`So were the seeds he used to keep in a case in the store, with exotic names like Afghan Dream and Chemo Grizzly. So was the booming business he ran, complete with glossy seed catalogues describing the subtle and sublime nuances of his varieties. (“Nebula: Fruity flavor and scent. Transcendental buzz. Harvest outdoor.”) So, for that matter, are the other marijuana businesses that have sprouted up in the block around his Vancouver bookstore. The street is nicknamed “Vansterdam,” with pot-hazy cafes, headshops filled with pipes and bongs, and neon signs advertising illegal seed sales.
Until recently, nobody much cared, it seemed. The police hadn’t bothered to come around for eight years. Before that, they busted Emery for seed sales and raided him four times. But he just got fined — once with “a nice speech from the judge saying what a nice person I was and how marijuana probably shouldn’t be illegal,” Emery says — and the police stopped trying. [..]
Then came the DEA.’
`Silvestre, who posed as a general surgeon, performed operations on the women who went to see him for breast augmentations, but were grossly disfigured and instead had to see licensed doctors to try and repair the damage.
Champion bodybuilder and former Mr. Mexico Alexander Baez also went to Silvestre’s Ocean Health Center in Miami Beach to have his pectoral muscles enhanced. But he woke up to find he had been given female breast implants.
Baez’s attorney said veterinary anesthesia was used on his client, who woke up three times during the procedure.’
`The Wapato Facility, in the city’s northern outskirts, took $59 million and two years to construct. But in the nearly two years since its completion — as Portland has struggled with a crime surge — not a single inmate has set foot in the building.
Multnomah County, in charge of Portland jails, can’t afford to open it.
“We held a ceremony, cut the ribbon — then locked the doors,” says Sheriff Bernie Giusto, who attended the dedication in the summer of 2004. “We have a brand-new jail sitting here empty, and I don’t have a good answer when the public asks me, ‘Why was it built if there was no plan to operate it?’
“Even I get tired of telling people how dumb we are.”‘
`Police allowed 7kg of cocaine, worth more than $1 million, to be sold on Sydney streets in an undercover operation, but failed to recover nearly all of it.
The Sunday Telegraph says it was revealed in evidence to a Sydney court earlier this month that police had given the cocaine to a dealer to sell, but 6kg of the drug was never recovered.
It says undercover officers watched as the dealer sold the drug to contacts, but it was not until some time later that they made a number of arrests.’
`Bali police have burned the stash of marijuana that sent Schapelle Corby to an Indonesian jail for 20 years.
The drugs were piled up on top of a metal drum in a backyard beside the Denpasar District Court where a distraught Corby was convicted on May 17 last year.
There was little fuss apart from some dizziness among some of the spectators after chief prosecutor I Ketut Arthana, who led the case against the Gold Coast woman, poured petrol on the pile and set it alight.
Watching on were Denpasar Mayor Anak Agung Puspa Yoga and local police chief Hari Dono Sukmanto, as well as a small crowd of journalists, who said they became giddy as pungent smoke wafted over the yard.’
`Before cops threw the book at him, Jakub Fik threw something unusual at them — his penis.
Fik, 33, cut off his own penis during a Northwest Side rampage Wednesday morning. When confronted by police, Fik hurled several knives and his severed organ at the officers, police said. Officers stunned him with a Taser and took him into custody.
“We took him out without any serious injury, with the exception of his own,” said Chicago Police Sgt. Edward Dolan of the 16th District.’
`Want to buy a head? On the American body-part market, the going price is between $500 and $900, plus another $50 if you’d like the brain, too. A torso will set you back as much as $3,000, while a single foot could cost $650.
At these prices, there’s plenty of temptation for people to take advantage of the dead. But as a disturbing new book reveals, the burgeoning trade in human remains is largely unmonitored. Universities, mortuaries and medical companies routinely buy and sell arms, legs and elbows with virtually no oversight.
The inevitable result? Crooked deals, stolen corpses and lots of looking the other way.’
`The human rights scandal now known as “Abu Ghraib” began its journey toward exposure on Jan. 13, 2004, when Spc. Joseph Darby handed over horrific images of detainee abuse to the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command (CID). The next day, the Army launched a criminal investigation. Three and a half months later, CBS News and the New Yorker published photos and stories that introduced the world to devastating scenes of torture and suffering inside the decrepit prison in Iraq.
Today Salon presents an archive of 279 photos and 19 videos of Abu Ghraib abuse first gathered by the CID, along with information drawn from the CID’s own timeline of the events depicted. As we reported Feb. 16, Salon’s Mark Benjamin recently acquired extensive documentation of the CID investigation — including this photo archive and timeline — from a military source who spent time at Abu Ghraib and who is familiar with the Army probe.’
