It seems those surveillance cameras that are being installed all over the country as part of the so-called “war on terror” are being diverted to a different war: the so-called “war on drugs.”
In Dillingham, Alaska, which has one public surveillance camera for every 30 residents, authorities last week broke up a marijuana grow operation and arrested ten men on various drug charges.
Alaska State Troopers, in cooperation with Dillingham police (who run the surveillance cameras), arrested ten men October 16, seizing a $80,000 Cessna 170B airplane, a $25,000 mobile coffee truck, as well as “47 marijuana plants, 12 grams of cocaine, multiple ounces of processed marijuana, a large quantity of prescription pills, and various weapons associated with drug trafficking,” according to a news release.
There’s so little actual crime going on in Dillingham, population 2,370, that police have to have something to do. And prosecuting a war on drugs freedom seems like a great thing to do, if you’ve got 80 surveillance cameras covering your town.
Oh, wait, that’s not true. There might actually be a murderer loose in Dillingham.
Natalia Timurphy, who was last seen in Dillingham Sep. 9, turned up dead (PDF) in a local gravel pit Sep. 28. Her partner says it was absolutely “foul play,” but the autopsy didn’t give a cause of death, and police haven’t gone much of anywhere with the investigation.
They were too busy tracking down people who have done nothing wrong except to try to supply marijuana to the people of Alaska who are demanding it. Oh, wait, that’s not wrong; it’s only illegal.
End the drug war now. Let our police go after real criminals: thieves, rapists, murderers.
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Karl Marx would love the popular moves among politicians in various state governments and the federal government to ban so-called "junk" food in schools, and to "put healthy food in" convenience stores and on the tables of those they define as poor. It's a very elitist and arrogant mindset that promotes this ideology, and it needs to be addressed.
Ultimately, the war supporters in Congress prevailed in the vote on the resolution. Still, the vote was significant because it places every member of Congress on the record as supporting or not supporting the unconstitutional, costly, violent occupation of a country that never attacked us. This vote should serve as an important reminder to the American people of where their representatives really stand when it comes to policing the world, empire building, and war.
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Bristolbayfisherman
Oct 26, 2006
Sounds like Dillingham is truely a mess!
Where are the people? Where are the Votes? Scared? Scared to say what you feel? Who knows whats best for Dillingham better than the people?
As if the economy there is not fragile enough.
If the pebble mine was not a big enough threat, and if the increasing gas prices were not hurting fishing enough,
Whats to come economically?
Now that pot is gone, all the fisherman that were smoking to stay focused on fishing will be drinking to forget about not having any smoke!!!
r.a.moore
Oct 31, 2006
these sworn to uphold the constitution enthusiastically destroy it.
all the while waving the american flag.
benedict arnold died for less.
John Wayne
Nov 21, 2006
Those cameras ought to be great targets for marksmanship practice. I wish someone in that region would avail himself of the opportunity.
Don Hart
Nov 26, 2006
The travesty for those unfortunate enough to become victims is that they know not where to turn. Alaska’s constitution appears to prohibit forfeiture, federal statutes appear to prohibit Alaska from recording conversations concerning marijuna and cocaine, and it appears those charged with marijuana grows might not have violated Alaska statutes or federal statutes. However, unless presented properly and in a timely manner, most will likely fall victim to a counsel’s well intended advice to enter a no contest plea, or become convicted at trial, have a record and may forfeit property. It also appears the surveillance cameras may violate their constitutional and statutory rights, and the evidence might be deemed illegally obtained, and subject to suppression.
Perhaps they would stand up and fight if they only knew how.
samantha
Jan 31, 2007
hehehehehehe this is a funny article. i’m a resident of dillingham. isn’t that crazy we have all these cameras and they couldn’t even prove who killed that woman?? the only reason why they caught the guy was because he admitted to it…….sad. all of our biggest dealers got busted (it sucked) afterwards people who were still selling were charging 100 dollars for way less then an 8th. that drug bust sucked…….
