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26th Parallel: Video: Miami in the Early 80s
I received this interesting and very disturbing video below via e-mail several days. The 6+ minute video looks back at the crime wave which hit Miami in the late 70s and early 80s, right around the time of the infamous Time Magazine article "Paradise Lost". A central theme of the video is the supposed role played by Colombian drug traffickers and people who came to Miami via the Mariel boatlift of 1980 in the sharp increase in homicides during that era.
A little context: the video was posted by a group called Immigration Control Florida (ICF), whose opening paragraph on their website states:
ImmigrationControlFlorida.com / ICF requests that Americans join our group to support our stated goals to save America. Our group worked to stop the 125,000 Mariel Cuban refugees that illegally invaded Miami-Dade County that destroyed Miami with 50,000 murderers, psychopaths, criminals, criminally insane, hitmen, drug pushers, and enforcers making "Miami the murder capital of the world" with 615 murders in only 1 year with so many bodies that the Miami Medical Examiner had to rent a refrigerated truck to store the excess bodies at a cost of $150 million in 1 year making "Miami a 3rd World Country" ! (U.S.News & World Report -Jan.16, 1984 - page 29).
Let me make something totally clear: I am against illegal immigration, but ICF doesn't even try to conceal their disdain for any immigrant group, in particular Cubans from Mariel. Yes, there were criminals mixed in with regular folks who came over via Mariel. Yes, there was a strain on the services the Miami community could provide, but I don't know where and how ICF got the "50,000" number they use to slime an entire community. As we know, the collective group from Mariel has turned out to be yet another in the long tradition of Cuban-American success stories, despite the initial shock of Miami having to absorb 125,000 new arrivals in Miami in only a few short months.
In short, ICF sounds like nothing more than a bunch of bigots and racists who give reasonable folks' objections to illegal immigration a bad name (as well as provide unnecessary fodder to those who feel naturally inclined to bash anything resembling securing borders).
Some of the quotes in the video are quite over-the-top and no doubt representative of the ethnic conflict which gripped Miami during that time. Riots in Liberty City in 1980, Mariel a few months later, passing of "English Only" ordinances in Miami, huge law enforcement scandals. It was a pretty turbulent time. For those of you who weren't here during that time, it's worth your time to view the video below. For those of you who feel that Miami and South Florida are currently living through bad times never seen before, the video offers some much needed perspective.
H/T Rubio for the video.
(Note: make sure to identify the journalists in the video. It's a who's-who of local and national personalities). I received this interesting and very disturbing video below via e-mail several days. The 6+ minute video looks back at the crime wave ... more -
US-led forces killed 9 Afghan police in 'friendly fire'
KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S.-led troops and Afghan forces killed nine Afghan police Sunday, calling in airstrikes and fighting on the ground for four hours after both sides mistook the other for militants, Afghan officials said.
In a separate incident, NATO said it accidentally killed at least four Afghan civilians Saturday night. A NATO soldier also was killed in the east.
The two cases of accidental killings could further undercut popular support for the government and foreign forces operating here. President Hamid Karzai has pleaded with the U.S. and other nations fighting resurgent militants to avoid civilian casualties.
In the western province of Farah near the Iranian border, a convoy of foreign forces showed up in Anar Dara district and clashed with Afghan police, killing nine of them, said provincial Deputy Governor Younus Rasuli.
He said the foreign troops had not informed local officials they were coming, and the police thought they were enemy fighters. The two sides fought from about midnight until 4 a.m. Sunday, and the foreign forces used airstrikes, Rasuli said.
The U.S.-led coalition said it was investigating the report. It said its forces, along with Afghan troops, had retaliated in defense against "a non-uniformed hostile force."
"The combined patrol signaled their status as coalition forces, but continued to receive fire," a military statement said. "Coalition forces then returned small arms fire and engaged the enemy with precision close air support."
In eastern Paktika province, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said it killed at least four civilians Saturday night when its troops fired two mortar rounds that landed nearly half a mile short of their target. NATO said it was investigating whether three other civilians also were killed in the Barmal district.
KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S.-led troops and Afghan forces killed nine Afghan police Sunday, calling in airstrikes and fighting on the gro... more -
Kucinich to investigate police surveillance of protest groups
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who has figured prominently in recent political news for his attempts to begin impeachment hearings against President George W. Bush, today announced that the congressional subcommittee he chairs will look into reports of peace groups being surveilled by police and private investigators.