`A 20-year-old man who awoke after a party to find himself covered in syrup and dry oatmeal is facing a criminal charge after authorities say he turned a gun on the man who pulled the prank.
Witnesses told police they were just trying to ”get even” with Travis Maassen of La Crosse for pranks he had pulled in the past few days, according to a criminal complaint.
But Maassen ”freaked out,” emerging from a bedroom Friday with a .22 caliber bolt-action rifle, the complaint said. One man tackled Maassen after having the gun pointed at his head, the complaint said.’
`A Scotrun man, who police say was masturbating in the nude on a sidewalk before leading officers on a high-speed chase Nov. 29 in Pocono and Stroud townships, will head to Monroe County Court.
Eric Wayne, 57, said he “tends to get a little weird” when he and his partner haven’t been intimate, according to an affidavit signed by Pocono Township Police Officer Robert Furino.’
`Police said a man robbed a Georgia convenience store last weekend with a milk crate on his head, and the whole incident was caught on surveillance tape.
Police in Pelham, Ga., said the man beneath the mask was Marty Simpson, 46.
Simpson allegedly robbed the clerk at gunpoint and then ditched the milk crate in the parking lot, giving everyone outside a good look at his face.’
with picture.
`The counterfeit money looked good, but there was one flaw. There’s no such thing as a one billion dollar bill. U.S. Customs agents in California said on Tuesday they had found 250 bogus billion dollar bills while investigating a man charged with currency smuggling.’
`A man accused of repeatedly robbing fast-food restaurants and markets became so familiar that employees at a Taco Bell would open the cash register when they saw him coming, police said.
Eugene Rutledge, 31, of Oakland was charged Monday in connection with 16 robberies since November, including four at the Taco Bell. [..]
After his arrest Wednesday, police said he admitted to the robberies and said he needed the money for drugs and to help a sick girlfriend.’
`The zig-zagging car gave them away.
When Italian police pulled over the vehicle, they found a completely naked 70-year-old woman who had been trying to have sex with the driver – 11 years her junior.
After demanding the joy-riding couple get dressed, the police tested the semi-nude male motorist for drink driving.
“He was three times over the legal (blood-alcohol) limit,” said police commander Angelo D’Anardo in the city of Cologno al Serio, northeast of Milan.’
`Women involved in prostitution in Daytona Beach, Fla., have reportedly armed themselves and are searching for a serial killer behind the slayings of three residents, according to a Local 6 News report. [..]
“We will get him first,” streetwalker Tonya Richardson said. “Yeah, we are going to get him first. When we find him, he is going to be sorry. It is as simple as that.”
Richardson said she and other women are carrying weapons on the streets after Laquetta Gunther, Julie Green and Iwana Patton were found dead in the city.
“I carry a switch blade with me now,” Richardson said. “Everyone else does now too.”‘
`A B.C. man spent the weekend detained at a military base in California after being arrested for deserting the U.S. Marine Corps four decades ago during the Vietnam War.
Allen Abney, who was born in the United States but became a Canadian citizen in 1977, was arrested at a border crossing on Thursday while trying to enter Idaho from southeastern British Columbia. [..]
He and his wife were on their way for a holiday in Reno, Nev., when U.S. officials accused him of desertion and took him into custody.
In 1968, Abney was a 19-year-old marine when he fled to Canada because he didn’t want to fight in Vietnam.’
`Virus hunters have discovered a new Trojan that encrypts files on an infected computer and then demands $300 in ransom for a decryption password.
The Trojan, identified as Cryzip, uses a commercial zip library to store the victim’s documents inside a password-protected zip file and leaves step-by-step instructions on how to pay the ransom to retrieve the files.
It is not yet clear how the Trojan is being distributed, but security researchers say it was part of a small e-mail spam run that successfully evaded anti-virus scanners by staying below the radar.’
`Death cult guru Shoko Asahara is merely trying to pull the wool over authorities’ eyes to avoid the death sentence against him from being carried out, psychiatrists claimed in a report filed to the Tokyo High Court last month to determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial. Friday (3/17), however, says what the swami’s actually pulling is something entirely different. [..]
“He took off his trousers and diapers, exposed his genitalia and masturbated. He repeated the same action frequently. Whenever he acts like that, he drops his trousers, his diaper and diaper cover to his knees, finishes the act, then raises his trousers up to his waist again,” Friday quotes the Nishiyama Report as saying.
The weekly goes on to note that Asahara does not restrain his self-ministrations to times when he’s alone in his cell at the Tokyo Detention Center.’
`Four former inmates of the Citrus County Detention Facility filed a federal lawsuit against the private company that runs the jail, alleging two former officers put human waste in their food and drinks.
The inmates were subject to cruel punishment, torture and battery in 2004, when they were forced to eat the food contaminated with urine and feces, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Tampa.
