Year: 2008

Crime Platforms: Dems For Aiding Cops, GOP Tough Enforcement

Copied from Crime & Justice News: The Democratic Party platform includes a four- paragraph section on criminal justice focusing principally on support for local law enforcement and ending violence against women, says the National Criminal Justice Association, which represents states and localities in Washington, D.C. The platform says, “We will reverse the policy of cutting…
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War on Drugs: Mexico

“Tens of thousands protested drug violence this weekend. Many blame the president.” Here’s the story by Sara Miller Llana in The Christian Science Monitor. In August alone, the teenage son of a Mexican businessman was found dead in the trunk of a car, after being kidnapped at a fake police checkpoint; a dozen decapitated bodies…
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LEAP Becomes Latest Victim of Government Censorship

Retired police detective, Howard Wooldridge, representing Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) was ousted from the National Asian Peace Officers Association (NAPOA) Conference in Crystal City because he was representing a view contrary U.S. government policy. LEAP is a 10,000-member organization of police, judges, prosecutors, DEA & FBI agents, and others who know ending drug prohibition…
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For the record…

John McCain will lose. Obama will win. Sarah Palin is a horrible choice for running mate. She is not fit to be president. On the plus side I’m sure she knows how many homes she has and that rich is a less than $5 million a year. Is it too much to ask for candidates…
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How much I make from my book

I got my first annual royalty check from the good people at Princeton University Press. Not that you asked, but it was for $983.98. In other words, if you’re thinking of becoming a writer, don’t quit your day job. But it is $983 more than I had yesterday. It also means I’ve paid off my…
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Guns 1. Criminals 0.

Robbery try at repair shop leaves man dead, police say August 30, 2008 Baltimore Sun The owner of a Northwest Baltimore auto repair shop fatally shot a man during an attempted robbery of his business yesterday evening, city police said. Police spokesman Sterling Clifford said this was the second time that Joseph Goldman has shot…
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“I do miss working with people willing to risk their lives for me”

There’s another profile of me, this time in the Financial Times of London. Like the Wall Street Journal, this is another big conservative economic paper I don’t read. Hopefully it will have some of the same impact as the Wall Street Journal review, which has been by far the best publicity to date. It’s funny…
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Formstone!

I love whatever makes a city unique. In Baltimore, that includes painted screen, marble stoops, and Formstone When I arrived in Baltimore, I said, “what is this stuff?” Well. It’s Formstone. Turns out there’s Formstone (or cheap imitations) in Queens and Brooklyn, too. But there’s a lot of Formstone in Baltimore. Baltimore brick is a…
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More guns = More deaths.

I don’t like guns, but I’m not a gun control nut. I think there are a good many reasons that people can and should have guns. If I were a store owner in a dangerous neighborhood, I’d want a gun. If I were a resident in a dangerous neighborhood, I’d want a gun. If I…
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U.S. War on Drugs: Bolivia

George Washington, in his 1796 farwell address, warned about unnecessary foreign entanglements: The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements let them be fulfilled with perfect good…
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