Howie Carr on Crime Families

On March 22, 2012 Howie Carr (WRKO AM 680 Boston Radio Talk Show Host Mon-Fri 3 PM to 7 PM) briefly discussed the relative strength of crime families in Boston, New York and Chicago. He said he doubted they are as strong as they used to be. Said he no longer fears them. Here is the email I sent to him. He never replies. "Howie Carr's beliefs about the strength of organized crime are sadly misguided. They are stronger than ever with many ethnic crime families vying with the traditional ones for profit and power. Much of the focus today is legitimate businesses with more effective access to the government agencies. In some cities they run the government including the police agencies. Every story about the growth of crime families shows they were getting into legitimate businesses long ago. What was Las Vegas all about? What about pirate copies of apparel, DVDs, identity theft? Who runs gambling commissions in states with legalized gambling? How many politicians are associates of crime families doing their bidding, giving them jobs? How many journalists are "friends" of the family writing cover stories? Ever hear about toxic waste disposal? Who do you think does that? Do you think that because Bulger and Flemmi are in custody that the rest of their crime family vaporized? Do you think major universities are not connected to crime families with their billions in endowments?"

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