Category: Crime

  • Harry Anslinger’s Impact on White Boy Rick

    Anslinger Being Tough?

     

    Harry Anslinger was a United States government officialHarry Anslinger was a United States government official who served as the first commissioner of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Federal Bureau of Narcotics. He was a supporter of prohibition and the criminalization of drugs, and played a pivotal role in cannabis prohibition. [1]

    Excerpt from the book:

    Many people assume what we call the War on Drugs began in 1971 during the Nixon Administration. Some believe “the War” began during Prohibition due to the relentless efforts of a racist and moralist federal agent named Harry Anslinger. [2]

    Continuing later in the book:

    Anslinger was a bureaucratic empire-builder and he saw marijuana as the leverage needed to expand the size and power of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. He railed against the use of reefer, weed, or pot by blacks, particularly black entertainers. Anslinger hated jazz with its free-wheeling lack of rigid structure and he equated it with what he viewed as black depravity. Black bandleader Cab Calloway had a 1933 hit song called Reefer Man featured in the movie International House. Anslinger must have been furious. [2]

    References:

    1. Wikipedia, Harry Jacob Anslinger
    2. Prisoner of War: The Story of White Boy Rick and The War on Drugs by Vince Wade – Page 20, 39

    The Paperback and eBook are Now Available

    • A Very Important Difference Between Happy and Unhappy People – by Dr. Ross Reck
      Being Happy
      Pixabay

      One of my daughters sent me a quote that read, “Happy people are those who continuously evaluate and improve themselves. Unhappy people are those who continuously evaluate others.” What this means is that happy people are focused on personal growth—trying and learning new things, going to new places and making new friends. For them, life is all about the journey and they take the necessary actions to make sure the scenery is constantly changing. As a result, life for them is fun and exciting. Unhappy people, on the other hand, avoid opportunities for personal growth—they are content to remain stuck where they are, and they attempt to make themselves feel good by finding fault with others. The problem is that without personal growth, life is neither fun nor exciting. Rather, it’s like being on a road trip where the scenery never changes.

      References:

    • Trump Legal Documents
    • Trump Caught in a Vise – Again!

      Read more about Vince Wade Commentaries at VinceWade.com

      Failed ex-President Donald Trump has been indicted on felony charges for the third time this year. The latest indictment is the most significant with the most serious charges. It accuses Trump of conspiring with six other unnamed co-conspirators to illegally thwart the legitimate election of Joe Biden as President of the United States in 2020. Special prosecutor Jack Smith crafted the indictment to keep it focused on Trump and on provable allegations, with an eye toward a swift trial ahead of the 2024 election. Former deputy Solicitor General Neal Katyal called it the most significant criminal indictment ever handed up in the United States. Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley called it a significant historic event.

      Vince Wade Commentaries
      Vince Wade Commentaries
    • Is the Republican Party Like Sheep Going to the Slaughter?
      Sheep
      Pixabay

      The novel “Far from the Madding Crowd” by Thomas Hardy has an interesting story about sheep in Chapter Five.  Some of compared this story to the current Republican Party.

      One of the younger dogs by the name of George (often compared to Trump) chased a large flocks of sheep through a broken fence over a cliff.  The dog George simply stayed at the edge of the cliff until the owner of the flock discovered several hundred dead sheep killed when they fell over the cliff.

      The dog, George, kind of reminds of Trump.  His “flock” simply follows blindly leading them into their untimely death.

      The owner of the flock finally destroys the dog.  Is this the fate of the former president?  Will he be destroyed along with the downfall of the Republican Party?

      Who knows, but this is certainly an interesting comparison.

      Infographic: The Investigations and Lawsuits Against Trump | Statista You will find more infographics at Statista

      References:

    • Bathroom reading material at Mar-a-Lago

      Who actually is reading the documents stored in the bathroom?

      Bathroom reading material at Mar-a-Lago

      “Last week, former president Donald Trump was indicted on charges that he mishandled classified documents, allegedly storing them in, among other places, a Mar-a-Lago bathroom. A photo of the scene included in the indictment depicted stacks of boxes under a large crystal chandelier that was somehow simultaneously decadent and drab, the light fixture equivalent of Miss Havisham.”2

      “The 37-count federal indictment against former President Trump that was unsealed Friday included pictures of dozens of boxes stored throughout his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

      Why it matters: The Department of Justice says the boxes, stored everywhere from a shower to a business center, held hundreds of classified documents that, if exposed, could threaten U.S. national security, foreign relations, and the safety of the military.

