

The oddly beautiful artistic talent of the nation’s drug cops - dmazin
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/03/20/the-oddly-beautiful-and-sometimes-disturbing-artistic-talent-of-the-nations-drug-cops/

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excitom
I'd be more inclined to appreciate this art if I didn't think the "war on
drugs" was such a misguided failure.

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mindslight
The grim reaper could be fitting on some kind of edgy pro-drug patch, but as a
serious reference to eg cocaine it's just ridiculous. These patches really
illustrate what is going through the thugs' heads as they go about ruining
people's lives.

Propaganda is the worst drug of them all.

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mucker
Heraldry will never go out of style. It will just get updated. We love showing
our tribal affiliations.

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sandworm
I wonder whether they put as much information into the patches as the US
military does. For instance, many programs operating out of a certain base
incorporate some variation of the number 51 into their patches. Patches for
space launch have even been known to leak classified information. But the
badges in the OP seem far less creative.

[http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/creepy-
kitschy-...](http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/creepy-kitschy-and-
geeky-patches-us-spy-satellites-180953562/)

Example "51" badge:
[http://www.thelivingmoon.com/45jack_files/04images/Patches/0...](http://www.thelivingmoon.com/45jack_files/04images/Patches/015.png)

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nostromo
With so many skulls, someone working at the DEA should ponder, "are we the
baddies?"

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn1VxaMEjRU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hn1VxaMEjRU)

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afarrell
Fun fact: Those skulls originate not with the SS, but with a regiment that
rose to fight off Napoleon.
[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Brunswickers](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Brunswickers)

Also, this painting:
[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Brunswicker_%28Mill...](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Black_Brunswicker_%28Millais%29#/media/File:John_Everett_Millais_The_Black_Brunswicker.jpg)

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pyrocat
Real hard hitting journalism there, WaPo.

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Fando
The ironic point is that the art looks to be a product of drug-influenced
creativity.

