Thursday, March 3, 2011

Why Cops Love the Drug War

Wednesday, March 2, 2010
Why Cops Love the Drug War
by Jacob G. Hornberger

After more than 30 years of death, destruction, and failure, the two primary advocates of the war on drugs are public officials and drug lords. The reason is obvious: these two groups are the biggest beneficiaries of the drug war. The drug lords make money off the war -- big money. And government officials make money off the war -- big money.

One of the major ways that government officials make money off the drug war is through bribes. Government inspectors at international crossing points are bribed to look the other way when a drug shipment is coming across the border. Drug agents are bribed to look the other way with respect to drug distribution. Prosecutors and judges are bribed in return for reduced sentences.

No doubt about it: The drug war is one big, rotten, corrupting government program, one with absolutely no redeeming benefits whatsoever. It would be difficult to find a better example of a domestic government program that produces more death, damage, corruption, and infringements on privacy and liberty.

Another way that government officials make money off the drug war is a legal one -- through the asset-forfeiture laws. These are laws enacted by public officials that enable the cops to seize assets supposedly involved in a drug-law violation and keep the assets for themselves. The program has turned into one big moneymaker for the cops.

There are innumerable horror stories of how the cops have used the drug war to steal -- I mean, seize -- people's property and convert the property to the cops' own use. This past Monday's issue of the Boston Herald relates a recent horror story about asset-forfeiture abuse.

The article stated that Logan International Airport cops spent $300,000 for a fleet of brand new SUVs, along with couches and other furniture and flat-screen TVs. To pay for the items, they used the drug-war money they had seized from people.

One of the downsides, from the standpoint of representative government, is that the drug-war seizures help police departments to become self-funding fiefdoms and, therefore, not so dependent on the city councils that budget their money. In 2009 Troop F, the unit that bought those SUVs and other items, seized $1.5 million, up from $500,000 in 2009. No doubt the cops are going to make certain that that number continues to go up.

State police spokesman David Procopio expressed his belief that the seized money should be left in the hands of Troop F because they're the ones who seized it. By the way, the federal government gets to keep 20 percent of the loot, without even lifting a finger.

Or here's another example, taken from Radley Balko's website "The Agitator" and from this article on Opposingviews.com.

Michigan cops went after a guy based on information that he had one stem of marijuana in his house. What was the cops' motive in busting him? Well, one possibility was that they were simply concerned about the man's health and well-being and wanted to prevent him from smoking that one stem of marijuana. Another possibility, however, is that they were interested in the man's very expensive musical equipment, DVDs, computers, and other electronics. The cops seized it all. Unbeknownst to them, however, there was an open mic that recorded their excitement over all the goodies they were seizing. The recording is posted on Balko's site.

I ask you: What are the chances that any of these cops, state or federal, would ever call for an end to what is quite possibly the most deadly, destructive, corrupt, and failed government program in history?

The chances are nil. The drug war is a cash cow for public officials, not only in terms of bribes but also asset seizures. It has been for decades. They're not about to give it up, at least not without a fierce fight.

Of course, public officials would never admit that the reason they fight for the continuation of the drug war is out of self-interest. They have to continue playing the game, piously claiming that the only reason they favor the continuation of the drug war is so that they can finally, once and for all after several decades, shut down the drug lords.

What the cops don't realize (or maybe some of them do) is that the only way to shut down the drug lords, immediately, is to end the drug war by legalizing drugs. Continuing to wage the drug war only ensures that the drug lords will continue supplying drugs and that the cops will continue making busts, and that both groups will continue making beaucoup bucks off the war, which is really what the drug war is all about.

http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2011-03-02.asp

Pakistan: Children playing suicide bomber game (video)

creeping | March 3, 2011 at 9:00 AM | Tags: Creeping Sharia, islam, Jihad, Life, Media, Muslim, News, Politics, Random, Religion, Sharia, terrorism, travel, utube, Video, youtube | Categories: Asia, Creeping Sharia, Jihad, Media, Mosque, News, Politics, Religion, Sharia, Video | URL: http://wp.me/pbU4v-80T

Yesterday we posted on children being trained to wage jihad in Sudan, today it's children in Pakistan acting out suicide bombings. via Video of children playing suicide bomb game circulates in Pakistan | Mail Online. A shocking video has emerged from Pakistan depicting children role-playing a Taliban suicide bombing. The 84-second clip shows Pashtun children [...]

The Berners Street Hoax

Today I Found Out

One of the Great Practical Jokes of the 19th Century, the Berners Street Hoax

Posted: 03 Mar 2011 05:00 AM PST

Today I found out about one of the great practical jokes of the 19th century, the Berners Street Hoax.

The year was 1809. Famed English author, Theodore Hook, made a bet with one of his close friends, the noted architect and writer, Samuel Beazley, that within one week, he could make any house in London the most talked about place in the city. The house he ended up choosing was the home of the widow Mrs. Tottenham on 54 Berners Street, London, which was the same street that Earl Stanhope and the Bishop of Carlisle and of Chester, among other wealthy and well-to-do individuals, lived on at that time.

The event began on November 27. Hook and Beazley positioned themselves in the home across the street, which they had recently rented, and around 5:00 am, the fun began. First, a chimney sweep arrived. The problem was that Mrs. Tottenham hadn't requested the services of a sweep. Within a few minutes, 12 more sweeps arrived; they too were also turned away. Next, coal delivery workers began showing up with several large carts packed with coal to be delivered to Mrs. Tottenham; they were turned away. Next, a cart load of furniture arrived; then workers showed up bearing a coffin for Mrs. Tottenham.

