A small-town narcotics unit has built a team of confidential informants by arresting low-level-offender college students and pressuring them to flip. [...] Each year, the tiny four-person Lafayette County Metro Narcotics Unit recruits on average 30 confidential informants, many of them college students. Around half of those arrested by Metro Narcotics in 2014 were first-time offenders, and the unit made three times as many arrests for marijuana as for any other drug. For two decades those arrests helped win nearly half the unit’s total budget from federal grants designed to help fight America’s War on Drugs. When the drug war began to cool down, and the federal funding dried up, local institutions stepped up to keep the unit alive. Thanks to money from the city and county governments and the University of Mississippi, Lafayette County Metro Narcotics continues busting college kids and turning them into informants by threatening them with hard time or the shame and lifelong burden of a drug record.
Each year, the tiny four-person Lafayette County Metro Narcotics Unit recruits on average 30 confidential informants, many of them college students. Around half of those arrested by Metro Narcotics in 2014 were first-time offenders, and the unit made three times as many arrests for marijuana as for any other drug. For two decades those arrests helped win nearly half the unit’s total budget from federal grants designed to help fight America’s War on Drugs. When the drug war began to cool down, and the federal funding dried up, local institutions stepped up to keep the unit alive. Thanks to money from the city and county governments and the University of Mississippi, Lafayette County Metro Narcotics continues busting college kids and turning them into informants by threatening them with hard time or the shame and lifelong burden of a drug record.
While rambling through the catalog of Heritage Auction's June 2013 Americana & Political Signature Auction, I came across a rare political button from Alfred E. Smith's 1928 presidential campaign which is quite simply the greatest political button ever made. That is real. Can you even believe it? In 1928! And yes, the expression "wet dream" meant what it means now in 1928. Dr. William Acton described nocturnal emissions as "wet-dreams" in the 1851 second edition of his A Practical Treatise on Diseases of the Urinary and Generative Organs in Both Sexes (you can read the third edition here, and you probably should because it's a classic creepy Victorian text in the history of sexuality). The pre-sale estimate for the button was $5000 to $10,000. It sold on June 22, 2013, for $8962.50, including buyer's premium.
That is real. Can you even believe it? In 1928! And yes, the expression "wet dream" meant what it means now in 1928. Dr. William Acton described nocturnal emissions as "wet-dreams" in the 1851 second edition of his A Practical Treatise on Diseases of the Urinary and Generative Organs in Both Sexes (you can read the third edition here, and you probably should because it's a classic creepy Victorian text in the history of sexuality). The pre-sale estimate for the button was $5000 to $10,000. It sold on June 22, 2013, for $8962.50, including buyer's premium.
After four years of decreasing coverage, stories mentioning environmental issues are up 17% from 2013 to 2014 according to a new study by the Project for Improved Environmental Coverage. It is encouraging to see that the two media platforms with the broadest reach, network TV news and national newspapers, saw the greatest increase over the five year period. Network TV news saw an increase nearing 50%. Though they’ve seen some of the most gains, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Environmental stories make up less than 1% of headlines and receive far less visibility than many trivial issues. [...] In 2014, international newspapers included in the study had a level of environmental topic visibility that was 81% higher than U.S. newspapers analyzed.
It is encouraging to see that the two media platforms with the broadest reach, network TV news and national newspapers, saw the greatest increase over the five year period. Network TV news saw an increase nearing 50%. Though they’ve seen some of the most gains, there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Environmental stories make up less than 1% of headlines and receive far less visibility than many trivial issues. [...]
In 2014, international newspapers included in the study had a level of environmental topic visibility that was 81% higher than U.S. newspapers analyzed.
Christiegate: Christie Funnelled Lucrative Contract to Brother's Firm, by Radiowalla Hillary Clinton hands a forced-birther's behind back to him on a platter, by LiberalInCamo The richest 0.01 percent of Americans gave 42 percent of political donations in 2012, by Stephen Wolf
Hillary Clinton hands a forced-birther's behind back to him on a platter, by LiberalInCamo
The richest 0.01 percent of Americans gave 42 percent of political donations in 2012, by Stephen Wolf