      For about three months in 2021, some of Trump’s boxes were kept in the ballroom where “events and gatherings took place,” the indictment says.
      Mar-a-Lago, which the indictment said was not an authorized location to store the classified documents, hosted events for tens of thousands of its members and guests while the boxes were at the resort.”3

    • Why Low-Income Folks are Paying Billionaire Trump’s Legal Fees?
      Fake Trumpo
      Pixabay

      “Legal fees for defending yourself in one criminal case can be pricey — I can say that firsthand as a former trial lawyer. Now multiply that in former President Donald Trump’s case by two jurisdictions — New York state and federal court in Florida — totaling 74 felony charges against him.

      And Trump may need representation in two other jurisdictions: in Washington, DC, where a federal grand jury deliberates on the special counsel’s investigation of efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and in Fulton County, Georgia, where prosecutors are probing alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results there after he lost.

      Trump’s political action committee, Save America, has spent more than $40 million on legal fees since the start of 2023, a source familiar with the matter told CNN. The PAC also shelled out $16 million-plus on legal costs the previous year, Federal Election Commission records show. Trump’s team says the money is being used to defend the former president as well as some of his aides and allies.”4

      “In addition to using campaign money to fund his legal defense costs, Trump’s team has also sold T-shirts with faux mug shots in the official online store. According to Variety, donors who contributed $47 or more to the campaign (a nod to Trump’s bid to become 47th President of the United States) would receive a free t-shirt with the image.”5

      “Trump and his allies have consistently pushed supporters to donate to Save America, often using false claims about the 2020 election and soliciting donations to rebuke the multiple investigations into the former president, his business dealings and his actions on Jan. 6.

      The Save America PAC has, in the past, reported taking in tens of millions of dollars and has helped cover legal bills for either Trump or his allies.”6

    • Jim Lamon – Fake Elector
      Fake
      Pixabay

      “Last week, a Republican who participated in Trump’s “fake elector” scheme was unmasked as the sole financier of an anti-Trump group — a political action committee that supports Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid.

      Jim Lamon, who launched a failed U.S. Senate bid in Arizona last year, was outed by campaign finance expert Rob Pyers, who shared documents identifying Lamon as the lone backer of a super PAC that has aired multiple anti-Trump ads on conservative media.” 7

      “Jim Lamon, who ran for the U.S. Senate in Arizona, but lost to the Trump-endorsed candidate, Blake Masters, in August 2022, was part of a group of Republican figures, including Arizona GOP chair Kelli Ward and State Senator Jake Hoffman, who met in December 2020 to sign a document falsely declaring themselves the “duly elected and qualified electors” for the state and award Trump the 11 electoral votes.”8

      “Authorities have not said whether the Arizona electors could face criminal charges. The Republican electors from Arizona included Jim Lamon, currently a U.S. Senate candidate; Jake Hoffman, a state representative; Anthony Kern, a former state lawmaker running for a state Senate seat; and Kelli Ward, the state Republican Party chair.”9

    • You Don’t Have to Earn Your Joy – by Dr. Ross Reck
      Happiness - Joy
      Pixabay

      A wise woman named Cheryl Richardson said the following in her weekly blog at cherylrichardson.com. See if this sounds familiar. “I stood at the kitchen sink rinsing plates and putting them in the dishwasher when I noticed a familiar train of thought laying tracks in my head. Let’s see, I told myself, I’m done paying bills, balancing the bank accounts, and cleaning up the kitchen, so now I can make a cup of tea and finish reading my book. Sounds harmless enough, except that it was the third time in a week that I caught myself acting as if I could only do what I wanted to do once work was done.” The problem with this kind of thinking is that it ignores the fact that we need regular doses of joy in our lives in order to be happy and healthy human beings. Joy is something we need to make time for on a regular basis; not something we should have to earn.

