infobong.com

Here's an interesting IndyMedia story from a couple of weeks ago. Czech police used water cannons to break up a "freetekno" party called "Czechtekk 2005" in a rural part of the country. The article could use a couple of grafs giving a little background on the Czechtekk parties which have been held for the past twelve years. I'm guessing Czechtekk is an outdoor electronic music festival comparable to Burning Man in the states. I did originally assume that 'Czechtekk 2005" would be an activist Linux user convention, which only proves how completely unhip I am.

The party took place on rented land in a rural area. According to the article, police legitimated their actions by stating that the rental contract was invalid and began stopping cars headed to the party. The article suggests that the contract was valid, and the police wanted to break up the party from the start.

It's interesting how this story hinges on land rights. Land rights have come up in the Cindy Sheehan story in a similar way. Local residents have tried to ban parking along the highway to Bush's ranch, and I'm sure that their reasons have as much to do with Sheehan's beliefs as they do with the traffic she brings. Although the hearing has been scheduled after Sheehan and Bush plan to leave Crawford, Camp Casey is moving to a private patch of land. The owner, Fred Mattage supports Sheehan's project, but, interestingly, he's a distant cousin of the man who fired a gun near the protester, claiming he was getting ready for "dove season."

I'm sure Texas and the Czech Republic have different attitudes toward land rights. I would expect Texas property owners to have a stronger inclination to enforce property rights, so it's a little surprising the lengths to with the Czech police went to kick people off of property. The folks in Crawford are complaining about events on publicly-owned roadsides, but their claims are couched in a property-owner's entitlement.