$1 Million Cocaine Bust at Hotel in Peabody...How Come Drug Dealers Don't Stay At Nice Hotels?

Stock Photo for Cocaine, Hilariously Simple

PEABODY (FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - Three men from out of state were arrested in Peabody on Wednesday for allegedly carrying an estimated $1.1 million worth of cocaine. Peabody Police tell FOX 25 they arrested 38-year-old Jason Grilli, of Laval, Puerto Rico, Valentine Torres, 33, of Juarez, New Mexico, and 27-year-old Gerardo Rodriguez Florez, of Tuscon, Arizona on Wednesday afternoon at the Holiday Inn.

You know what I never understand about these stories? Why the criminals always stay in such mediocre, to sometimes downright shitty, hotels? It doesn't make sense. Every time you hear one of these stories about some unfathomable amount of cocaine or pot being found, with street values in the millions, the drug dealers are always, without question busted in some kind of accommodation that in no way is fitting of such a large scale drug operation.  Like, hey guys, we've got a Park Plaza hotel, right down town. I mean, odds are you're going to be killed or arrested, might as well splurge while you can, right?

Plus, aren't you basically asking for it, staying in these kinds of places? I mean 3-4 Federali's check into some out of the way or run down hotel/motel with way more baggage than they'll need kind of brings to mind the stereotype, you know? Like, I doubt anyone would bat an eye at you guys if you threw on some stunner shades and a designer shirt and checked into the Plaza, or the Omni Parker House, probably think you're some kind of crossover Country-Mexican musical act, breaking through in the States, not a rag-tag bunch of hoodlums peddling copious amounts of cocaine.  I don't know, just a thought, keep it in mind anyway next time you come through.

PS: It really bothers me how we continue to use the metric system for drugs. It just doesn't make sense. We defy all other countries in the world with our American system when it comes to everything but illegal narcotics, catering to drug lords and strongmen because they don't want to do the conversions themselves. Like for once I'd like to read one of these stories and understand just how much drugs we're talking about...11 Kilos? What is that? Like 10 pounds? Help me out.

Occupy Boston Dropping Law Suit Due to Time and Effort Required...There's a Shock

BOSTON (FOX25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - Residents of the Occupy Boston encampment have dropped their lawsuit against the city. They say slow-moving litigation wasn't the best way to meet their goals. Earlier this month Occupy Boston sued the city to stop it from dismantling their camp in Dewey Square.

Shock of the year, huh? Who'd have thunk these guys would abandon their grand plans at the FIRST road block that required some actual commitment to doing work? Just blows my mind, I really thought these guys had it in them.

But I guess the warning signs were there, it is the same group of people who were protesting things like, the amount of time it takes to pay down college debt, and the fact that their entry level jobs hadn't given them a pay raise and promotion to the level of CEO after a couple of years. Actually, the more that I think about it, the more I guess this makes total sense.

Of course the other factor could be that after camping out in a tent on a public street for over a month, a couple weeks of indoor heating and showers that aren't shared by the local homeless have softened their stance. I'm guessing a fair amount of them forgot what they were arguing for after experiencing luxury's like Microwaves, hot showers, and television for the first time in a month. Living in their parent's basements probably never seemed so awesome, and all it took was pretending they were homeless for a month to appreciate it.

So long Occupy Boston, and thanks for the blog material, it had been a great couple of months.

Westborough Neighbors Complain About Tacky Christmas Display

WESTBOROUGH (FOX 25/ MyFoxBoston.com) - A Westborough couple is receiving anonymous backlash for having such a large display of Christmas lights. Earlier this week, they found an anonymous letter on their door condemning the lights display. “Do you have any idea how ridiculous, ornate, and tacky all your outside decorations are??” the letter reads. The letter continues by claiming that in this economy the display is a slap in the face to those without jobs or financial stability. It also contains a threatening conclusion, "Please remove a significant amount of decorations, enough to be tasteful and respectful as our other neighbors are. Please do not force us to remove them for you."

First off, there's nothing particularly tacky about that display, I mean, they used white lights, the new standard for the new millenium, couple of trees decorated, a few reindeer, and most importantly of all, only one inflatable light up character. I say most importantly of all, as that's where you should start to draw the line on tacky, if the dispaly is overly weight towards inflatable characters and Santa's that look like lawn gnomes then you've hit tacky, but as far as I'm concerned that's not the case here.

The bigger issue on hand though, is it cool for neighbors to leave notes and be pissed off, if the display is actually tacky, has had me up all night pondering my stance. I've legit lost sleep over it.  On the one hand, I love the houses that go overboard, just load up every piece of junk they've found at the Christmas Tree shop for the last decade and anchor it to the lawn, the front porch, the windows, etc... Sure your house ends up with  glowing haze similar to a Las Vegas, rent by the hour brothel motel, but I really see nothing wrong with being a bit tacky during the Christmas season.  

A Christmas Carol: The Holocaust Meets the Holidays

The last thing I want is a boring Christmas like our forefathers used to put up with...Have you ever seen "A Christmas Carol?" That Christmas was a travashammockery, just dull as shit. People walking around in Top Hats, Tiny Tim walking around with one leg because his peg leg did double duty as the fourth leg of the dinner table, people eating chestnuts, Scrooge sitting infront of some awful soot producing coal furnace making general ledger entries with paper and pencil. Awful. If I were Tiny Tim and the life I had to look forward to looked like that, I'd have off'd myself. Hell, I'd have off'd myself if I were Scrooge, rich as hell or not. No one likes you, again, you have to eat Chestnuts, because that was the thing back then, and you're making accounting entries by hand on Christmas Eve. No Fucking Thanks. Give me tacky, light hearted, 2 fully functional legs and a bowl full of Walnuts any Christmas over that depressing stuff. I'd rather watch Schindlers List on Christmas Eve than ever see A Christmas Carol again.

Right down the street from yours truly.

Now, with all that said, I have to believe that given my nature, if I lived next to an overly tacky display, I'd 100% hate my neighbors guts. Yes, I'd think its cool on Nov 26th, right after they put it up, probably through the first weekend, and yes on the actual day of Christmas, I'd probably appreciate it. But all that time in between? Hate it. Try sleeping off a holiday party hangover with your neighbors glowing lights coming through your window, making you think you're Kramer living next to a Kenny Rogers Roasters. 30 or so days of that is enough to make someone snap...Actually, I'd probably make it through the holidays, I'm not saying I wouldn't be festering some serious anger, I would, but in the spirit of being neighborly and not trying to make things too awkward, I think I could hold it together through Dec 25. But that's it, no more after that. Like, the day after Christmas, if I don't see you making progress in toning down the display, I'd make progress for you. 

So where do I stand? Well, approximately the same place I stood last night at 12 AM when I was trying to go to bed. I like the tacky displays as long as you're not my neighbor, but for this specific case, I think the note writers were way out of line, as there's nothing particularly hokey or Ned Flanders-esqe going on in that yard.