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Monthly Archives: February 2017
Hinds County and Morton police team up on 11 drug arrests – Jackson Clarion Ledger
Posted: February 10, 2017 at 3:49 am
The Clarion-Ledger Published 5:35 p.m. CT Feb. 9, 2017 | Updated 9 hours ago
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A search of a vehicle driven by Corey Lewis and April Littleton of Jackson revealed over 4,000 tablets of ecstasy, approximately 25 grams of hash, and approximately one ounce of ecstasy powder, and a gun.(Photo: HCSO/ Special to The Clarion-Ledger)
Hinds County special investigations and Morton police officers have made 11 felony arrests in an effort to cripple the drug pipeline on I-20.
The arrests took place over the period of a little more than a week.
"These are not victimless crimes. A large portion of these illegal narcotics are headed to our communities, to the hands of our children," Sheriff Victor Mason said. "I'm not about to sit back and ignore it."
According to a series of releases from the Hinds County Sheriff's Department, on Jan. 27, four people from Pennsylvania with ties to West Africa were apprehended in a tan 2007 Inifiniti for careless driving on I-20 in Morton. Deputies located marijuana and a gun, as well as around three gallons of an unknown chemical in a hidden compartment.Alex Robinson, age unavailable, was charged with felon in possession of a firearm and possession of marijuana in a motor vehicle.Woryah Kamara, Matthew Sawher, and Willie Besson, all ages unavailable, were charged with possession of marijuana in a motor vehicle.Besson is pending deportation to Liberia, West Africa. They were taken to the Scott County Jail.
MORE HINDS COUNTY NEWS
On Jan. 29,Marion Watts Jr., age unavailable, of Clinton, was stopped for careless driving on I-20 westbound in Morton. Police said he was driving a rental 2017 Chevy Malibu and refused to give consent to a search. AK9 alerted to the trunk of the vehicle where authorities foundfive poundsof high grade marijuana hidden in a box in the trunk. The shipment, according to police, was headed for Clinton.Watts was charged with trafficking a controlled substance.He was booked in at the Scott County Jail.
On Jan. 30, Westly Lara, age unavailable, of Lubbock, Texas,and Jennifer Millar, age unavailable, of California were stopped for a traffic violation on I-20 West in Morton. A K9 alertlead to the discovery of THC in liquid formdesigned for e-cigarettes, 20 grams of high grade of marijuana and a compartment built in the vehicle under the center console containing marijuana and approximately$44,000in cash.Both were charged with possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy to commit a crime. They were booked into the Scott County Jail.
On the same day,Hinds County officers assigned to the Special Investigations Unit stopped a late model SUV rental on I-20 around Edwards for a traffic violation.Officers became suspicious when the odor of marijuana was coming from the vehicle.
SEE ALSO:3 JSU students arrested on drug, counterfeit charges
After a search of the vehicle, officers discovered 2 pounds of hi-grade marijuana hidden in the rear hatch of the SUV.The driver, Lathero Stringer, and passenger Quinton Holly, both ages unavailable, both of Terry, were charged with trafficking a controlled substance.Both subjects were booked in at the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond.
On February 7, police on I-20 west in Morton initiated a traffic stop for careless driving on a Toyota Camry which led to arrest of Corey Lewis and April Littleton, both ages unavailable,both of Jackson for aggravated trafficking of a controlled substance and twocounts of trafficking of a controlled substancewhile in possession of a firearm.
Authorities said a consensual search revealed over 4,000 tablets of ecstasy, approximately25 grams of hash, and approximatelyone ounce of ecstasypowder, and a gun. Police said the drugs were headed to Jackson.Both Lewis and Littleton were booked in the Scott County Jail.
"We are pleased with the results of this joint effort. We always look forward to working with multi jurisdictions in efforts to stop the illegal drug activity coming through our state," said Morton Police Chief Nicky Crapps.
READ: FBI seizes weapons related to multi-state drug network
ContactTherese Apelat 601-961-7236 ortapel@gannett.com.Follow her onFacebookandTwitter.
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Hinds County and Morton police team up on 11 drug arrests - Jackson Clarion Ledger
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Family of Collision Repair Shop Owners Allegedly Scammed Insurers Out of $560000 – BodyShop Business
Posted: at 3:49 am
California authorities are attempting to break up a family-run organized crime ring involving the owners of seven body shops that allegedly bilked insurance companies out of more than $500,000.