"[M]ost people would be upset to know that police were spying on lawful citizens and infiltrating peaceful organizations, rather than chasing down real criminals," said Kucinich in a press release delivered to RAW STORY. "At a minimum, such police spying is clearly a waste of taxpayer dollars and a diversion from the mission of protecting and serving the people.
"I want the subcommittee to determine how widespread these activities are and who ordered them," the Ohio Democrat and former presidential candidate said.
Kucinich chairs the House Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
The press release referred to reports that Maryland state police officers infiltrated peace and anti-death penalty groups and that private investigators working on behalf of "several large corporations" had surveilled environmental groups.
Such surveillance is apparently not limited to law enforcement and private investigators. In January 2007, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a report showing "widespread Pentagon surveillance of peace activists."
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), who has figured prominently in recent political news for his attempts to begin impeachment hearings again... more -
Policeman vs. undercover cop
Really feel sorry for this guy - clearly office politics go beyond the office.
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I Think I'm Dead // Comment Picked for TV
Thanks to kimrich09 for uploading her comments to current.com after she watched the pod, "I Think I'm Dead."
You can take a look at the original pod by clicking on the link below:
http://current.com/items/88823139_i_think_i_m_dead
Thanks to kimrich09 for uploading her comments to current.com after she watched the pod, "I Think I'm Dead." ... more -
LSD cookie kid cleared, cops overzealous
A teenager accused of delivering drug-laced cookies to a dozen police stations was the victim of overzealous officers who had very little evidence indicating drugs were inside the treats, his attorney said Thursday.
And lab results released late Thursday afternoon confirm that no drugs were present in any of the cookies.
L. Patrick Davis said initial tests found no traces of LSD inside the cookies taken to police in Lake Worth, where Christian V. Phillips remained jailed on $75,000 bond on a charge of tampering with a consumer product. In the wake of the test results, Lake Worth Police dropped the charges against Phillips.
Phillips, 18, was arrested Tuesday after Lake Worth officers smelled marijuana in the basket and their preliminary tests detected LSD, Chief Brett McGuire said.
Watauga police released video Thursday of Christian Phillips delivering cookies to the police station on June 27. The tape shows the teen delivering cookies to the dispatcher, as part of his community service program. Four officers there ate the treats, but none got sick and all tested negative for drugs in their systems.
The cookies in question were delivered to the Lake Worth Police Department on Tuesday.
A similar batch was also delivered to the Blue Mound Police Department on Monday. The medical examiner's results came back negative for drugs in those cookies.
Phillips' father told CBS 11 News the entire case may have been the result of a 'huge rush to judgment'. "People just need to keep rationale here in perspective and not jump the gun and accuse people of stuff before we know the full facts," Glenn Phillips said.
Phillips told detectives his friend may have been smoking marijuana while he was baking, and he denied contaminating the goodies or trying to harm anyone, McGuire has said.
Davis said Phillips was delivering the cookies for Mothers Against Drunk Driving as part of community service work after he was arrested last year at a party in Watauga. MADD also has confirmed that he was doing work for the organization.
Last year Phillips was charged with assault of a public servant, a felony, but it was reduced to assault with bodily injury, a misdemeanor. He did not plead guilty but was sentenced to an anger management class and about 80 hours of community service, Davis said. He was not put on probation.
If Phillips had completed the terms of his pretrial memorandum agreement, something for first-time offenders, the case would have been removed from his record -- which would have been Wednesday, Davis said.
He graduated from high school in May and was planning to attend college this fall.
A teenager accused of delivering drug-laced cookies to a dozen police stations was the victim of overzealous officers who had very li... more -
Teen gives LSD cookies to cops (VIDEO)
Police are investigating an 18-year-old who delivered cookies laced with drugs.
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"Hey Bob - you seein' the colors I'm seein'.. ?" -or- LSD cookies for cops
LAKE WORTH, Texas (July 8) - A teenager is suspected of delivering baskets of drug-laced treats to about a dozen police departments in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to police who charged him Tuesday with LSD possession. At least three officers have gotten sick.
Christian Phillips, 18, was charged with possession of LSD, but police said the charge may change following an investigation.
The 18-year-old man was arrested after taking cookies to the Lake Worth police station, said Brett McGuire, the suburb's police chief. Officers there had been tipped off that someone was falsely claiming to deliver treats on behalf of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
"Our officers took a good whiff and thought they smelled like marijuana," McGuire said, adding that preliminary tests instead detected traces of LSD.
Christian Phillips was taken into custody and later charged with possession of the powerful hallucinogen, although the charge may be changed, McGuire said.