Next came several cake makers attempting to deliver custom made, very large, weddings cakes; then around fifty other chefs arrived attempting to deliver a total of around 2,500 raspberry tarts; then several doctors, lawyers, gardeners, fishmongers, dentists, grocers, priests, couch makers, carpet-manufacturers, wig-makers, coach-makers, curiosity dealers, opticians, brewers, and shoemakers, among others. They all came offering their services or bringing very large orders of their wares that were to be delivered to that address on that day at various times throughout the day.

At one point, over one dozen pianos were delivered to her door step. After that, six men carrying a huge chamber organ showed up. Eventually the dignitaries arrived, including: the Governor of the Bank of England; the Duke of York; the Archbishop of Canterbury; the Mayor of the London; the Lord Chief Justice; several cabinet ministers; and the Chairman of the East India Company.

Throughout the entire day, various parties and delivery people crowded the area outside of 54 Berners Street. By mid-day, the streets in that area of London became so crowded that the roads were jammed for several blocks in every direction with delivery people and on-lookers.

All the while, Hook and Beazley sat and watched the chaos from across the street. Hook's part in the madness, that did indeed become the talk of London, was not known until much later when he eventually confessed it. He did it all by sending around 4,000 letters out to various entities in London, ordering various items from the simple to outlandish. He also wrote several notable individuals like the Mayor of London and the like, creating tales sufficient to get those people to come and call on Mrs. Tottenham on that day.

What was written in most of the letters to convince these people to come isn't known. One of the few that is known is the letter to the Mayor of London. Once he realized that everyone there was the victim of an elaborate practical joke, he went to the police station. At the police station, the Mayor stated that he had received a letter supposedly from Mrs. Tottenham explaining that she was at death's door and she requested that the Mayor call upon her home to bear witness to a deposition she would give under oath.

The Mayor then sent officers out to attempt to instill some order in the chaos in the streets, including attempting to calm the crowds who were reportedly on the brink of rioting with the streets jammed with angry travelers and hundreds of merchants who were infuriated that Mrs. Tottenham would not pay for the often massive orders of their wares they had come to deliver, some of which were completely destroyed by the crowds with several wagons overturned and other damage to various product the merchants had attempted to deliver. Along with the damaged goods, several fights broke out throughout the day within the pressing masses.

Once the crowds dissipated late in the evening, Hook and Beazley emerged from the house across the street and went home. For successfully making the home the talk of London within a week of the bet, Hook reportedly received a guinea from Beazley.

Bonus Factoids:

Another letter from Hook that the contents are somewhat known was to the Governor of the Bank of England. He had received a letter supposedly from Mrs. Tottenham explaining that she wished to give a sizable endowment to the Bank and requested that the Governor call on her so that she could work out the details with him.
The home of Mrs. Tottenham at 54 Berners Street was eventually demolished, being replaced by the Five Star Sanderson Hotel, which spans that lot, along with several adjacent lots.
It isn't known why Hook chose Mrs. Tottenham's home as no connection between the two is known and Hook himself never explained his selection. It's entirely possible that it just happened to be a location where the home across the street could be rented and was also in a fairly well-to-do part of town which would help make the letters more credible.
Samuel Beazley was not only a famous architect, but also a novelist and playwright, having written well over a hundred plays and other works. He was, however, particularly known for his architecture and specifically for his theater designs, being one of the first English experts in theater architecture.
One of the many stories Beazley related in some of his writings was an event during the Peninsular War, in Spain, where he was supposedly at one point unconscious and thought to be dead. He ended up waking up shortly before burial, narrowly avoiding being buried alive.
Theodore Hook was a famed English author who was particularly known for his outlandish practical jokes, chief of which was the Berners Street Hoax. While Hook was never charged for the events he instigated in the Berners Street Hoax, he did have other legal troubles. Foremost of which was when he was made the Accountant General and Treasurer of Mauritius, now known as the Republic of Mauritius, despite having no knowledge of or experience with accounting or book keeping or most other skills required of the job. He managed to last five years at that position before it was discovered that there were large discrepancies in the accounts. He was arrested and held responsible for around £12,000 that was lost, supposedly largely having been taken by a deputy official.

Sources:

You are subscribed to email updates from Today I Found Out To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Pro-Communist/Pro-Castro CodePink chased out of Little Havana (Video)

Scotty Starnes | March 3, 2011 at 9:30 AM | Tags: Castro, CodePink, Communist, Cuba, Cubans, Florida, Little Havana, Medea Benjamin, Miami | Categories: Political Issues | URL: http://wp.me/pvnFC-4CE

Hard to sell Communism to those who use to live under a Communist dictator.

watch?v=mwlMX5Agdi0&feature=player_embedded#at=13

Maybe anti-war CodePink should protest Obama. Oops, I forgot. CodePink's founder is an Obama campaign donor.

Add a comment to this post

WordPress.com | Thanks for flying with WordPress!
Manage Subscriptions | Unsubscribe | Publish text, photos, music, and videos by email using our Post by Email feature.

Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://subscribe.wordpress.com

Muslim-only cemetery coming to Long Island

Makes a perfect place to walk your dogs.

Muslim-only cemetery coming to Long Island

creeping | March 3, 2011 at 10:00 AM | Tags: cair, Creeping Sharia, islam, Life, Media, Muslim, New York, News, Politics, Random, Religion, Sharia, travel | Categories: Creeping Sharia | URL: http://wp.me/pbU4v-810

via Newsday via LI Muslims look to set up cemetery The memorial plaques are in English and Arabic, bearing messages such as "Gateway to Mercy." The dead are buried in the direction of the Islamic holy city of Mecca. On a sprawling plain in Mount Sinai, Muslims have turned a section of the Washington Memorial [...]