Detectives from the California Department of Insurance detectives and investigators with the Auto Insurance Fraud Task Force arrested seven suspects, charged an additional 22 who are self-surrendering, and still are seeking 11 more suspects for allegedly running an organized automotive insurance fraud ring
The state filed more than 230 felony charges against 40 suspects in connection with crimes committed in seven auto body shops across Coach Valley, a region in between Los Angeles and San Diego. The body shops staged up to 40 false insurance claims receiving payouts totaling $560,492 from 10 different insurance companies, including some of the largest auto insurers in the nation, according to authorities.
This was an elaborate conspiracy to rip off insurers to the tune of nearly a half a million dollars, said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime. The cost of fraud is shouldered by consumers who pay higher premiums when insurers pass along their losses.
Investigators from the Department of Insurance initially received information about the crime ring in 2014, as part of a previous bust of suspects allegedly running a similar crime ring. Investigators with the departments Urban Auto Insurance Fraud Task Force allege that the owners of the seven body shops conspired with employees and family who posed as insurance consumers and filed fraudulent claims for collisions that were either staged or never occurred at all.
Two examples of fraudulent claims filed by the conspirators included one claiming substantial bodily injury in which the insurer paid over $100,000. In another, the suspects allegedly staged a collision that targeted an innocent motorist leaving her vehicle with significant damage.
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Family of Collision Repair Shop Owners Allegedly Scammed Insurers Out of $560000 - BodyShop Business
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Ancapistan – Being Libertarian
Posted: at 3:46 am
Ancapistan is a Facebook group with a membership count which towers way past the landmark 20,000 number and into a haven for shitposting and memes. The group centres on the anarcho-capitalist ideology and gives the politically minded of us a chance to laugh at a number of jokes that have spawned from the ideology.
Anarcho-capitalism is essentially a belief which is founded on the theories of economists Hans-Herman Hoppe and Murray Rothbard which advocate the elimination of the state in favour of market-based solutions. Due to their support for the elimination of the state, and the somewhat clumsy way in which anarchists detail their solutions to crime, those from other sets of ideals pile in to this Facebook group to mock and ridicule anarcho-capitalists. This is primarily done through the use of a 90s clip-art smiley which is edited to display the ancap colours and is juxtaposed to a hyperbole scenario in which massive corporations such as McDonalds descend into hilarious warlord scenarios. The contrast of a meme featuring an innocent slice of the Internet wearing sunglasses becomes significantly darker when it is featured with text which elaborates on how child slaves would be bought and sold and trained to be soldiers.
The group itself has developed a cult status and amassed a few popular names such as The Rebel journalist and infamous provocateur Lauren Southern and the equally notorious Martin Shkreli.
So, with the dastardly devils of the online underbelly clinging on to a Facebook group, what can one expect? All of the usual suspects can be found lurking and posting in Ancapistan; communists, fascists, antifascists, socialists, other anarchists, the occasional feminist, a handful of minarchists, a sprinkling of the libertarian community and of course the anarcho-capitalists.
So, given that Pandoras black and yellow box has been subtly opened by Lauren Southern on her Facebook page, and has been unleashed through Stefan Molyneux, one can deduct that those in the mainstream libertarian and political culture are being inundated by ancap communities. The invitation to join anarcho-capitalism is further accentuated through their open mockery of themselves.
No one likes fun police.
So, it would only make sense that those that wish to abolish the police should learn to kick off their loafers* after a hard day at work* and practice the fine art of self-deprecation. *Editors note: communists should feel free to replace loafers with potato sacks tied around ankles and work with state sanctioned forced labour camps.
In an interview with the man behind the machinations, he disclosed to me the impact that humour has made in the growing spread of far-right libertarians and anarcho-capitalism.
The main admin (Madmin) refused to have his name disclosed, although he offered an insight into the concerns he has with anarcho-capitalism, and the ways in which it has prevented itself from being embraced by traditional libertarians.
You can see those who call themselves libertarian, such as Austin Petersen, mocked for even suggesting any involvement of the state in the lives of its citizens as well, with Petersen being booed at the LP conference for suggesting that heroin should not be sold to underage children. he explained. I wouldnt say that theres really an ancap cause so to speak, but we certainly have exposed some of the basic flaws in its ideology.
