Interesting piece in the NY Times on how performance-enhancing drugs hysteria is affecting competition among elderly athletes.
The greatest wine hoax of all time.
Last week, the Motley Fool had a terrific analysis of the Whole Foods fiasco, oddly enough written before much of it had yet to blow up.
This can’t end well: Israeli scientists figure out how to forge DNA.
Why do autumn leaves turn red in North America, but yellow in Europe?
Just what California’s cash-strapped government needs: more drug offenders in its jails. Bonus points if they do end up shoveling all of that money to the multi-jurisdictional drug task forces that have been the cause of so much trouble over the years.
NYPD stopped and frisked 273,000 innocence people in the first six months of this year. Their names are all now in the department’s database.
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TheAgitator.com
Speaking of illegal searches, brilliant Fred Reed article on TSA, New York City searches and the state of the police state:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/reed/reed165.html
From the DNA article
“John M. Butler, leader of the human identity testing project at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, said he was “impressed at how well they were able to fabricate the fake DNA profiles.” However, he added, “I think your average criminal wouldn’t be able to do something like that.”
Average criminal, no. It would take some really special criminals to do that, like say, a corrupt District Attorney with some “buddies” at the crime lab…
MDGuy beat me to the punch.
I bet the only white people that were frisked by NYPD had long hair and/or tattoos.
First they go after black people.
Then they go after brown people.
Then longhairs, tattooed people, gays, Jews, etc.
Then they come after YOU!
“You can just engineer a crime scene,” said Dan Frumkin.
My heart just skipped a beat.
Who needs to engineer a crime scene? Its easier to just lie.
Just what California’s cash-strapped government needs: more drug offenders in its jails.
What
The
Fuck?
We already have 25% of the world inmates
in a country with 5% of the people.
And the cops want more database entries and more
frisks and more prisoners.
Can you say “bubble”?
That’s how they ride in NYC.
It’s actually non criminal in New York to possess 25 grams of marijuana. It’s just a civil offense carrying a 100 dollar fine. That is, so long as it stays in your pocket.
Paraphernalia, on the other hand… is a freakin’ misdeameanor. up to 1000 dollar fine and a year in the slammer.
There is also a law in NYC that lets the pigs pat you down for weapons.
So what the fuckers do, is approach random blacks and latinos on the street, say “Hey! We’re gunna pat you down for weapons because we can, and we don’t give a fuck about your rights. Oh, and if you have any dope or shit, you should just give it up now.”
If the kid falls for the ruse and shows his weed or pipe… boom.
The fact is, they have no probable cause, and as such, no right to search. The smart money is to shut up and let the pricks pat you down for ‘guns’.
New York City has one of the largest police departments in the country, And that’s why. Your own tax money at work, employing thugs whose job it is to create future criminals by fucking over kids.
But it’s that way because people keep electing and re-electing politicians that are “tough on crime”.
As much as individuals like to claim they are freedom loving, liberty loving, etc, as a whole this country is full of authoritarians that love to see those that deserve “it” get their desserts.
But you’ll notice until it happens to someone that looks like them or is them, they don’t give a rat’s ass about what happens to “others”. This country is very much “I’ve got mine. Fuck you” and “Nimby” oriented.
Typical Republicrat response to the last story:
What’s the problem? They’re innocent. Why should they care?
“This country is very much “I’ve got mine. Fuck you” and “Nimby” oriented.”
See “Richard Bottoms” from the Whole Foods debacle.
Bob,
“There is also a law in NYC that lets the pigs pat you down for weapons.” This simply can not be true. Such a law would be blatantly unconstitutional. The state can create laws that infringe upon citizen’s constitutional rights.
Police are allowed, un the 4th Amend., to do what are called “Terry Stops,” they can pat you down for weapons when they have a reasonable and articulable suspicion that you might be carrying a weapon. This is not probable cause, it is reasonable suspicion. But this rule, “created” by the Supreme Court makes clear that police can not pat you down for weapons any time they feel like (at least legally speaking). NY can not legislate aorund this.
