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The 800-pound gorilla is back, and as usual folks are pretending the critter ain't in the room. We'll call this particular 800-pound gorilla Joey, in tribute to that 1940s film about the giant ape called Mighty Joe Young. I think it's time Joey got his props. I think it's time we acknowledge Joey. Joey, meet the guys. Guys, shake hands with Joey. "The guys" in this case are those Baltimoreans who, for the past week, have expressed angst and dismay about the appalling way some young black men in this city, addicted to the thug life, dispatch each other with...

The rising use of SWAT teams is bad, but it's about to get worse.Radley Balko on botched SWAT raids in the November 2006 issue of Playboy.

Two years ago, my 23-year-old brother became addicted to painkillers after breaking his leg and undergoing several operations to repair it. Last year, while he was checking into rehab for abusing OxyContin, I was drafting a chapter in my new book calling for drug legalization. It was a difficult moment to believe in individual liberty: I felt firsthand the effects of what it's like when people make bad decisions. I saw how hard my brother struggled to get clean, first moving forward and then backsliding again into substance abuse. One of the more compelling arguments for the war on drugs...

PENN HILLS, Pa. -- Parents and at least one school board member said they believe an elementary school in Pennsylvania overreacted when it suspended 14 students earlier this month for mixing sugar and Kool-Aid crystals and calling it "Happy Crack." Officials in the Penn Hills School District said the kids were suspended for imitating drug activity. The students put the mixture in plastic bags and labeled it "Happy Crack." But some parents said they don't think that should have gotten the students suspended from Shenandoah Elementary School. School Board Member Erin Vecchio told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that she agreed with...

Single-issue people. They're out there... on every thread. No matter what the topic, they try to link it to their pet issue in some way, shape, or form. They are... The Thread Hijackersâ„¢. While little can be done to stop them, and it is probably best to ignore them, I find it much, much more fun to mock them. Sure, being passionate about an issue you care about is a good thing, but thread hijacking is annoying and, to be honest, turns off people who might otherwise agree with you. So, on to the mocking. I'd like to coin the...

More than 2,200 people have been arrested in Texas bars in the six months since the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission announced a crackdown on public intoxication, primarily targeting bars. The arrests included people who were drunk in bars, who sold alcohol to a drunk person, or a drunk employee on the premises of a bar or restaurant with a license to sell alcohol, said Carolyn Beck, a spokeswoman for the TABC. The commission has been responsible for enforcing the state's alcoholic beverage code for the past 70 years. In August, 2005, the agency announced it was beginning a crackdown on...

Well, being that I have already solved the ILLEGAL Immigration Issue, I figgered I'd go ahead and explain the reasons we ought not waste Policeman's time and energy busting those who smoke a doobie out in their buddy'a cabin in the mountains or in some lowlife scumbag druggie's basement...SomeDrugs ain't as bad as other drugs!! Surprise!! Surprise!! Surprise!! That said...here's the solution...well, I don't wanna ruin the conclusion of this thread so I'll just let y'all know once the thread starts hoppin' with all them Stonies and PRO-WOSDers!! LOL...should be fun!! BTW...first guy I'm gonna ping is OWK on the...

The Supreme Court gave police broader search powers Monday during traffic stops, ruling that drug-sniffing dogs can be used to check out motorists even if officers have no reason to suspect they may be carrying narcotics. In a 6-2 decision, the court sided with Illinois police who stopped Roy Caballes in 1998 along Interstate 80 for driving 6 miles over the speed limit. Although Caballes lawfully produced his driver's license, troopers brought over a drug dog after Caballes seemed nervous. Caballes argued the Fourth Amendment protects motorists from searches such as dog sniffing, but Justice John Paul Stevens disagreed, reasoning...

ulia is a hot, dusty town of 5,000 on the Texas Panhandle, about 50 miles south of Amarillo. For some, it's a frightening place, slow and bigoted and bizarre. Kafka could have had a field day with Tulia. On the morning of July 23, 1999, law enforcement officers fanned out and arrested more than 10 percent of Tulia's tiny African-American population. Also arrested were a handful of whites who had relationships with blacks. The humiliating roundup was intensely covered by the local media, which had been tipped off in advance. Men and women, bewildered and unkempt, were paraded before TV...