The other admins and myself find sympathy in libertarian ideals, but a complete removal of the state is, in my eyes, an idiotic move. It would result in the warlords and the hyperbolic situations that we joke about, albeit to a lesser extent, he added.
Madmins admirable administration to such a massive group is assisted by a number of other administrators that have all found the ability to gather in unity and have a laugh at the expense of those in favour of abolishing the state and letting the free market do its work.
Should you wish to join a cavalcade of jokes about unregulated nuclear weaponry, selling heroin to children, the legalisation of child slaves for prostitution or war, the following link will take you to the Facebook group: Ancapistan
I say without any hint of sarcasm that the anarchist movement has been greatly perpetuated by the humour of those involved and the determination to allow free speech to flow and critique their own ideals. By demonstrating that one can take a joke, a precedent is set for a libertarian future.
This post was written by David McManus.
The views expressed here belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect our views and opinions.
David McManus has an extensive background in youth politics and of advocacy with regards to the libertarian and anarcho-capitalist movements. David draws his values from the works of Stirner, Hoppe and Rothbard. He is currently a student in Australia with a passion for writing, which carries into a healthy zest for liberty-based activism. Despite an aspiring career in politics, he considers himself a writer at heart with a steady niche for freelance work.
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BREAKING: NH State Representative Joins Libertarian Party … – Free Keene
Posted: at 3:46 am
Its a big day for libertarian history in New Hampshire and nationwide. For the first time in two decades, the Libertarian Party of NH (LPNH) has a sitting state representative in the legislature who is just beginning his first term in office. Caleb Dyer, state representative for Hudson and Pelham, announced today at a press conference in Concords Legislative Office Building that he has switched his voter registration from republican to libertarian and has also joined the state party as a dues-paying member. Dyer is a New Hampshire native who knocked on 2,000 doors in his district, Hillsborough 37, to win his election in November of 2016. Heres the press conference video from this morning:
The LPNH was basically dormant for years until late 2016 when superactivists Darryl W Perry and Rodger Paxton won election to chair and vice-chair of the party, respectively. Shortly thereafter the libertarian candidate for governor was able to get enough votes to propel the party into major party status in New Hampshire. Its the first time the LPNH has had that status in approximately twenty years, surely much to the chagrin of the republicans and democrats, who raised the vote requirement in the nineties specifically to disqualify the LP from major party status.
Libertarian State Representative Caleb Q Dyer
Explaining why he left the republicans, Dyer explained, I truly believe the best course of action is to organize outside of the party, and force coalition. He intends to rally hundreds of people across the state to submit themselves to their peers as libertarian candidates. He ended his speech by reading from Article Ten of the New Hampshire Constitution:
whenever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.
Who will be the next state rep to follow Dyers lead? Stay tuned here to Free Keene for the latest from the state house.
Dyer will be a featured speaker at the LPNHs convention on March 18th in Concord. Tickets are available now.
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BREAKING: NH State Representative Joins Libertarian Party ... - Free Keene
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Local Libertarians back ballot access bill | Local | mywebtimes.com – MyWebTimes.com
Posted: at 3:46 am
A local Libertarian Party leader supports a bill that would make it easier for third-party candidates to get on ballots.
The legislation would put independent and minor party candidates on a level playing field with Republicans and Democrats.
According to a Libertarian news release, the proposal seeks to bring fairness by making signature requirements more equal and setting the rules for becoming a political party on the same level as other Midwestern states.
The average percentage of votes required to become legally recognized in the United States is 2 percent, lower than Illinois' 5 percent. The bill would move the state's percentage to 2 percent.
In November's election, Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson received 1.3 percent of La Salle County's vote, while Green Party candidate Jill Stein got 1.1 percent.
Jenae Wise, chairwoman of the Illinois Valley Libertarian Party, said third parties are important in American politics.
"They are there to keep the two parties accountable," she said. "They come together as one to increase government more and more."
She said she spoke with state Rep. David Welter, R-Morris, who represents portions of eastern La Salle County. He became the second representative to sponsor it.
In a phone interview, Welter said he wants to improve ballot access.
"I run as a Republican and supports the party's ideals, but I hope that in the future we'll see more than the two major political parties," he said.
