A Match Made In Heaven

Blackwater is joining the War on Drugs.  Nope, absolutely no chance anything could go wrong here.

Blackwater’s Iraq contract was extended in April, but the company is by no means betting the house on its long-term presence there. While the firm is quietly maintaining its Iraq work, it is aggressively pursuing other business opportunities.

In September it was revealed that Blackwater had been “tapped” by the Pentagon’s Counter Narcoterrorism Technology Program Office to compete for a share of a five-year, $15 billion budget “to fight terrorists with drug-trade ties.” According to the Army Times, the contract “could include antidrug technologies and equipment, special vehicles and aircraft, communications, security training, pilot training, geographic information systems and in-field support.” A spokesperson for another company bidding for the work said that “80 percent of the work will be overseas.” As Richard Douglas, a deputy assistant secretary of defense, explained, “The fact is, we use Blackwater to do a lot of our training of counternarcotics police in Afghanistan. I have to say that Blackwater has done a very good job.”

Such an arrangement could find Blackwater operating in an arena with the godfathers of the war industry, such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. It could also see Blackwater expanding into Latin America, joining other private security companies well established in the region. The massive US security company DynCorp is already deployed in Colombia, Bolivia and other countries as part of the “war on drugs.” In Colombia alone, US military contractors are receiving nearly half the $630 million in annual US military aid for the country. Just south of the US border, the United States has launched Plan Mexico, a $1.5 billion counternarcotics program. This and similar plans could provide lucrative business opportunities for Blackwater and other companies. “Blackwater USA’s enlistment in the drug war,” observed journalist John Ross, would be “a direct challenge to its stiffest competitor, DynCorp–up until now, the Dallas-basedcorporation has locked up 94 percent of all private drug war security contracts.” The New York Times reported that the contract could be Blackwater’s “biggest job ever.”

Part of me says, hey, maybe this isn’t such a bad idea.  I’ve read that Blackwater employs former special forces soliders, SEALS, Delta, Rangers, etc.  If the Mexican Gulf Cartel has their own private army in Los Zetas, why not send Blackwater down there to operate?

The more rational part of me says what a horrible idea.  The war on drugs is a bad enough idea.  Billions and billions of dollars being spent with nothing to show for it.  Well, nothing positive.  We’ve got plenty of negatives to show for the war on drugs.  A sky-high prison population filled with non-violent offenders, providing an environment where violent drug cartels can thrive, and the eroding of the Constitution, just for a few examples

Throw into this mix private military contractors which operate with little to no oversight, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.  I’m a little young to remember, but didn’t the US already try letting quasi-military organizations go running around in Latin American back in the 1980’s?  I suppose since we did it then to fight Communism, it can be considered or rationalized as fighting the good fight.  But putting Blackwater on the US/Mexico border?  That sounds like a good way to cause more problems, not solve problems.

Crusin’ and Boozin’

I’m actually surprised this story isn’t from Texas.

A Whitehall man learned that on Memorial Day, when he was charged with driving while intoxicated after police pulled him over for swerving and driving on the sidewalk on a four-wheeled, motorized cooler known as a “Cruzin Cooler.”

Leslie J. “Bomber” Marr, 57, could face felony DWI and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle charges because of prior arrests and convictions in drinking-and-driving cases, said Whitehall Police Chief Richard LaChapelle.

The electricity-powered Cruzin Cooler that Marr was riding contained 14 beers, the chief said. LaChapelle said Whitehall Police Patrolman Andrew Mija stopped Marr at about 7:45 p.m. after the officer saw Marr swerving and preparing to cross William Street on the motorized cooler.

I have two thoughts on the subject.

First, why on earth did I not have one of these for tailgating when I was in college and law school?  My school had a pretty big campus, the Cruzin Cooler would have been perfect for going from tailgate to tailgate without having to lug all the beers needed to make me forget how bad the football was going to do.

Second, would this hold up in Texas?  Texas Penal Code 49.04 simply states that “[a] person commits and offense if the person is intoxicated and operating a motor vehicle in a public place.”  OK, so is the Cruzin Cooler a motor vehicle?  Unfortunately, yes.  Texas Transportation Code 541.201(11) states that “‘Motor Vehicle’ means a self-propelled vehicle or a vehicle that is propelled by electric power from overhead trolley wires.”

