug sales,” reported the Houston Chronicle.

How terribly disgusting. How exactly does one prove $X in cash is theirs and not made through illegal means? Does anyone keep track of the serial numbers of their cash? I doubt his bank did when they cashed his checks. I’ll be surprised if this guy gets his life savings back. Unless the ACLU can shame the government into doing so. Never volunteer your property to be searched. It can only increase the chances of you losing something.

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/…

After 27 years, 11 studio albums, four Grammy nominations, and plenty of pain, MINISTRY mastermind and industrial metal pioneer Al Jourgensen will lay his longtime band to rest. Indeed, September 18’s “The Last Sucker” will be MINISTRY’s final all-new studio release and will be followed by a 2008 farewell tour, and plenty of free time for Jourgensen to devote himself to expanding his borderland compound, 13th Planet Records.

“I’ve got a lot of side-projects and new projects I want to focus on,” explained Jourgensen. “We have our our own label, 13th Planet Records, we’re building, and I want to sign, produce and collaborate with other artists. Being in the studio writing, recording and collaborating is my favorite part of this snake-oil industry. I’d rather be behind theconsole than behind the mic. Plus, I kinda like the synchronicity of Dubya and MINISTRY riding off into the sunset hand in hand.”

“The Last Sucker” is the third in an unrelenting and uber-critical trilogy aimed at exposing the foils, failures and fabrications perpetrated by the George W. Bush administration. The CD, which follows 2004’s “Houses of the Molé” and last year’s “Rio Grande Blood”, is the final nail in the Dubya coffin. The album was produced and recorded by Jourgensen himself at his 13th Planet compound in El Paso, TX, with musicians Thomas Victor (PRONG) on guitars, Paul Raven (KILLING JOKE, PRONG) on bass and guitarist Sin Quirin (THE REVOLTING COCKS). In addition, Burton C. Bell (FEAR FACTORY) makes a vocal appearance on “Die In A Crash”, as well as the album’s final two songs, “End of Days” parts One and Two.

You can download “Die in a Crash” at this location.

The song is alright. I’m interested in seeing whether Al cooled off with the explicit Bush bashing. I’d much rather Ministry’s last album to be something more timeless.