      References:

    • New Term for Republicans – Hatriots
      Hate
      Pixaby

      “Republicans sure seem to hate democracy. In a multitude of ways, Republicans are subverting the most basic principle of our nation: that the people decide. Like a tin-pot dictatorship, they are using the heavy hand of government power to try to remain in power regardless of the vote of the people.” 10

      “A liberal victory in Wisconsin’s recent high-stakes state Supreme Court election has left former Governor Scott Walker in a foot-stamping, multiplatform fume that targeted the young voters who swung behind the victorious Janet Protasiewicz. “Younger voters may be the behind [sic] the stinging loss for conservatives in WI this week,” he tweeted. “We have to undo years of liberal indoctrination.”” 11

    • Compact DiscList™

      The Compact DiscList™ [now owned by Connert Media, LLC; aka Infomedia, Inc.] was originally published during the early 1980s when music CDs became very popular. It was one of the first companies to index new releases and provide catalogues to various music stores and distributors. Once the Internet became the source of this data, the company ceased publication of the Compact DiscList™.

      The first sample was created “in-house” by a great staff who collated and GBC punched thousands of these directories. Once these directories because so popular, they were split into three separate catalogs (Popular, Classical, and Imports) and professionally printed by Edwards Brothers in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

      Here is some samples.

      Compact DiscList - May 1985
      Click to open PDF of this sample.
      The Compact DiscList - Spring 1987
      Click to open PDF of this sample.

      References:

      The following links were provided by Mike Brown, who is helping to make sure the archived data is available to various music enthusiasts.

     

  • Deadline Detroit – Worthy Denies She Fought Parole

    Deadline Detroit, June 23, 2018 – Video: Prosecutor Worthy Denies She Fought Rick Wershe’s Parole for Gil Hill

    Richard Wershe Jr., aka “White Boy Rick,” has long insisted that Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy fought his parole on behalf of her good friend, homicide investigator-turned city council member, Gil Hill.

    Coincidentally or not, after Hill passed away in 2016, she stopped opposing his parole from a Michigan prison. In 2017, the Michigan Parole Board paroled him after about 30 years behind bars. He was then transported to the state of Florida, where he’s serving a sentence for being part of a car theft ring while he was behind bars there. His parole date is December 2020. [1]

    Vince Wade, investigative reporter, responded to this article:

    In September, 2015 I posted a revealing blog (Informant America) headlined, White Boy Rick Wershe – ‘The Records Do Not Exist’. It can be found through a Google search.

    Vince Wade, Investigative Reporter
    Vince Wade, Investigative Reporter

    That blog recounted in detail my use of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to examine the “evidence” the Wayne County Prosecutor had for claiming to the Michigan Parole Board in 2003 that Rick Wershe was a violent, a drug gang leader and a “menace to society.” My FOIA request went accusation-by-accusation through the hyperbolic, over-the-top claims in a letter from then-prosecutor Michael Duggan to the Parole Board. The response by Kym Worthy’s office to my FOIA request?

    It was denied—because they had no supporting documentation to send to me. “After a diligent search for the requested records, we have determined and certify the records do not exist.”

    I urge you to re-read that sentence from Kym Worthy’s official response. “We have determined and CERTIFY the records DO NOT EXIST.”

    Here is a man sent to prison for life, and Kym Worthy’s office didn’t keep any records to justify demanding that he die in prison? Yet, she fought and fought in the courts against parole for Richard Wershe, Jr. even when Judge Dana M. Hathaway, his case judge, issued an opinion that he should be given parole under prevailing Michigan law. Worthy took the fight to the appeals courts.

    If Kym Worthy wasn’t part of a vendetta by corrupt members of Michigan’s criminal justice system, if she wasn’t backing the late Gil Hill, who has been shown to be corrupt, why did she insist on fighting parole for Wershe when her office admitted “the files do not exist” to support the “menace to society” accusations against him? Hill had plenty of reason to despise Rick Wershe. The FBI’s prize drug informant of the 1980s had helped the FBI try to prosecute Gil Hill – twice. As Worthy said in her Channel 4 interview, “The day you start compromising your cases, your beliefs, when you have a job like this, that’s the day you need to quit.” Can’t argue with that.

    In my new book, “Prisoner of War: The Story of White Boy Rick and the War on Drugs” I provide a detailed fact-based account of the REAL story of the tragic life of Richard J. Wershe, Jr., a man falsely accused of being a “drug lord” and “drug kingpin,.” The book reveals the dirty underbelly of the trillion-dollar policy failure we call the War on Drugs.

