While we were out: A crime roundup

–The entire police force in Veracruz, Mexico, was fired. The force was disbanded because it was rotten with drug cartel infestation. 

–A guy who had been an Illinois National Guard major was sentenced to five years in the pokey for accepting kickbacks on contracts for construction at the Bagram base in Afghanistan. He also has to pay a cool half million bucks in restitution. That should help the defense budget for a minute or two.

–The XO of the USS New York was fired for becoming overly familiar in a consensual fashion with a female crewmember.

–The Army charged eight soldiers in the 25^th Infantry Division with hazing a fellow soldier and hounding him toward suicide. This reminded me of our recent discussion of hazing at West Point. It is unclear to me how much of it still goes on at the military academy, but it seems to me that none should be tolerated. Good military discipline can be achieved without hazing, and in fact is better without it.