The polic might pull this trick on unsuspecting folks, but they, nor any police office, have the authority to simply pat anyone down and say it’s a weapons search. They must have an articulable reason. Also once they pat you down for weapons this could lead to a confiscation or arrest for drugs, as long as they can tell from the pat down that you are likely to be carrying an illegal item. So, simply feeling somethin gthat could be a dimebag but also could easily be a pack of gum or a crumpled up receipt etc. is not enough.
Obviously this is what the law says, not that cops are ones to really give a fuck.
Sorry that should read “The state can NOT create…”
Is the NYPD database involuntary? That is, are they being ordered to keep a database because of some other concern, like a racial profiling thing? I know that the NYPD has to note the race of every person they ticket. Could it be that they’re also required to keep a database of people they pat-down, for similar reasons?
“Police are allowed, un the 4th Amend., to do what are called “Terry Stops,” they can pat you down for weapons when they have a reasonable and articulable suspicion that you might be carrying a weapon. This is not probable cause, it is reasonable suspicion. But this rule, “created” by the Supreme Court makes clear that police can not pat you down for weapons any time they feel like (at least legally speaking). NY can not legislate aorund this.”
No they cannot legislate around it. But they can turn a blind eye
to it or make it so expensive 95% to fight that of the frisks are upheld.
Riddle me this: How many homeboys have the resources to challenge their arrest on Constitutional grounds?
#16 | Yizmo Gizmo | August 19th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
“How many homeboys have the resources to challenge their arrest on Constitutional grounds?”
Unfortunately true.
However, if the NYPD got sued every single time that they did it, they would soon find themselves unable to afford to keep doing it.
#16
Well, if they are arrested and face charges they would be appointed a lawyer at no charge. Part of that lawyers job would be to suppress the evidence that was obtained unlawfully.
But I think your point still stands that many cases the cops do illegal things and take your drugs, but don’t arrest you so there is no recourse or redress.
[...] HT: The Agitator [...]
From the California story:
“As now envisioned, the state’s anti-drug-abuse enforcement program could have its funding boosted substantially over last year, in part because of nearly $20 million in federal stimulus money allocated in July.”
Um, wasn’t the stimulus money for the economy and infrastructure projects? How does law enforcement get a slice of the stimulus package? Well, I guess if you consider prisons a growth industry….
Oh, you silly libertarians. Nobody expects laws to mean what they say nowadays!
/snark
I don’t see how that’s remotely likely. Either the cop tricked the guy into showing his weed, in which case the guy is screwed, or the cop found the weed during an unlawful search, in which case the cop lies and says the guy looked high, and the guy is screwed.
If you hadn’t noticed, the word of cops may as well be the word of God in the so-called justice system.
#22
That is, sadly, very true, I was merely replying to the concern that vicitms of this police abuse would not have access to lawyers to help them.
Nick T:
Yeah, that’s what they’re using. Sorry, I had assumed they had somehow set that up as law in NYC.
Basically, what they do is pick out some kids, then engage them in conversation. Then try to trick them into thinking that if the DO find their drugs, that they’ll be in big trouble. As soon as the poor kid voluntarily shows the weed, boom! While it’s only a ticket to POSSESS 25 grams or less, the amount ABOVE that, 25 g to 2 oz, has been written to say “or any amount in public where marijuana is burning or in public view.”
Check out this link: http://wcbstv.com/local/nyc.marijuana.arrests.2.711645.html
And this is in a state with ‘decriminalization’ of 25 grams or less!
Now, if the kid COULD afford a lawyer, he could fight that… except of course, all the cop would have to do is lie. His buddies would back him up. That weed / paraphernalia was in plain sight, they would say. They were just talking to the kid and he showed it to them.