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Why the liberal world order is worth saving – Irish Times
Posted: at 3:45 am
about 20 hours ago Updated: about 19 hours ago
Berlin 1989: It was no accident that, once the Berlin Wall had come down, the freedoms available in the west of the continent were grabbed with both hands by the formerly communist nations in the east. Photograph: Lionel Cironneau/AP.
Sometimes a landscapes contours dissolve into the detail. This is happening now amid the fracturing of the wests liberal order. Brexit, Donald Trump, angry nationalism and populist politics - all are closely reported and rudely debated. Lost to the cacophony is clear sight of just how much is at stake.
For all its blemishes, the post-1945 settlement ushered in a remarkable period of relative peace and prosperity. We can all list the mistakes - whether hubris in Washington, corrupt politicians in Europe or greedy bankers everywhere. But for the most part, the story has been one of rising living standards and a spreading politics of generosity.
Freedom has advanced in step with the absence of war between the great powers. We too easily forget that there is nothing inevitable about peace or the march of democracy.
We might have noticed also the synergy between a rules-based world order and flourishing open societies. What unites peace abroad with democracy at home is the rule of law. Substitute arbitrary power and states fall to war and societies slide towards authoritarianism. That is why we should shiver when Mr Trump, the president of the worlds most powerful democracy, casually challenges the right of US judges to uphold basic freedoms and disdains international co-operation in favour of America-first nationalism.
The system established after 1945 was built on US power. But it endured and, after the end of the cold war, expanded because US leadership was embedded in multilateral rules and institutions. Everyone had a stake. Washington sometimes over-reached - in Vietnam or with the invasion of Iraq. By historys standards, however, the Pax Americana was essentially benign, resting as much on the force of example as military might.
In Europe, a legacy of war between states was replaced by a system that recognised their interdependence. There are lots of things wrong with the EU, but nothing at all when set against what came before. Compare the peace and prosperity of the second half of the 20th century with the barbarism of the first. It was no accident that, once the Berlin Wall had come down, the freedoms available in the west of the continent were grabbed with both hands by the formerly communist nations in the east.
This order, of course, was the creation of the west. The redistribution of power within the global system was always going to impose stresses. Nations such as China have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the US-led open trading system. But Beijing was never going to sign up to liberal democracy or forever abide by rules and institutions of exclusively western design. The challenge was whether the system could be revised to accommodate the aspirations of rising states and contain the resentments of a declining Russia.
What was not predicted was that the rich democracies would turn against their own creation, and the question would become whether they could manage the insurrections within. The textbooks tell us that at moments of global transition established powers such as the US defend the status quo, while rising states such as China seek to upend it.
History has been turned on its head. With Mr Trump, the US has joined the ranks of revisionist powers, threatening to surrender US global leadership in the cause of economic nationalism. Britain has done something similar by repudiating the EU. Germany and Japan are almost alone in seeking to hold on to the old multilateral order.
The charge sheet against western elites is by now familiar enough. Globalisation was rigged in favour of the one per cent. Politicians, mesmerised by markets, conspired in the theft. The incomes of the majority stagnated even as they carried the burden of post-crash austerity. Bankers who should be in jail are still pocketing bonuses. Unchecked migration has heaped cultural dislocation on to the economic insecurities wrought by technological change.
These grievances cannot be brushed aside. Mr Trumps xenophobia, the vote for Brexit in the UK and rising populism across Europe have been fed by the complacency of a political establishment in thrall to unfettered capitalism. Winning back public confidence requires mainstream politicians to deploy the tools of government - taxation, education and welfare policies, and yes, redistribution - to balance the excesses of globalisation.
No one should pretend, though, that the populists have the answer. Protectionism impoverishes everyone. Demonising Muslims will not make anyone safer. Locking out Mexicans or, for that matter, Polish plumbers, will not raise the living standards of workers in the US or Britain. Closed societies are meaner, poorer and more repressive. Rising nationalism most typically provides a backdrop to wars.
Memories are short. In Britain, the Brexit vote has stirred a fashion for rose-tinted spectacles. The 1950s were tough, the story goes, but communities stuck together. There were jobs and opportunities for the white working classes.
Breadline wages and slum housing, hotel signs declaring no dogs, no blacks, no Irish and cabinet ministers who denounced homosexuality as a contagious perversion as dangerous as heroin addiction go unmentioned. Opportunity? University was for a privileged five per cent.
The danger with nostalgia is that it can blind you to progress.