The suspect denied trying to contaminate the goodies or harm anyone and said one of his friends might have been smoking pot while Phillips was baking, McGuire said. The suspect is not affiliated with MADD, the chief said.
Phillips remained jailed in Lake Worth pending an arraignment Wednesday. Bail had not been set, and he did not have an attorney yet, McGuire said.
In Fort Worth, at least three officers got sick after eating some cookies and candy from a basket delivered to that police station Monday night, authorities said.
Police there are conducting tests and plan to file charges if LSD or another drug or chemical is found in the food, said Lt. Paul Henderson.
Lake Worth investigators found that Phillips had a list of about two dozen police departments in north Texas, with 13 checked off, McGuire said. It's unclear whether anyone else got sick because some deliveries were made in the past week.
Police in Blue Mound found traces of marijuana in the treats, he said. Blue Mound police tipped off Lake Worth after receiving a call from MADD that no one was delivering cookies on its behalf.
2008-07-08 21:12:49
LAKE WORTH, Texas (July 8) - A teenager is suspected of delivering baskets of drug-laced treats to about a dozen police departments in... more -
Police investigate site that alleges officer misconduct
They don't pretend to be Woodward and Bernstein. The bloggers call themselves amateur journalists and describe their website, Badgewars.com, as "the electronic bathroom wall."
But they have piqued the interest of Boston police, who have launched an internal affairs investigation to find out who is behind the website.
They also want to know whether the bloggers have any evidence to support the allegations they make about Boston officers violating department rules, such as abusing construction details or claiming false injuries to get time off work.
(End of excerpt)
Full story at link by Maria Cramer// The Boston Globe
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Badgewars.com website
http://Badgewars.com/
They don't pretend to be Woodward and Bernstein. The bloggers call themselves amateur journalists and describe their website, Badgewar... more -
NY State trooper caught issuing "revenge" tickets
A state trooper took road rage to a whole new level - writing up five phony traffic tickets to a Brooklyn man as payback after getting into a heated argument with him over a parking spot, authorities said yesterday.
Lester Hooper, 35, wrote the summonses - alleging traffic violations in three Westchester towns from Jan. 28 to Feb. 6 - without ever pulling over Derrick Perry, according to the Westchester County DA's Office.
The sham tickets , featuring Perry's name and license-plate number, were issued in retribution for a parking beef in Brooklyn, officials said.
The State Police Internal Affairs Bureau gave no details of the Jan. 26 quarrel - but Hooper's lawyer, Pat Bonanno, would only say it involved "offensive" contact between Perry and Hooper's wife...
... Hooper, a three-year State Police veteran based in Tarrytown with the task of patrolling Interstates 87, 95 and 287, has been suspended without pay.
(End of excerpt)
Full story at link by MURRAY WEISS and CLEMENTE LISI// New York Post
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A state trooper took road rage to a whole new level - writing up five phony traffic tickets to a Brooklyn man as payback after getting... more -
ATM Thefts Are On The Rise
Police report an alarming rise in ATM thefts. Not thefts at ATMs —thefts of the entire machines themselves.
Houston police said there have been at least seven operation by a ring of smash-and-grab operators who steal large pickup trucks and crash them into storefronts to get at the ATM. They attach a chain to the back of the truck, wrap it around the ATM and yank the machine out of the store.
Other thieves, especially in rural areas dotted with construction sites, bring in a stolen forklift and just drive off with the ATM.
The whole operation can take less than five minutes, and if the ATM has been recently replenished, the thieves can get away with tens of thousands of dollars — assuming they can figure out how to crack open the vault.
And for a variety of reasons, police said, the crime is spiking in astonishing numbers this year. Police report an alarming rise in ATM thefts. Not thefts at ATMs —thefts of the entire machines themselves. ... more -
Cop chokes marijuana suspect
WKRN News 2 reports that “the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating after video shot from inside a Mount Joliet patrol car shows an officer choking a suspect.”
In the video, the officer has both hands around the neck of the suspect and is telling him to “stick your tongue out.” The suspect, James Anders, then passes out.
According to WKRN, “The incident began with a traffic stop. Officer Cosby said he smelled burning marijuana, ordered Anders out of the car and told him to spit out something he had in his mouth. … Cosby didn’t find any marijuana in Anders’ mouth but did find a small bag of the drug inside his car.”
Anders was arrested on charges of possessing marijuana, resisting arrest, and tampering with evidence. The charges were later dismissed because of the police officer’s behavior. Cosby was reprimanded and the tape was handed over to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
This video is from WKRN News 2, broadcast July 1, 2008.