Darn.  Still, motorized coolers, and to think in my last post I wondered whether they United States had what it takes to stay at the top of the food chain.  When you’ve got a country with the ingenuity to put a motor and wheels on a cooler, well, it’s tough to top that.

Will Snitch For Cash

As a Texan, I normally wouldn’t read the New York Times. Heck, I kind of feel like a traitor when I read the Scott’s and Gideon’s blogs. But, since I got this story from The Consumerist, I figure I won’t get kicked out and sent to Oklahoma.

According to The Old Grey Lady, thanks to our shaky economy, and the rising prices for food and fuel, people are turning to ratting out their neighbors for money.

To gas prices, foreclosure rates and the cost of rice, add this rising economic indicator: the number of tips to the police from people hoping to collect reward money

Calls to the Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers hot line in the first quarter of this year were up 30 percent over last year. San Antonio had a 44 percent increase. Cities and towns from Detroit to Omaha to Beaufort County, N.C., all report increases of 25 percent or more in the first quarter, with tipsters telling operators they need the money for rent, light bills or baby formula.

“For this year, everyone that’s called has pretty much been just looking for money,” said Sgt. Lawrence Beller, who answers Crime Stoppers calls at the Sussex County, N.J., sheriff’s office. “That’s as opposed to the last couple of years, where some people were just sick of the crime and wanting to do something about it.”

I admit, I never would have thought this would be a good way to make some money.  When I was in college, we’d do some strange things for money.  Wonder if my school would have paid me for ratting out my friends who were drinking while underage.

The article goes on to say, some people are even making this their job.

Some people have made a cottage industry of calling in tips. Although repeat callers do not give their names, operators recognize their voices.

“We have people out there that, realistically, this could be their job,” said Sgt. Zachary Self, who answers Crime Stoppers calls for the Macon Police Department.

“Two or three arrests per week, you could make $700, $750 per week,” Sergeant Self said. “You could make better than a minimum-wage job.”

At $700 a week in tips, that’s roughly the equivilent of  having a job that pays $17.00 an hour.  That’s pretty good money.  If times are tough, that’s a lot easier than getting a second job or selling plasma.

I have to admit though, it really strikes me as something out of East Germany during The Cold War.  People ready to sell out their neighbors, or family members at a moment’s notice.

In some cases, the quality of the tips is lagging as people grasp for any shred of information that might result in an arrest. A woman in Macon, for example, recently called to report that a family member — who was wanted for burglary and whose name and address were already known to the police — was at home. His home.

I bet that’s going to be an awkward Thanksgiving.

Because I Got High

People who skip out on jury duty make me mad. First off, it’s your civic duty. Suck it up and miss work for a couple days. Second, I really want to be on a jury and will probably never get to. And while the Homer Simpson method for getting out of jury duty is my favorite, “the trick is to say you’re prejudice against all races,” a lady in Houston had a pretty good way to avoid it.

Judge Sherman Ross tried to assemble a jury of peers for a woman accused of possession of a marijuana on trial Tuesday.

But authorities say prospective juror Cornelia Mayo might have taken that concept a bit too far after she was caught smoking a joint outside the courthouse during a break.

The 49-year-old Houston woman was one of 20 people in a jury pool in Criminal Court at Law No. 10.

Ross said he realized something was wrong when juror No. 2, Mayo, didn’t return from a 45-minute break. Before the judge could file a bench warrant for the missing juror, his bailiff got a call from police notifying him that Mayo was being booked on a charge of smoking marijuana outside the criminal courthouse.

“I’ve had prospective jurors get lost before, but it never occurred to me that they might be getting ready for a marijuana trial by, allegedly, smoking marijuana,” Ross said.

I just want to know what her thought process was, what could have possibly lead her to think firing up a doobie outside the courthouse was a good idea.

It’s Fun To Do Bad Things

I suppose with Grand Theft Auto IV coming out last Tuesday, this is an appropriate post.

Let’s review here.  We’ve got a 7 year old who:

• Looks like he’s ready for a triple-bypass.
• Has friends who smoke.
• Jacked a car, causing plenty of property damage.
• And tells the reporter that “It’s fun to do bad things, drive into a car;” “I wanted to do hoodrat stuff with my friends,” and suggests an appropriate punishment would be “No video games for a whole weekend.”

Is there any doubt this kid’s future is the doing time in the pen?