    Vince Wade
    Reporter/Author
    vincewade.net

    References:

    1. Deadline Detroit, June 23, 2018 – Video: Prosecutor Worthy Denies She Fought Rick Wershe’s Parole for Gil Hill
    2. Vincewade.net – The Real Story of Rick Wershe, Jr. – White Boy Rick
    3. Click On Detroit, June 20, 2018, Kevin Dietz – Kym Worthy on ‘White Boy Rick’: You have to take a second look – Worthy denies working with Gill Hill to keep Wershe behind bars

    • “White Boy Rick” The Movie

      The story of teenager Richard Wershe Jr., who became an undercover informant for the FBI during the 1980s and was ultimately arrested for drug-trafficking and sentenced to life in prison.  The movie stars Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Jason Leigh.  In the meantime, read the REAL story of White Boy Rick by the investigative reporter, Vince Wade, that dug into the case since the inception of the arrest.

      Prisoner of War: The Story of White Boy Rick and The War on Drugs

      Prisoner of War: The Story of White Boy Rick and the War on Drugs by Vince Wade - Available from Amazon.com
      Prisoner of War: The Story of White Boy Rick and the War on Drugs by Vince Wade – Available from Amazon.com

      Prisoner of War: The Story of White Boy Rick and the War on Drugs is the result of several years of extensive research by Vince Wade. He did interviews with Rick Wershe and others. He traveled to Detroit several times and spent days researching and copying court records, trial transcripts and police investigative files. He filed numerous Freedom of Information Act requests with federal and state law enforcement for documents related to Richard J. Wershe, Jr. The history of the War on Drugs is recounted and decades of failed policy initiatives, such as First Lady Nancy Reagan’s ludicrous Just Say No campaign, are noted.

      It’s all in a book Vince Wade wrote and hope you will find interesting, one you will recommend to your friends.

      Order now on Amazon.com

      References:

       

       

  • Vince Wade – Prisoner of War: The Story of White Boy Rick and the War on Drugs

    Prisoner of War: The Story of White Boy Rick and the War on Drugs by Vince Wade - Available from Amazon.com
    Prisoner of War: The Story of White Boy Rick and the War on Drugs by Vince Wade – Available from Amazon.com

    The Real Story

    The astonishing but true story of White Boy Rick Wershe is an example of why the War on Drugs has been a trillion-dollar policy failure for nearly half a century.

    The tale of a boy recruited by the FBI—at age 14—to be a paid informant against a politically-connected drug gang is so amazing it inspired a Hollywood film starring Matthew McConaughey as White Boy Rick’s father.

    Prisoner of War answers the question: What kind of father would take FBI cash to let his youngest child be an undercover operative in the murderous drug underworld?

    A Dysfunctional Family

    Furthermore, Rick Wershe, Jr. was a street-savvy Detroit white kid in a dysfunctional family. His mother fled an abusive marriage, leaving her children behind. Rick raised himself. He didn’t do drugs, but he knew important people in the narcotics underworld. The FBI had him infiltrate a powerful black drug gang with City Hall connections. Rick did a good job. Too good. He became a key witness in a homicide. It involved top-level police corruption which blocked the investigation of the drug gang’s killing of a little boy. White Boy Rick’s FBI work caused shock waves that went to the very top of the Justice Department. The FBI abandoned him and local narcs snared him in a drug case that carried a life prison sentence. Rick Wershe, a kid recruit, became a Prisoner of War in the War on Drugs.

    Real Interviews

    Most of all, Prisoner of War is based on interviews with Rick Wershe, his family, FBI agents, police officials, plus reviews of court records, investigative files and Congressional testimony. Therefore, it explores:

    • The nation’s long, losing policy in the War on Drugs.
    • How CIA pressure in a Detroit drug case demonstrated government hypocrisy in the War on Drugs.
    • Blatantly false prosecution accusations and felonious police “testilying.”
    • How the FBI committed crimes by falsifying their files about White Boy Rick.
    • The racist history of the War on Drugs, dating back to the 1800s.
    • How black activists were the first to demand a war on drugs.
    • How the cocaine death of basketball star Len Bias led to mass incarceration for a generation.
    • Why the Justice Department sometimes refuses to prosecute the drug corruption of the politically powerful.
    • How sloppy reporting in herd journalism influences criminal justice.

    Order a copy of Prisoner of War and explore the appalling truth from the trenches of the War on Drugs.

    References:

    1. Wikipedia – White Boy Rick
    2. IMDb – White Boy Rick – The Movie (2018)