by TChris

The vigilante* group known as the Minuteman Project is declaring victory and calling it quits, at least with regard to its central mission: hanging out in the desert and attempting to spot undocumented entrants who crossed the Mexican border. The mayor of Douglas, Arizona is less sanguine about the group's claim of success.

Ray Borane, the mayor of Douglas, said the effort had been "very superficial and clearly insincere." "It doesn't surprise me that they ended it," he said. "As soon as the media packed up and left, they left as well. All they accomplished was being a hindrance to the Border Patrol and creating international hard feelings. Their biggest accomplishment was getting the media's attention. It was, as the Mexicans say, all song and no opera."

But watch out-- the group's spokesman, Gray Deacon, warns that the Minuteman Project will return, putting "between 10,000 and 21,000 people on the border in all four Southwestern states" if the Bush administration fails to secure the border. The boastful estimate seems a bit puffed, given the "roughly 750 volunteers" presently on patrol.

Can you imagine having your house searched and the cop who walks in with the Kevlar vest using the two-way radio is a monkey?

[A] police SWAT team in Mesa, Ariz., has applied for $100,000. from the federal government to buy a capuchin monkey and train it to perform law enforcement duties. Until now, monkeys have only been on the other side of the law, but officers say a police monkey could search buildings, find bodies, and gather information with a video camera and two-way radio. The officer who wrote the application says the monkey itself would cost $15,000, with the rest of the grant going toward equipment and upkeep.

The monkey would be trained in special-ops intelligence.

Canada has approved the use of Sativex, a liquid form of marijuana that is sprayed inside the mouth. It has been found to be an effective pain reliever for those suffering from multiple sclerosis.

The action marks the first time a natural marijuana product has been approved for prescription sale anywhere in the Western Hemisphere since marijuana prohibition was instituted in the last century.

Rob Kampia of Marijuana Policy Project adds,

Sativex is, for all practical purposes, marijuana in liquid form. Made from marijuana plants bred for specific levels of various active components, called cannabinoids, Sativex resembles marijuana extracts and tinctures that were legally available in the United States -- manufactured by major drug companies and sold through pharmacies -- until the federal government banned marijuana in 1937.

In clinical trials, Sativex relieved MS-related pain and sleep disturbance that were not helped by standard drugs, with remarkably few side effects.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales today held a press conference to proudly announce the capture of 10,000 fugitives as the result of a week-long project called Operation Falcon.

Officials acknowledge the decision to provide such a massive show of force at one time was expected to prompt publicity and help highlight the mission.

Blogenlust says:

You don't just find and capture 10,000 fugitives in a week, because if it was that easy, we probably wouldn't have had 10,000 to catch, right? What am I missing? Bueller?

Oh, and wouldn't it be great if we could set up a week long dragnet called Operation FIND OBL. Imagine how successful that would be!

A Vermont legislator has introduced a bill to lower the state's drinking age to 18. He says we're driving drinkers underground. 18 year olds can do everything else - go to war, sign contracts, marry, vote - so why not drink?

The drinking age was 18 in New York when I was a teenager - It got raised in every state to 21 when the feds decided they would withhold highway money from states that didn't have a 21 year old age limit and passed the Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984.

When I was with bloggers at the Democratic convention in Boston this summer, there was one of our group who only 20. It was ridiculous that we could all order drinks and he couldn't.

When was the last time you heard a kid turn down a drink saying not "I don't drink, thank you," but "I better not, I'm not 21 yet." In other words, a kid is going to drink at 18 if she wants to, regardless of whether the law says 18 or 21. The juvenile courts are jammed with "minor in possession" cases. If they weren't, they might have more time and funds to deal with the kids with more serious issues.

We get letters. This one is in response to one of the several posts TChris and I have written criticizing sex offender registries, particularly those posted on the Internet.

I read your article about sex offenders....I have to tell you i am on that list. In the state of Wisconsin I will be on it for the rest of my life. When I was 20 there was a girl that accused me of having sex with her. I will admit we messed around a bit but we never had sex. There was never any intecourse.