Dan from Fairbanks
Mar 17, 2007
This is crazy, 80 camera’s? Are thet Nuckin futs? I have been in alaska 3 years now & my family & friends come every year to fish & play at a diforont location every year. We spend alot of money & woop it up a bit. I am the trip planner (so to speek)cecouse I live in AK. We were going to visit Dillingham this year untill I found this shit about the camera’s. We will now spend our time & money at another location where we will not be televised to the world. What the hell are they thinking?? Its like all the chicken shit cops in Alaska & many parts of the lower states. If it does not involve revenue for the police depts, or state patrol depts, There not interested. Protect & serve? HELL NO. More like LINE THEIR POCKETS. Call a cop in alaska with a stolen car from your property, You wait weeks if they even show to take a report!! Call them & say you think a drunk driver just past you on the road & they almost side swipe you trying to catch the person that may not even be drunk!!ha ha But its the truth. Alaska has to many Barny Fifes & not enough Johh Waynes. Just a bunch of chicken shit, Yellow belly, Sissy’s is what our police dept’s & state patrols are!!
2 years ago a 12 year old deaf girl from Fairbanks was raped, It took the state patrol 8 days to show at the hospital with a rape kit, The girl had already gone home. (a little late to collect sperm from her) I guess we should have said the rapest was a drunk or a drug dealer, They would have been there in 8 minutes rather then 8 days. They have never cought the rapest. Our tax dollors at work!!
anaymous
Jul 06, 2007
I think that the cameras are for the better. Although they may not have really helped in the murder of natalia or the most recent one the young boy. they are helpful to these crimes, because its sometimes drugs that lead to crimes. for all the people that do drugs I am not sorry because it is really drugs that lead to crimes, look at anchorage how people shoot people over them. And for the murders there is probly something in them that will lead them to the person who did them, just need to take a closer look and examine every inch of what is in them.
Jake Witmer
Jul 17, 2007
The poster “anaymous” (a speech-impedimented “anal mouse”?) is the reason why there will never again be freedom again in America, before there is violence.
Freeborn individuals can only hope to regain their freedom through violence, or be done violence. Why, you ask? Well, let me put it this way: If I was alive in nazi Germany, I could have predicted that the nazis would never voluntarily relinquish their power. Am I psychic? No. …It is the way history has shown it to be: those in power never give up that power – it must be stripped from them. And, when any legitimate power they have is used up, they grow into the domain of illegitimate power.
Why? Because the people who seek power don’t want to protect us, and even if they did they aren’t very good at it. (Individuals are better at that themselves, when they own up to the task.) The people who have sought government positions have done so for 2 reasons:
1) money
2) power
…In that order.
As a wise man once said: that makes the strategy for fighting them obvious.
A wise man once said this inside a book, because he, like all other Americans, is hedging his bets right now.
Well, it looks like the dark horse of freedom isn’t even out of the gate yet. The hedge is free speech and education, and as you can see from “anaymous”, the hitlerite sheep are voting too, just like they did in Germany in 1934.
Soldiers, police, storm troopers, and other tax-fed men in uniform with guns are always very popular with the unthinking conformists that make up the majority of any culture that becomes to benevolent to its weakest minds and too fearful of its strongest minds.
What is to be done? Well, I think we should all sit around and read novels and watch movies. I think we should all get online and order a copy of:
I think we should read everything that is printed by the paladin and accurate presses:
I think we should all read the book “The Serpent and the Rainbow”, so we can see what a successful slave rebellion looks like.
Because we are all most certainly slaves.
Ask the man who sits at a red light with not another car on the road why he sits there –to regulate traffic?! Ha ha ha! Are those distant headlights a first class citizen who might rob him (using the full resources of the state, no less!) for doing the only sensible thing, and BREAKING THE LAW?
Are we all so ignorant of history?
These are treasonous thoughts, and will they will only become more treasonous as we become more and more of a police state.
Some day, there will be a knock at my front door, and men will be there to escort me away from everything I love, and murder me. If I am not more skilled in the use of firearms than they are, they will certainly succeed. I can know this intellectually, and still lie to myself, as any good subject of a Stalinist regime will do. I can tell myself it’s not true, and point to the much abused beloved founding documents to allay my fears. I can remind myself how comfortable I am.
However, such thoughts are lies more dangerous than the tyranny itself could ever be.
Such lies are what Orwell warned us about in 1984.
The less we lie to ourselves now, the less we will be forced to lie to ourselves later.
Now go curl up in front of the fireplace, and read a good book! That’ll help!
deadwood
Sep 17, 2007
The drug bust in dillingham this last year has cost the lives of some of the locals resdents, More have taken there lives due to the use of alocol.They were the ones that used the pot. it is petty bad when out gov.can fly infray equiped chopers from Bethel to locate houses that may be growing then trump up some charge to go through that house a sad state to say the least not much poor resdents can do to fight back