A spokesman for Tennessee-based Corrections Corporation of America said the company took immediate action once it heard about the incident.
“Management immediately investigated and terminated three employees right there and then,” company spokesman Steve Owen said Saturday. “The company does have a zero-tolerance policy for conduct of that nature.”‘
`Among his less successful exploits was failing to conceal an offensive weapon when, following a confrontation at a pub, an axe fell from where it was hidden up his sleeve. Regulars were able to identify McGregor since the incident happened at his local.
On another occasion he successfully passed off a fake £10 note at a Co-op store, but was caught after he was heard saying “I got a result” as he left the shop, where he was a regular customer and staff knew his name.
He once tried to use a stolen bank card to buy 400 cigarettes and get £50 cashback at his local Asda. Staff were suspicious because the card was in a woman’s name.’
`Police cracking down on flying kites arrested more than 1,400 people over three days at a springtime festival held across eastern Pakistan, an official said.
The kite ban was imposed by provincial authorities after seven people were fatally slashed by kite strings that had been reinforced with wire or glass fibre in the run-up to the annual Basant festival.
While some people resisted the ban, there was only a sprinkling of kites over the city today — a small fraction of the thousands of kites seen in previous years.’
`A man who portrayed himself as an avenging angel for child sex-crime victims was sentenced to more than 44 years in prison Friday for killing two sex offenders.
Michael A. Mullen, 36, escaped a potential life sentence in a plea deal reached this week, ending a case considered one of the nation’s worst cases of vigilantism against sex offenders.
Mullen had confessed to the high-profile killings in letters to the news media, expressing a desire to be executed as a symbol of retribution against sex offenders.’
`A man accused of stealing a car was arrested after stopping to ask for directions at the car owner’s father’s house, authorities said.
Michael Chapman, 54, is accused of stealing a car Wednesday morning in Hopedale, about 130 miles east of Columbus near the West Virginia state line.
Chapman drove east for three miles, then pulled off state Route 151 needing directions to a nearby town. He stopped randomly at the home of Thomas Eltringham.’
`A Cleveland woman is charged with dragging her two daughters back inside their burning home after the girls ran for help. [..]
The girls told police that their mother was upset because the older girl had a boyfriend. Mason says the mother interrogated the older girl while applying lighted incense to parts of her body.
Investigators say when the mother didn’t get answers, she set the house on fire and forced the girls back inside after they ran out.’
`A burglar was spared a stiff prison term — after a judge heard he was permanently aroused down below.
Maurice Baumann, 32, was given a year in a German jail for robbing homes in a British Army garrison town.
But he avoided the cells when he was admitted to hospital with an emergency case of priapism — a condition which keeps the manhood ever-ready for sex.
A clinical report showed he suffered from either “semi” or “maximum rigidity” at all times.
Baumann has been prescribed drugs, acupuncture and even wide trousers to hide his embarrassment.’
`The Archdiocese of Dublin says 102 of its priests are suspected of having abused more than 350 children since 1940, in a shocking new report by the Catholic Church in Ireland.
The revelation comes a week before the Irish government launches a massive inquiry into abuse in the Church and the role government agencies played. It’s expected to last more than a year.’
`A retired salesman alleged a stripper and her friend beat and robbed him in his home. John Skinner, 54, said he was on his way to Bible study on Jan. 23 when exotic dancer Maureen Murphy, 25, knocked on his door and offered him a free strip-o-gram.
Murphy said a friend had already paid for the show, police said.
When Skinner agreed to let her perform, knife wielding Richard Adam, 23, allegedly forced his way inside and told Skinner he owed Murphy, owner of Bikini Assassins, and another woman money for earlier services.’
`An Alaska high school violated a student’s free speech rights by suspending him after he unfurled a banner reading “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” across the street from the school, a federal court ruled Friday.
Joseph Frederick, a student at Juneau-Douglas High School in Alaska, displayed the banner — which refers to smoking marijuana — in January 2002 to try to get on television as the Olympic torch relay was passing the school.’
`Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has died in the detention centre at The Hague tribunal.
The tribunal said he had been found dead in his cell on Saturday morning. The cause of death is not yet clear. [..]
The tribunal last month rejected a request by Mr Milosevic to go to Russia for medical treatment. He had high blood pressure and a heart condition.’
‘News reports that the U.S. military intends to close Abu Ghraib within the next few months and to transfer its prisoners to other jails are inaccurate, officials said.
There’s no specific timetable for that transfer or for closure of the Baghdad prison, they said. Decisions regarding Abu Ghraib and other detention facilities in Iraq will be based largely on two factors: the readiness of Iraq’s security forces to assume control of them and infrastructure improvements at the facilities.’
