Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Zetas drug cartel was formed by ex-special forces soldiers. It now has more than 10,000 men under arms. And a deserved reputation for unspeakable violence in its drive to dominate the lucrative drug trade with the US
World's most popular sport is deeply corrupt. Football (soccer) "match fixing has become a massive worldwide crime, on par with drug trafficking, prostitution and the trade in illegal weapons." A key fixer says he'll lift the lid
Married to the 'Ndrangheta. "Ms Cacciola was forced into a loveless marriage at the age of 16, with a man who almost immediately disappeared into the solitary confinement wing of a prison. From then on, she was rarely allowed out"
Troubling story of Carlos DeLuna, executed in 1989 for the brutal murder of a young woman. DeLuna always insisted that the killer was a lookalike, Carlos Hernandez. But police denied Hernandez even existed. They were wrong
Security expert Schneier replies to Sam Harris's call for targeted profiling of Muslims at airports. "Invasive TSA screening is nothing more than security theatre. It doesn’t make us safer, and it’s not worth the cost"
Best piece yet on the notorious Kim Dotcom, and file-sharing website Megaupload. "His plan was to create a more artist-friendly distribution platform where creators would get paid more than they do when Apple sells their product"
Robber, con artist, plane hijacker, escaped prisoner, domestic terrorist. George Wright is all of the above. He spent 41 years on the run. Until police trapped him in Portugal. But there was still time for one last great escape
A glimpse of what actually goes on at a murder crime scene. "I'm the conductor of an orchestra. I don't need to know how to play the violin, but I need to know what sound they make and, more importantly, when to bring them in"
Who is George Zimmerman? Before you dismiss him as an irrational racist vigilante, read this piece. It adds some useful background and context on the accused in the killing of Trayvon Martin
"A government that creates mass incarceration is the obvious result of the ideologies of neo-conservatism and neo-liberalism that have come to dominate in the wake of the New Deal liberal order’s collapse." Here's why
"Brazil's economic rise forces it to deal with a problem it long regarded as the sole concern of rich countries like the US: The need to secure its borders and slow down a flood of drugs, illegal immigrants and other contraband"
Central and South American leaders are bracing themselves to break with the United States and abandon the "war on drugs". They can't win it. The costs are too great. What follows? Perhaps legalisation for marijuana, at least
Image from Wikimedia Commons
