8 ms·
Say Hello to Rick Ross
- bonemachine 13y agoMeet Gary Webb, the Pulitzer-winning investigative journalist who committed suicide in the wake of the public tar-and-feathering (and financial impoverishment) he endured as his reward for bringing Ross and his exploits to the attention of our great nation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Webb
- derwiki 13y agoDamn, ".. Webb was found dead from two gunshot wounds to the head, which the coroner's office judged a suicide." Two self inflicted shots to the head sounds intense.
- Sessions 13y agoThat made me double-take. That people accept it at face-value as a suicide seems a little bizarre to me, given the subject. "Oh, well, the coroner's office said so."
- taternuts 13y agoI kind of glossed over that when I read it...but two gunshots to the head? What are the chances that from that range he missed so badly that he was able to pull the trigger again?
- agumonkey 13y agoI thought I was reading a bad mafia joke... (am not trying to be funny here)
- anigbrowl 13y agoYou would be surprised - many people try to shoot themselves in the head and fail. Talk to a homicide cop or forensics investigator sometime - they often get called to scene like this because it looks like there was a shootout, except that when they analyse the blood spatter etc., it turns out the person shot themselves, then lurched around trying to pick up the gun they dropped to finish it off. I'm not making light of this - some of the stories I've heard about this phenomenon are quite horrific.
- taternuts 13y agoWow, what a terrible way to go - I would think adrenaline would play a part in that, and what part of the brain the bullet went through.... unlucky
- wavesounds 13y agoIt was probably the CIA
- ericd 13y agoWow, it sounds like he got railed by the Reagan administration because he uncovered and reported that the govt. was shielding inner city drug dealers as a way to protect funding for Nicaraguan contras after Congress outlawed direct funding of the contras. That's pretty crazy.
- jebblue 13y agoI read, "Webb investigated Nicaraguans linked to the CIA-backed Contras who had smuggled cocaine into the U.S. Their smuggled cocaine was distributed as crack cocaine in Los Angeles, with the profits funneled back to the Contras.". So I guess there wasn't enough cocaine being flooded into this country from Columbia; we needed a complex plot involving the CIA, the Contras, the Nicaraguans, Los Angeles and a supremely risky money laundering scheme operating in reverse.
- ericd 13y agoDid you bother to read the wikipedia link I was commenting on? I've pasted the relevant part below. According to Webb, the CIA was aware of the cocaine transactions and the large shipments of drugs into the U.S. by Contra personnel. Webb charged that the Reagan administration shielded inner-city drug dealers from prosecution in order to raise money for the Contras, especially after Congress passed the Boland Amendment, which prohibited direct Contra funding. Webb's reporting generated fierce controversy, and the San Jose Mercury News backed away from the story, effectively ending Webb's career as a mainstream media journalist. In 2004, Webb was found dead from two gunshot wounds to the head, which the coroner's office judged a suicide. Though he was criticized and outcast from the mainstream journalism community, his reportage was eventually vindicated as many of his findings have since been validated: since Webb's death, both the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune have defended his "Dark Alliance" series. Journalist George Sanchez states that "the CIA's internal investigation by Inspector General Frederick Hitz vindicated much of Gary's reporting and observes that despite the campaign against Webb, "the government eventually admitted to more than Gary had initially reported" over the years.[1][better source needed]
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- Alex3917 13y agoAnd because he made it to web 2.0 before dying, you can even read the comments on his obituaries, e.g.: http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/12/14/3719/5652 http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/12/14/3719/5652
- jmtame 13y agoI mean, don't quit your day job or anything but if this type of thing interests you, check out Rick Ross and some other major drug dealers in this documentary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxRVhgbVN9o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxRVhgbVN9o
- derwiki 13y ago"How to make money selling drugs" also has a bit on Rick Ross: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276962/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276962/
- mschuster91 13y agoStuff like the Webb episode or the sting drug deal set up by the DEA is class A food for conspiracy theoretics all over the world. Enticing someone to do a drug deal should be illegal.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- nikatwork 13y agoIt's only entrapment if the cops tell you it's legal when it's not.
- busterarm 13y agoActually that's not entirely correct; "entrapment by estoppel" is what you're referring to and is only a subset of what's considered entrapment. Additionally, the case law has been inconsistent for people trying to use it as a defense, as demonstrated here: http://www.metnews.com/articles/2004/chac041504.htm http://www.metnews.com/articles/2004/chac041504.htm Entrapment is where a state or federal official entices you to do something illegal that you wouldn't do otherwise. If you would do that thing anyway, it's not entrapment.
