Tons of Opium, a Spy and a Lot of Money.

While the yield on some crops drops, farmers are thrilled poppy production in Afghanistan has hit a record high. The U.N. claims 6,060 TONS (12 million plus pounds) were harvested this past May. This is not all bad news as the report said Afghanistan has expanded its social services to deal with the growing addition problem at home.

This is not ALL bad news because the addicts will have more support? This is like closing the barn door after the horse got out. Or in city terms, buying an alarm system after the house is robbed.

There are roughly 1 million drug addicts in Afghanistan, 15 percent are women and children.

An agency has the tools to ascertain the poppy growth down to the pound but can do nothing to stop it. 

Past attempts by the international community to combat opium cultivation have included introducing alternative crops and paying farmers in some areas not to plant poppies. That backfired when farmers elsewhere started growing poppies in the hopes of getting money if they stopped.

I'm not trying to make a political statement and I have no suggestions. I know this is a very complicated situation. I'm just saying this is a big problem.

And this is a terrible story.

LONDON (AP) — A spy whose naked, decomposing body was found inside a padlocked gym bag at his apartment likely died in an accident with no one else involved, British police said Wednesday — a tentative conclusion that is unlikely to calm conspiracy theories around the bizarre case.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt said the death of Gareth Williams, whose remains were found inside a bag in his bathtub in August 2010, was "most probably" an accident.

But he conceded that the facts could not be established beyond a reasonable doubt. The police verdict disagrees with a coroner's inquest, which concluded last year that Williams had probably been killed by another person in a "criminally meditated act."

Hewitt told reporters at Scotland Yard headquarters that a police review had found little evidence of foul play in a death that has spawned a host of theories, from assassination to sexual adventure gone awry.

Williams, a cyber warfare expert, worked for Britain's GCHQ eavesdropping service and was attached to the overseas espionage agency MI6 when he died.

Hewitt said the police position "is that, on balance, it is a more probable conclusion that there was no other person present when Gareth died."

Some have raised the possibility that Williams locked himself in the bag as part of a sex game gone wrong. Investigators found that he had visited bondage and sadomasochism websites, including some related to claustrophilia — a desire for confinement in enclosed spaces.

Police concluded that it could have been possible for Williams to climb inside the sports bag and lock it. However, none of Williams' DNA was found on the lock on the bag and his palm prints were not found on the rim of the bath.

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Today is Grandson Nick's 18th birthday. It seems like I was changing his diapers a week ago. Happy Birthday Nicholas and many, many, many more. 

Rabbi Returns 98 Thousand Dollars Found In Used Desk.

The rabbi bought a used desk on Craigslist for $150 and found the money when he dismantled the desk to get it inside a room.

"When I first saw the bag, I thought I saw the face of a dollar bill. I said, 'I think there's money in here,' and I could tell that the bag had some weight to it."

He brought the bag to the dining room table and opened it. The contents left him, his wife and the friend he'd enlisted for the moving project in shock.

Nearly $100,000 in cash.

The rabbi, who teaches Judaic studies at a private school, said there was only the briefest of discussions with his wife. They both agreed to return the cash. Even though it was past 11 p.m., the rabbi called the desk seller and told her what he'd found. The desk's original owner was in shock.

The woman hid the money years ago and didn't remember it was in the desk (hey, that's what the article says). She insisted on giving a $3,500 reward to the rabbi, and she refunded his $150 for the desk, even though he kept it. The rabbi said he did not want the reward but she insisted. He said he would put it in his kid's college fund.

It's a nice story, right? It makes me wonder what I would have done. I'd like to think I would return it, but?

And, here is a comment left on the L.A. Times web site:

As usual, the Jewish-dominated media have to emphasize, and re-emphasize, the Jewish dimension to the story - as if *only* a Jew would see the correctly ethical course of action. That's disgusting.