In the news

Man Shot After Threatening Firefighters

Posted February 19, 2009

Texas - A man was fatally shot by a police officer Tuesday after he lunged at the officer and firefighters with a knife and fire ax, authorities said. The incident began after the Raymondville Volunteer Fire Department was called to a house fire in the 400 block of San Francisco Street, Robert Supulver, a firefighter, said."When I arrived on the scene, the firefighters were scattering," Supulver said. "The man had come out of the house with a knife and proceeded toward the fire truck. He grabbed an ax off the fire truck.""Nobody was in the house," Supulver said. "It was not his house, but he set it on fire."As the man wielded the two weapons and lunged toward the police officer, the officer fired to protect himself and firefighters, striking the man in the upper torso, Supulver said.Willacy County Emergency Medical Service Director Frank Torres said the wounded man was taken to Valley Baptist Medical Center-Harlingen. A VBMC spokesman said the man, whose name has not been released by authorities, later died at the hospital.The contents of the house were destroyed, Supulver said. "It was pretty well gutted," he said.No one except the man with the weapons was injured during the incident, he said.Police Chief Uvaldo Zamora did not immediately return telephone calls.Willacy County Sheriff Larry Spence said the last name of the officer who fired is Betancourt.Written by Valley Morning Star

February 19, 2009
Marijuana Sales Reportedly Stable Despite Economy
I would imagine that our nation's economy is enough to drive marijuana sales sky high.
Here's part of an educational piece published in the Independent Florida Alligator, a newspaper run by college students but separate from the nearby university:
"While this marijuana wasn’t any more expensive than usual, one–eighth of an ounce for $60, he is just one of many who continue to blow smoke in the face of an ailing economy."Drug use is normally not affected by economics."
Continue reading "Marijuana Sales Reportedly Stable Despite Economy" »

Swiss Bank Will Open Files to U.S. Authorities http://crooksandliars.com/

Ah yes, the Swiss bank account. Truly, the end of an era. For decades, it was the banking tool of choice for those who were hiding income - for reasons as mundane as tax evasion, but also for more nefarious purposes, like money-laundering from illegal enterprises:
UBS, the largest bank in Switzerland, agreed on Wednesday to divulge the names of well-heeled Americans whom the authorities suspect of using offshore accounts at the bank to evade taxes. The bank admitted conspiring to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and agreed to pay $780 million to settle a sweeping federal investigation into its activities.
It is unclear how many of its clients’ names UBS will divulge. Federal prosecutors have been examining about 19,000 accounts at the bank, but UBS ultimately may disclose the identities of only a few hundred customers.