Financial Times Service
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Trevor Bauer Takes Issue With ‘Liberal-Slanted’ Anti-Donald Trump Articles – NESN.com
Posted: at 3:45 am
NESN.com | Trevor Bauer Takes Issue With 'Liberal-Slanted' Anti-Donald Trump Articles NESN.com You probably remember Bauer from the disgusting finger wound he suffered during a drone accident while the Indians made their run in the 2016 Major League Baseball postseason. But he was back in the news for something entirely different Thursday. |
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Trevor Bauer Takes Issue With 'Liberal-Slanted' Anti-Donald Trump Articles - NESN.com
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BC Liberal staffer hired by government, but still did work for party – Vancouver Sun
Posted: at 3:45 am
Vancouver Sun | BC Liberal staffer hired by government, but still did work for party Vancouver Sun VICTORIA The B.C. government hired a Liberal party staffer into a supposedly non-partisan communications post, only to allow her to return to party organizing less than a month into the job. Kirsten Hamilton was hired in January as an events ... Premier backs away from allegation that NDP hacked BC Liberal website Christy Clark accuses NDP of hacking Liberal party website, without proof |
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Tim Scott reads racist tweets by ‘liberal left’ over support for Jeff Sessions – Washington Times
Posted: at 3:45 am
Washington Times | Tim Scott reads racist tweets by 'liberal left' over support for Jeff Sessions Washington Times You see what I'm surprised by, just a smidgen, is that the liberal left that speaks and desires the rest of us to be tolerant do not want to be tolerant of anyone that disagrees with where they are coming from, the senator continued. So the ... Sen. Tim Scott: Liberal Left Activists 'Do not Want To Be Tolerant' 'Disgrace to the Black Race': Sen. Tim Scott Illustrates How Liberals Show Tolerance SC's Scott takes aim at intolerant liberals in Senate speech |
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Tim Scott reads racist tweets by 'liberal left' over support for Jeff Sessions - Washington Times
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The United Kingdom and the Benefits of Spending Restraint – Cato Institute (blog)
Posted: at 3:45 am
When I debate one of my leftist friends about deficits, its often a strange experience because none of us actually care that much about red ink.
Im motivated instead by a desire to shrink the burden of government spending, so I argue for spending restraint rather than tax hikes that would feed the beast.
And folks on the left want bigger government, so they argue for tax hikes to enable more spending and redistribution.
I feel that I have an advantage in these debates, though, because I share my table of nations that have achieved great results when nominal spending grows by less than 2 percent per year.
The table shows that nations practicing spending restraint for multi-year periods reduce the problem of excessive government and also address the symptom of red ink.
I then ask my leftist buddies to please share their table showing nations that got good results from tax increases. And the response isawkward silence, followed by attempts to change the subject. I often think you can even hear crickets chirping in the background.
I point this out because I now have another nation to add to my collection.
From the start of last decade up through the 2009-2010 fiscal year, government spending in the United Kingdom grew by 7.1 percent annually, far faster than the growth of the economys productive sector. As a result, an ever-greater share of the private economy was being diverted to politicians and bureaucrats.
Beginning with the 2010-2011 fiscal year, however, officials started complying with my Golden Rule and outlays since then have grown by an average of 1.6 percent per year.
And as you can see from this chart prepared by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, this modest level of fiscal restraint has paid big dividends. The burden of government spending has significantly declined, falling from 45 percent of national income to 40 percent of national income.
This means more resources in private hands, which means better economic performance.
Though allow me to now share some caveats. Fiscal policy is only a small piece of what determines good policy, just 20 percent of a nations grade according to Economic Freedom of the World.
So spending restraint should be accompanied by free trade, sound money, a sensible regulatory structure, and good governance. Moreover, as we see from the tragedy of Greece, spending restraint doesnt even lead to good fiscal policy if its accompanied by huge tax increases.
Fortunately, the United Kingdom is reasonably sensible, which explains why the country is ranked #10 by EFW. Though its worth noting that it gets its lowest score for size of government, so the recent bit of good news about spending restraint needs to be the start of a long journey.
P.S. The United States got great results thanks to spending restraint between 2009-2014. It will be interesting to see whether Republicans get better results with Trump in the White House.
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The United Kingdom and the Benefits of Spending Restraint - Cato Institute (blog)
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