If the kid can’t afford a lawyer, the SAME FUCKING PEOPLE that are jacking him up would gladly give him the worst lawyer in the state, or if that one’s too drunk, one with such a ridiculous case load he couldn’t do a good job if he wanted to.
Fucking over minorities with drug busts is a cash cow, and the LEO power structure in NYC is cashing in on it.
For example, given Whole Foods’ generally left-leaning clientele, his comparison of unions to herpes many years ago was perhaps a touch incendiary.
How dare he! Isn’t he afraid that all the unemployed union workers from the rust belt might fire bomb his house? Criticizing unions is unAmerican and plays into the hands of those who support the mass enslavement of women and children in fire-trap sweat shops on a subsistence of bread and water (without health benefits or even a fat juicy pension!). Luckily, when unions finally get Card Check passed, they will have the opportunity to bring to the entire country the same rip-roaring success that they brought to Michigan.
Bob,
Under your scenario though what the cop is doing may not be unlawful. Police are allowed to mislead and trick suspects. Police might say something like “I could come back in ten minutes with a warrant, so just let me search the place now” and that does not have to be true. At some point a citizen who does not know the law or his rights will just be screwed over.
I believe under your scenario – unless NY has a special law – the cop’s conduct would not constitute an illegal search simply because the cop lied about the state of the law or the suspect’s options.
Interesting about California’s prison populations. NPR had a story about a week ago that talked about CA’s prison population exploded from a steady 20,000 in the 60s, 70s, and 80s to 167,000 now because of their tough-on-crime legislation pushed and financed largely by the CA correctional officers union which grew from 2600 members to 45,000. Their salaries climbed from an average of $15,000 to the point where 1 in 10 now makes more than $100,000. At least some of the new prison population are, of course, non-violent drug offenders.
And this is coming from a left wing media outlet that could hardly be labeled as antagonistic to unions.
I’m sure all the facts they cite must be bullshit, though, ’cause we all know that unions are dedicated to helping humanity through the application of selfless loving kindness and compassion for their fellow man. Kinda brings a tear to yer eye, don’ it?
I wonder how the correctional officers’ union stands on stepping up the drug war. They’re probably for anything that “saves our children”. That it benefits them is merely coincidental.
I think the word allowed should be replaced with encouraged, if not required.
Dave,
I kinda think the problem here is more that the union clout is amplified tenfold by the undue awe with which Americans treat law enforcement.
And they have no place to put them.
California Unlawfully Tranfers its Prisoners to Other States
Michigan charges too much so California is giving the “business” to other states.
Costs reason Calif. won’t send inmates to Mich
The War on Sanity continues.
J sub D
Well, Gitmo might be available soon.
:)
I’d add that I think a corrections officers’ union isn’t bound to be a bad thing. Obviously in this case it hasn’t been such a good thing, but it’s pretty easy to imagine a scenario in which it’s the union who raises the alarm about overcrowding and such, since it’s literally their lives on the line. Their interests are aligned with the public’s in that sense anyway (although obviously they conflict w/ the public’s in other ways).
A more technical look at the DNA story:
http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2009/08/dna-samples-used-by-crime-labs-faked-in-research-lab.ars
Fortunately, in identifying the problem, the researchers have come up with a solution. DNA inside human cells picks up a chemical modification called methylation; DNA amplified in a test tube doesn’t. It’s possible to determine whether or not a given stretch of DNA has been methylated using standard lab techniques, although these are a bit laborious and time-consuming, and it’s the sort of technique that hasn’t made its way into forensic training yet. Still, testing for methylation in a DNA sample should provide an important quality control on the sample—at least until biologists figure out how to apply methylation in a controlled manner.
Dave, I’d say my local NPR (WHYY) actually is mildly anti-union. I’ve noticed that the first few times they announce a potential strike, the emphasis is on the people who will be inconvenienced. I only hear the union side of the story later on.
The sad fact is most Americans quite willingly give away the rights of others for the illusion of safety. We need only to see the huge margins Joe Arpiao is elected by out in Phoenix.