- nikatwork 13y agoIsn't this how every prostitution sting ever works? Officer Friendly is wearing drag, and solicits someone passing by. Or, Officer Friendly is pushing dope. "Hey man, try some of this dope." "Well no I really shouldn't..." "It's good stuff man you should try it." "Well golly gee willikers maybe I'll have just a taste!" Bam, you're in federal prison with murderers and rapists.
- busterarm 13y agoThey usually stay on corners that are known for prostitution. If you're there stopping to chat with a lady, it's likely that you're out cruising. Also, it's probably more likely that they let the guy go the first time but take his info and then arrest him the second time so they can be sure it'll stick. The same applies to the girls. They can't prove it so they tell the girl to take a walk and they don't want to see them there again. You see this on cop shows all the damned time actually. If they catch them there again, they have cause to arrest. I would actually love if any cops are reading to weigh in on this, but being this is HN it's not too likely. You can make light of my description of entrapment but that's what the law actually is...and that's why in most cases it's a really shitty defense.
- aaronbrethorst 13y agoTo be clear, this is 'Freeway' Ricky Ross, not Rick Ross the rapper (who actually faced a lawsuit from the real Ross over the use of his name). http://m.rollingstone.com/music/news/judge-drops-rick-ross-name-lawsuit-20120330/ http://m.rollingstone.com/music/news/judge-drops-rick-ross-n...
- colmvp 13y agoNot going to lie, I was wondering why something rap related and not named Rap Genius got onto the front page of HN.
- jere 13y agoReally ya'll? This is hinted at in the first sentence and explained fully in the second paragraph. Not to mention the photo is of the original Rick Ross.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- ianstallings 13y agoThank God. "I eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the same damn time" fake Rick Ross is of no interest to me. He talks up drug dealing and other idiocy, even though he was never a drug dealer or gangster of any kind, while the real Rick Ross talks about the tragedy, the reality, of being involved in drugs and the streets and how it ruined his life and many others.
- datalus 13y agoRuined is a subjective matter. It ruined his life for a time but it sounds like he'll be remembered more so than the majority of us here.
- o0-0o 13y agoNeither Rick Ross should be glorified. In fact, it might be fun to watch them fight to the death during the halftime of the superbowl...
- smtddr 13y agoPreempting anyone else: Remember what I said the other day... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6441795 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6441795 Every single time...
- iliiilliili 13y agoAnd yet again you jump to conclusions involving race. Somebody says Oakland is dangerous, `oh you're putting African Americans down'. Another person states you shouldn't glorify a `criminal', you think it's because he's racist. Would you have posted that if Rick Ross had been White. Of course you wouldn't have. People like you, the hyper pc that will find racist connotations in every negative comment, like Al Sharpton, make everybody seem like a bad person for not being anti-white.
- o0-0o 13y agoThanks for coming to my defence. Obviously, this person thinks race is an important factor in this discussion, which it is most certainly not. It is a shame when someone throws the race card out there. Neither drug dealers, nor poseur rappers that pretend to be deserve to be glorified. If I were a betting man, I would place a bet that either Rick Ross would bitch slap that troll and take his figurative lunch money if SHTF. Peace.
- B-Con 13y agoFor the record, sorry, accidentally downvoted you (meant to upvote). Unfortunately, such people start with the assumption that race is the motivation for dislike, and you can do pretty much nothing to change their mind. It's mind-boggling, but they're really, really convinced of it.
- codyb 13y ago
- smallegan 13y agoHe clearly has the entrepreneurial hustle.
- bluedino 13y agoI have a theory that cocaine, and later crack cocaine, were really the downfall of the United States from the late 70's to late 80's. It wasn't Reagonmics, it wasn't the Japanese. All the white collar (and a lot of the blue collar) guys were all doing powder cocaine, and all of the rest of the blue collar workers and the unemployed were all doing crack. Crime got worse, business got worse...
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- aaronbrethorst 13y agohttp://www.orthocuban.com/2011/09/baby-boomers-and-the-crime-rate/ http://www.orthocuban.com/2011/09/baby-boomers-and-the-crime...
- contingencies 13y agoThe initial sudden drop in rising crime rates coincides neatly with personal computing and games consoles, and the final smackdown is delivered with the popularisation of the internet.