When i plead guilty ( bad attorney) there was no sex offender registration. If there was, I would have taken my chances and probably won with a jury. But I guess thats besides the point now. Now I get evicted from apartment, people vandalize my truck and I can't get a job in my chosen profession. And it's all because I'm all over the Internet. I'm 33 years old now, I did my time...but after the fact the state added a life sentence.

Thanks for listening. ill keep reading. Tom from Wisconsin

Thanks for writing, Tom, and check out SoHopeful.org.

Deciding that drug dogs were no longer having the desired effect, the New Milford School District near Cincinnati has paid a private investigator $60,000. to go undercover at a high school to buy drugs and bust students.

Sixteen students were arrested last Friday, accused of drug trafficking, and reaction has ranged from kudos for the district's "courage" to cries of "entrapment."

The PI had been undercover since August.

Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) has come up with another doozy of a crime bill: Instead of fining those who make indecent comments on television, let's throw them in jail.

Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner III, R-Wis., told cable industry executives attending the National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. conference here on Monday that criminal prosecution would be a more efficient way to enforce the indecency regulations. "I'd prefer using the criminal process rather than the regulatory process," Sensenbrenner told the executives.

People who are in flagrant disregard should face a criminal process rather than a regulator process," Sensenbrenner said. "That is the way to go. Aim the cannon specifically at the people committing the offenses, rather than the blunderbuss approach that gets the good actors.

Sensenbrenner is a one-man disaster for justice. He's been the driving force behind the Real ID Act and bills to strip judges of their discretion in sentencing and subpoena judges' records. In 2004, he wanted to add mandatory minimum penalties to non-violent drug offenses (one example: a five year mandatory minimum sentence for passing a joint to someone who had been in a treatment center.)

by TChris

It didn't take long for the vigilante group known as the Minuteman Project (discussed in this TalkLeft post) to make unnecessary work for the Border Patrol.

Even though volunteers for the Minuteman Project were only beginning their regular, monthlong patrols Monday, they have unwittingly set off sensors during the past few days, forcing agents to respond to what essentially is a false alarm, said Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Jose Maheda. "Every sensor has to be addressed," Maheda said. "It's taken away from our normal operations."

by TChris

Finally realizing that Taser weapons aren't as safe as their manufacturer claims them to be, the International Association of Chiefs of Police "recommended Sunday that law enforcement agencies closely monitor their use and avoid issuing them to every officer." The organization's decision to study Taser use is reported here.

The strategy also asks agencies to add conditions for use of the weapons to their policies governing the use of force. Those policies generally govern when officers are permitted to use firearms and less-than-lethal options such as batons and pepper spray.

by TChris

The idea of rounding up a posse to pursue the bad guys is a popular theme in movies about the wild west, but the modern analog can be found in Arizona, where armed volunteers, recruited by a website, intend to patrol the San Pedro Valley in search of "illegal activity." Calling themselves the Minuteman Project, the volunteers plan to rally in Tombstone before starting their month-long endeavor. They say they'll report their observations to the Border Patrol, and the volunteers have been instructed not to shoot anyone, even if they come under fire. The risk, however, is that some volunteers will decide to take the law into their own hands, bringing a return of "vigilante justice" to Arizona.

[L]aw enforcement officials and human rights advocates are worried about the potential for bloodshed. Critics contend the project may attract vigilantes. At least one white supremacist group has mentioned the project on its Web site.

Given the risk that a whacko or two will join the 800 to 1,000 volunteers that the project expects, the Border Patrol doesn't appreciate the "help" that the untrained volunteers are offering. If the volunteers fear that the Border Patrol isn't doing its job, they should seek a political solution. Running around the desert with guns isn't a productive response.

Update: (TL) David Neiwert explains why this has tragedy and disaster written all over it.

In Appalachia, a Christian foundation has decided not to wait for the Government and its drug war to help their communities.

In the latest initiative, the Christian Appalachian Project announced Friday that it plans to invest $1 million to open long-term rehabilitation centers in Eastern Kentucky to help drug abusers to break their addictions. Bill Mills, president of the ministry that has fed and clothed the poor in Appalachia for 40 years, said churches and other Christian organizations are stepping forward to deal with the drug problem.

"Substance abuse is a plague upon our Eastern Kentucky communities," he said. "It is the most dominant and devastating of the problems we face today. We simply are choosing to be part of the solution."

Here's how they are doing it: