Genghis Khan Nabbed on Crack Charges After Thruway Stop

From Lohud.com:

 CLARKSTOWN — State police nabbed three people on charges they had a handgun and crack-cocaine when stopped on the New York State Thruway.

Troopers reported finding nearly 6.5 ounces of crack, and marijuana, when they stopped a 2001 Chevrolet on Monday, Sgt. John Antonelli said today. Also seized was a Ruger .357 handgun.


The car driven by Alex W. Spanos, 23, of Castleton, Vt., was stopped at 4 p.m. for traffic violations, Antonelli said, while headed northbound.

Genghis A. Khan, 22, of Brooklyn, apparently possessed the most drugs as troopers hit him with the most felony charges — second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and unlawful possession of marijuana.


Khan also was charged him with tampering with evidence and resisting arrest.


“He tried to get rid of the drugs,” Antonelli said. “He didn’t want to be handcuffed. He resisted...” (continued)

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• Genghis Khan nabbed on crack charges after Thruway stop

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Pope arrives in Mexico to warm welcome, tackling topic of drug violence

Reuters Pictures

From the A.P. via The Washington Post:

LEON, Mexico — Pope Benedict XVI landed in Mexico on Friday to throngs of faithful who gathered at the tarmac and lined more than 20 miles of his route into the city shouting the ultimate welcome: “Benedict, brother, you are now Mexican.”

Many thought such a warm reception, complete with folkloric dance and mariachis, would not greet a pope some consider distant and academic. But the world’s largest Roman Catholic, Spanish-speaking country showed Benedict the same affection as they did to his predecessor, John Paul II, who was dubbed “Mexico’s pope” after making five trips to the country.

“This is a proud country of hospitality, and nobody feels like a stranger in your land,” the pope said upon landing to wild cheers. “I knew that, now I see it and now I feel it in my heart.”

After his Alitalia flight landed, the streets of Leon where the pope will stay took on a carnival atmosphere, with entire blocks exploding in yellow confetti as he passed in his bulletproof popemobile along the 20-mile (32-kilomter) route from the airport.

“He came to change all Mexicans,” said Maria del Rosario Tamayo Villanueva, who waited to see the pope despite being paralyzed in both legs since childhood. “It was important to come to see him. He is a gift from God.”

Earlier on the 14-hour flight from Rome, Benedict called on Mexicans to conquer an “idolatry of money” that feeds drug violence and urged Cuba, where he heads on Monday, to leave behind a Marxism that “no longer responds to reality...”

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Mexico Legalizes Drug Possession

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: August 21, 2009

Federal Police arrive in Morelia, in the state of Michoacan July 16, 2009.Mexico sent 1,000 federal...

Federal Police arrive in Morelia, in the state of Michoacan July 16, 2009.Mexico sent 1,000 federal police and cargo planes loaded with armored cars on Thursday to Michoacan to help quell a flare-up in drug gang violence that is challenging President Felipe Calderon in his home state.

(Eliana Aponte /Reuters)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico enacted a controversial law on Thursday decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs while encouraging government-financed treatment for drug dependency free of charge.

The law sets out maximum “personal use” amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities will no longer face criminal prosecution; the law goes into effect on Friday.

Anyone caught with drug amounts under the personal-use limit will be encouraged to seek treatment, and for those caught a third time treatment is mandatory — although no penalties for noncompliance are specified.

Mexican authorities said the change only recognized the longstanding practice here of not prosecuting people caught with small amounts of drugs.

The maximum amount of marijuana considered to be for “personal use” under the new law is 5 grams — the equivalent of about four marijuana cigarettes. Other limits are half a gram of cocaine, 50 milligrams of heroin, 40 milligrams for methamphetamine and 0.015 milligrams of LSD.

President Felipe Calderón waited months before approving the law.

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Gotcha!

Radley Balko | December 6, 2008, 1:28pm

"Like Mark Draughn, I've been somewhat skeptical of Barry Cooper, the former drug cop turned pitchman for how-to-beat-the-cops videos. He comes off as more of a huckster than a principled whistle-blower, which I think does the good ideas he stands for (police reform) more harm than good.

But damn. I have to hand it to him. This might be one of the ballsiest moves I've ever seen.

KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana. When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house.

The trap was set and less than 24 hours later, the Odessa narcotics unit raided the house only to find KopBuster’s attorney waiting under a system of complex gadgetry and spy cameras that streamed online to the KopBuster’s secret mobile office nearby.

To clarify just a bit, according to Cooper, there was nothing illegal going on the bait house, just two evergreen trees and some grow lamps. There was no probable cause. So a couple of questions come up. First, how did the cops get turned on to the house in the first place? Cooper suspects they were using thermal imaging equipment to detect the grow lamps, a practice the Supreme Court has said is illegal. The second question is, what probable cause did the police put on the affidavit to get a judge to sign off on a search warrant? If there was nothing illegal going on in the house, it's difficult to conceive of a scenario where either the police or one of their informants didn't lie to get a warrant.

Cooper chose the Odessa police department for baiting because he believes police there instructed an informant to plant marijuana on a woman named Yolanda Madden. She's currently serving an eight-year sentence for possession with intent to distribute. According to Cooper, the informant actually admitted in federal court that he planted the marijuana. Madden was convicted anyway.

The story's worth watching, not only to see if the cops themselves are held accountable for this, but whether the local district attorney tries to come up with a crime with which to charge Cooper and his assistants. I can't imagine such a charge would get very far, but I wouldn't be surprised to see someone try.

Here's some local media coverage:"

• Gotcha
• Fourth Amendment

Honey could be a wonder drug

From correspondents in Ottawa

September 25, 2008 02:45am

HONEY, used for generations to soothe sore throats, could soon be substituted for antibiotics in fighting stubborn ear, nose and throat infections, according to a new study.

Ottawa University doctors found in tests that ordinary honey kills bacteria that cause sinus infections, and does it better in most cases than antibiotics.

The researchers have so far tested manuka honey from New Zealand, and sidr honey from Yemen.

"It's astonishing," researcher Joseph Marson said of bees' unexplained ability to combine the nectar of flowers into a seemingly potent medicine.

The preliminary tests were conducted in laboratory dishes, not in live patients, but included the "superbug" methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA, which is highly resistant to antibiotics.

In upcoming human trials, a "honey rinse" would be used to "flush out the goo from sinus cavities," said Marson.

The two killed all floating bacteria in liquid, and 63-91 per cent of biofilms - micro-organisms that sometimes form a protective layer in sinus cavities, urinary tracts, catheters, and heart valves, protecting bacteria from normal drug treatments and often leading to chronic infections.

The most effective antibiotic, rifampin, killed just 18 percent of the biofilm samples in the tests.

"As of today, nobody is sure what in the honey kills the bacteria," Marson said, noting that "not all honeys have the same potency" and calling for more research to determine the mechanism behind the healing.

Canada's clover and buckwheat honey did not work at all.

Previous studies have shown honey's healing properties on infected wounds.

The results of the study were presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, in Chicago.

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