- aaronbrethorst 13y agoGiven that the crime wave in question is usually associated with more impoverished elements of society, I'm guessing they couldn't afford Apple ][s, Macs, IBM PCs or even Nintendos in most cases.
- krrrh 13y agoBiggie even went to pains to point this out: "Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, when I was dead broke man, I couldn't picture this."
- simcop2387 13y agohttp://www.wired.com/images_blogs/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/08/violencegraph.jpg http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/photos/uncategorized/2008/... Very neatly.
- contingencies 13y ago1980s crack epidemic? How about just epidemic. Coke is virtually free in some parts of Los Angeles.
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- 420365247 13y agoIn the documentary Cocaine Cowboys, he has a large part where he describes his role with us officials to smuggle coke into the usa.
- mbrutsch 13y agoI just want to know where to get the t-shirts.
- codyb 13y agoMy thoughts exactly. I'd definitely send him a 100 for 10 of those. He seems like an awesome person everyone could learn from no matter his part in the crack epidemic. I mean the guy learned to read while behind bars and found the hole in the law he needed to become a free man again on his own. That takes drive. That's impressive.
- iliiilliili 13y agoHe explains his story in one of the best drug documentaries I've seen: ``How to Make Money by Selling Drugs'' (don't let the title fool you). I watched it on YouTube, if it's available in your country, please do too. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276962/ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276962/
- westicle 13y agoPretty fascinating that this guy's life story was essentially stolen by the rapper Rick Ross, who has made a very healthy career out of the persona. Just an example of lyrics seemingly directly drawn from the life of Freeway Rick Ross: http://rapgenius.com/Rick-ross-hustlin-lyrics http://rapgenius.com/Rick-ross-hustlin-lyrics
- chjj 13y ago> Pretty fascinating that this guy's life story was essentially stolen... If that interests you, have a look at the real 50 cent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelvin_Martin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelvin_Martin
- jere 13y agoHeh, interesting. To be fair, the rapper 50 Cent deserves the title a lot more than the rapper Rick Ross deserves his. He actually was a crack dealer and he was shot 9 times.
- wavesounds 13y agoMy friend met this guy and told me all about this a few months ago and I totally thought she just bought some random dudes BS ... but wow was I wrong. This should be a movie.
- dmn757 13y agoI didn't read the article yet, but some further reading/listening for those interested: -'Freeway' Rick Ross on the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast: http://vimeo.com/41214597#t=123 http://vimeo.com/41214597#t=123 -Rick Ross, the rapper, was actually a correctional officer before his rap career took off: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Ross#Correctional_officer_photos http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Ross#Correctional_officer_... http://i.imgur.com/r2hYgO0.jpg http://i.imgur.com/r2hYgO0.jpg
- icpmacdo 13y agothe stuff you should know podcast just did a episode on crack and talked a lot about Freeway Ricky http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/crack-works/ http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/crack-works/
- nikatwork 13y ago> Back in the day, Ross would offer the same deal with crack cocaine — to start you out, he'd give you $100 worth for free and you could sell it for $300. So - he was a pioneer of the freemium model then.
- nrser 13y agono, he's actually extending credit - 'fronting' the product. he would loan someone an amount worth $300 in small end-user sales, for which the person would owe him $100 that they could pay back after selling it. freemium would be letting people sample small amounts of the stuff and/or for a limited time, then making them pay when they want a larger amount or to keep doing it. my DARE class in elementary school told us that drug dealers would try and hook us like this, but i'm 29 and i'm still waiting for my free samples.
- roel_v 13y agoNo, what he did would today be called 'microfinance', the organizing of which is a favorite pastime of today's royals and philanthropists.
- Theodores 13y agoSomehow I learned of the real Rick Ross through the fake Rick Ross - I actually sought out the 'everyday I am hustlin' track on YouTube and, a few clicks later, there I was reading the legend on Wikipedia etc. Hence, sometimes to some people imitation really is the 'sincerest form of flattery'. I am surprised the real Rick Ross made it onto Hacker News, what next, how the 'CIA invented rap music just to keep the black man down?' - that too is a great 'what if?' urban myth...
- cromulent 13y agoThere was a pretty good Planet Money podcast with him a couple of years ago. http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/05/05/135991890/a-former-crack-kingpin-on-the-economics-of-illegal-drugs http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/05/05/135991890/a-former...
- qq66 13y agoFascinating article, but seems better suited for Longreads than Hacker News.