WKRN News 2 reports that “the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating after video shot from inside a Mount Joliet patrol ca... more -
Speed Trap Upgrade
The lidar doesn't lie. Lidar technology allows police officers to clock cars on the highway in a more accurately than traditional radar. See what your up against in this pod. The lidar doesn't lie. Lidar technology allows police officers to clock cars on the highway in a more accurately than traditional rada... more
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Ex-Cop claims to be Jesus
He is known simply as Vissarion, meaning "he who gives new life," or simply as the teacher, and he claims that he is Jesus Christ.
Deep in the heart of Siberia's birch forests lies one of the largest and most remote religious communes of the planet. More than 5,000 people have left their families and their homes to move here and join the Church of the Last Testament, which has more than 10,000 followers worldwide. He is known simply as Vissarion, meaning "he who gives new life," or simply as the teacher, and he claims that he is Jesus Christ. ... more -
Cops beat transsexual woman
Her name is Duanna Johnson, and she is yet another victim of police brutality. Memphis police were caught on tape brutally assaulting her. What was it about her that triggered such a brutal reaction? Duanna operates with many factors of social stigmatization, she is a prostitute, black, and transsexual: these aforementioned categories work to create Duanna as other, and less than in our society. The police officers in question allegedly referred to her as a he/she, and repeatedly struck her.
Read the rest of the story and catch the video at:
http://www.womanist-musings.com/2008/06/cops-beat-trans... Her name is Duanna Johnson, and she is yet another victim of police brutality. Memphis police were caught on tape brutally assaulting... more -
Cops bust solar car
Minnesota state cops stopped our solar car today, claiming it wasn't legal to drive on the road. We produced all the documentation proving that it was, but they still got somebody from DC on the phone to check it out. After the DC guy took an hour and confirmed that we were all right, they decided that they still had to bust us for something. They moved on to our support vehicle, a full-size van hauling a trailer.
They tried to weigh our trailer to prove that it was too heavy or something, but they soon found they were wrong. Still determined to find SOMETHING, they looked at the stickers on it from all the companies that have donated parts and supplies to the solar car project over the last 9 years. Based on those stickers, they told us we were a "commercial vehicle" and said that we needed a commercial license. We told them that we in fact were a private vehicle, we didn't have any commercial sponsor for the tour, and that some of those stickers were older than the Bush administration. They wouldn't have any of it and told us that if we wanted to leave Stillwater, Minnesota we would have to comply with the commercial regulations.
Our experience is documented in the upcoming film "Chasing the Light," which will also appear on Current TV. In the meantime, check out what Minneapolis news has on the story. Minnesota state cops stopped our solar car today, claiming it wasn't legal to drive on the road. We produced all the documentation pr... more -
Kato to be served murder warrant for Akihabara rampage
Aside from having really high suicide rates, Japan is a relatively safe place to live. So, anything out of the peaceful ordinary is worth bringing up.
"Police said Wednesday they are preparing to serve Tomohiro Kato with an arrest warrant for murdering seven people on the streets of Tokyo's Akihabara district on June 8... The truck and knife rampage left seven dead and 10 wounded."
First the earthquakes, then a stabbing, now this. Might delay my trip until the fall. Aside from having really high suicide rates, Japan is a relatively safe place to live. So, anything out of the peaceful ordinary is wo... more -
Russian chemtrails
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian air force planes dropped a 25-kg (55-lb) sack of cement on a suburban Moscow home last week while seeding clouds to prevent rain from spoiling a holiday, Russian media said on Tuesday.
"A pack of cement used in creating ... good weather in the capital region ... failed to pulverize completely at high altitude and fell on the roof of a house, making a hole about 80-100 cm (2.5-3 ft)," police in Naro-Fominsk told agency RIA-Novosti.
Ahead of major public holidays the Russian Air Force often dispatches up to 12 cargo planes carrying loads of silver iodide, liquid nitrogen and cement powder to seed clouds above Moscow and empty the skies of moisture. MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian air force planes dropped a 25-kg (55-lb) sack of cement on a suburban Moscow home last week while seeding c... more -
Married Police Couple Fatally Shot
This is just sad.
"Gabriel Padilla Perez's body was found at the entrance of his home in Ciudad Juarez, said Cesar Ramirez, a spokesman for the regional Attorney General's office. His wife, Claudia Tovar Carreon, was found dead on the sidewalk. The couple had two young children." End Quote. This is just sad. ... more -
We will not be silenced
Stunning and powerful follow-up to the acclaimed We Will Not Be Silenced movie. Powerful, emotive speech from Rev Graylan Hagler.
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