The knout had a wooden handle attached to a 2.5-2.7 meter body made out of several braided leather thongs, ending with a leather “beak” about 70 cm long that was soaked in salt and dried in the sun to make it harder. Scourging was performed with a knout (“whip” in Russian) and required special skills – beginner executioners had to learn this “skill” for as long as a year before taking part in a real execution. In 1497, it was officially named torgovaya kazn (“an execution on the market square”, i.e.
#RUSSIAN MOB CUT FINGERS OFF DRIVER#
Just understand that your average LA cab driver - quite different from the NY cabbie - lives a life of subhuman misery and poverty the likes of which you can barely imagine.This type of corporal punishment was long-known in Russia. So - obviously I'm submitting this anonymously, out of fear of retribution (I left off driving cab after a boss threatened to cut my fingers off.)
#RUSSIAN MOB CUT FINGERS OFF DRIVERS#
This is what taxi drivers in LA refer to as, "the secrets." As in, "Oh, you didn't make any money today? Don't you know the secrets?" When he sees the customer is distracted, drunk, or simply looking out the window, he presses the button: The meter speeds up, running way ahead, returning to normal whenever the driver presses the button again. The driver has a small remote - like a garage-door opener - in his left pocket. It sounds advanced, but the way it works is simple. These meter-shops, however, are owned by the same mob that owns the cab companies (Checker, United and Yellow - Bell is a feudal system controlled partly by Russians and partly by Mexicans, and is not as apt or able to cheat as they use older-style meters.) So for a $50 fee to the driver, the crooked meter-shop will "check" your meter, officially report that it's okay, and then re-rig it with a remote-controlled sensor. The taxi meters in LA are checked every 6 months at special meter-shops regulated by the California Dept. To increase the mob's take, they will lie, cheat and steal. Frequently, your driver is a Russian who has been brought over by them in a sort of indentured servitude: They give him a few bucks for food and let him a corner of a room in one of their apartment blocks, and he drives for them 16 hours a day, every day, for 3 or 4 years until he's released and his family is brought over. Why? Because the cabs in this town are owned and controlled by the Russian mob. When you step into an LA taxi, keep a keen eye on the meter, particularly if you have booze on your breath. But then bearing that in mind, take this next bit of advice to heart: Understand that these people are immigrants working long hours for what amounts to about $350 a week. If you want to hurt him financially, call his cab company - they'll "deauthorize" him for a few hours as punishment, meaning he can't take any calls and he has to work late (which may mean he'll work too many hours and kill someone later in a sort of karmic boomerang.) Alternately, you can call the taxi commission in downtown and file a complaint, which will ruin his life, leading to alcoholism, wife-beating and allowing his children to wind up in an orphanage in Calcutta. We thought we'd share it with everyone.As a young former cab driver, and for a year or so one of only a handful of native-English-speaking drivers to prowl the streets of LA, I feel uniquely qualified to comment on this.įirstly, if a driver is acting dangerously, write down the four-digit number printed on both sides of his taxi. The entry inspired a former cab driver to write in and share interesting insights into how the LA cab scene really works.
On February 5th, we posted an item about taxis in Los Angeles.
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