Thirty-six years after the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse recommended that "simple possession" of pot be decriminalised, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has introduced a bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), to remove federal criminal penalties for possession of up to 100 grams (about three-and-a-half ounces) of marijuana and the not-for-profit transfer of up to one ounce (28.3 grams). Drug reform advocates lit up hailed the legislation as "an important step toward bringing federal law into line with scientific fact, practical reality and public opinion." Is America, at long last, having a collective moment of sanity?
posted on Apr 20, 2008 - View this thread

Saddam's Confessions - Given Saddam Hussein's central place in the American Consciousness over the last couple decades and particularly in recent years, I found 60 minutes' interview with FBI interrogator George Piro pretty fascinating.
posted on Jan 27, 2008 - View this thread

Ghost In The Machine "I have a murderer's music on my iPod and, almost reflexively, I couldn't help but think of him while listening to these songs—they were his songs, songs he gave me. [...] Listening to his music put me inside [his] head. [...] I wanted to throw up." [more inside]
posted on Apr 13, 2007 - View this thread

Museum fears stolen statue worth $5 million will be sold for scrap Reminds me of that "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" game/tv show. I always thought it was stupid, because nobody ever steals big heavy landmarks.
posted on Dec 17, 2005 - View this thread

Faith based prisons... Can Gov. Jeb Bush's new drive to introduce God to the inmates make a difference, or was Jesus 'dying for our sins' not enough already? Is Jesus a solution or an excuse?

"Night has fallen. He has died now. A fly crawls over the still flesh. Of what use is it to me that this man suffered, If I am suffering now?" - Jorge Luis Borges
posted on Nov 25, 2005 - View this thread

Man who got others to strip convicted An Indianapolis man who posed as a disc jockey and tricked men into disrobing was convicted Wednesday of six felonies.
posted on Apr 2, 2005 - View this thread

Missed Opportunity A Florida motorist was arrested on Wednesday on charges of trying to run down U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris.
posted on Oct 27, 2004 - View this thread

Pim Fortuyn Murder Suspect is Environmental Activist The suspect mainly concerned himself with the fight against bio-industry and fur farms. Mr Fortuyn just recently said he would lift the scheduled ban on raising animals for furs.
posted on May 7, 2002 - View this thread

A family of six was found dead in a case of murder-suicide, authorities in Oregon said Friday. Bryant, the father, became estranged from several branches of his family, including his parents, three brothers and a sister. The other family members were Jehovah's Witnesses and the split appeared to involve differences over religious beliefs. In other news, An angry, mysterious preacher told Andrea Yates that she was evil, that her children were damned, and that only death could save her. Mr. Yates testified that the preacher had taught him and his wife that children are lost forever to God, and therefore damned to eternal hellfire, if they are not "saved" by the time they are 13 or 14. Are we regressing to the religions produced nightmares of the Middle Ages?
posted on Mar 16, 2002 - View this thread

"My son is not a bad boy" has become a cliche. But what's the right thing to do when a loved one does something wrong? What about something VERY wrong? What is a parent's proper response?
posted on Aug 30, 2001 - View this thread

It's about time! Remember the Road Rage case in San Jose where a man threw a lady's dog into traffic last year? He's been found. The man who threw Leo the dog into oncoming traffic last year has been found. Ironically, he was found already in Jail.
posted on Apr 13, 2001 - View this thread

Kidnapper's cabin surrounded as a hostage drama seems to cap a remarkable criminal career. Anthony Zappa was the fugitive who caused the Mall of America to be closed for a search last month; he got away, then he was going to turn himself in, but instead he fled to Nebraska, where he kidnapped a teenage girl. Oddly, this parking-lot snatch resembled an unsolved case of a missing TV anchorwoman, Jodi Huisentruit.
posted on Apr 12, 2001 - View this thread

Yesterday Justice Philip Cummins looked down at the two clean-cut young men in the dock as they sat close together on a long, leather bench. He condemned the brief, severe assault that caused Hibbins' death. He said their actions could not be justified as a citizen's arrest of a suspect because they punished Hibbins instead of apprehending him. However, he said, they were not vigilantes because their conduct was not premeditated. Instead it occurred because of an unplanned upsurge of emotion in both men. The judge said their behavior belonged in the least culpable category of manslaughter because they were decent young men who entered the park not looking for trouble, who reasonably believed a woman had been raped and who were then caught up in a perverse confluence of events for which they were truly sorry.
posted on Jun 23, 2000 - View this thread