Police became curious about the best-selling but inordinately-expensive special pizza offered by a Düsseldorf restaurant, so they ordered a "number 40" for themselves. They received an unremarkable pie and some cocaine, then busted the joint.
The bounty included 1.6 kilograms (3.5 pounds) of cocaine, 400 grams (14.1 ounces) of cannabis and 268,000 euros ($290,378) in cash.
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Customers of Düsseldorf, Germany pizzeria looking for a pie with real pick-me-up power could order a Number 40 off the secret menu. That specialty pizza reportedly included a bindle of blow.
"That was one of the best-selling pizzas," said criminal director Michael Graf von Moltke. — Read the rest
A Vermont man was so bladdered when arrested by Ontario Provincial Police that he did not realize he had made his way into another country. CNC News reports that the 52-year-old man was charged with impaired driving in Cobden, Ontario after the truck he was driving was found with flat tires "stuck in a drive-thru" at about 5 a.m. — Read the rest
Speed traps and property confiscations are among the worst abuses of state power, IMHO. You're generally helpless to fight back, regardless of how capricious the claims against you.
A new outrage joins the pantheon of state perpetrated awfulness. This piece in The New Yorker lays out a new abuse I had not heard of before: relatives of the incarcerated no longer allowed to visit in person. — Read the rest
The DEA's scare tactics likening Adderall prescriptions to the opioid epidemic betrays its addiction to manufacturing drug panics to protect its authority amid the drug war's failures.
The Drug Enforcement Administration has found a new bogeyman to justify its failed prohibitionist crusade — prescription medication for people with ADHD. — Read the rest
There's always been an unresolvable tension between artistry and fame. Very few people find fame to be what they had hoped. It comes with a lot of strings attached. It's like a drug — once you've had it, you spend the rest of your life chasing more. — Read the rest
I lived in NYC for a few years at the end of the 8'0s and so so so much has changed since then. (There wasn't even a Starbucks in Manhattan yet!) But one thing that hasn't changed — garbage. Towering piles of garbage bags, put out at the curb for collection. — Read the rest
Twitter recently imposed blue checkmarks, previously assigned only to people paying to use the site, on all users meeting a certain threshold of paid followers. And soon users assigned blue checkmarks will no longer be able to hide them.
The blue checkmark, originally a form of verification and implicit status, was turned into a paid feature after Elon Musk's takeover of the site. — Read the rest