A Rip in Heaven

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rip-in-heavenThis book by Jeanine Cummins, subtitled “A Memoir of Murder and its Aftermath,” was recommended to me by my wife. I told her she has recommended three excellent books in a row, but that she has to suggest one that is has a happier story for the next one. The book is about the “Chain of Rocks Murder Case.” Three teenage cousins, Julie and Robin Kerry and Tom Cummins, have sneaked off late one night in April 1991 to see the poetry that Julie painted on the underside of the abandoned bridge over the Mississippi River. They are accosted by four young men who seem at first to be friendly but then tell the three they are going to rob them. The two girls are gang raped and then all three cousins are forced off the bridge into the Mississippi. Only Tom survives. Julie is with him for a while, but she panics, grabs him, and they both sink. He feels as if he is about to drown, pushes her off, and except for a few brief moments following never sees her again.

A warning about the book is that it is written by Tom’s sister. My wife believed the story, but I was uncomfortable that the information was “unbiased.” However, I highly recommend the book to anyone who is or might be involved in an encounter with the legal system. Tom and his father think they are doing the right thing by assisting the early investigation, and are comfortable that Tom is not at risk because he is innocent. Anyone hearing their Miranda rights being read, including the statement that anything they say can be used against them, should shut up until they have a lawyer representing them. This book illustrates that being innocent is not sufficient protection.

The facts presented about the rapes and murders are difficult reading, and the descriptions of the four young men who brutalized the three cousins and forced them to jump to nearly certain death into the Mississippi should serve as a warning. The four who are convicted are portrayed as committing the crimes without remorse. Some are portrayed as proud that they were the ones mentioned in television reports. One bragged “I did that” before he was taken into custody. Continue reading →

The Buck Stops Here

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President Harry S. Truman had a sign on his desk that had this expression on the front and the phrase “I’m from Missouri” on the reverse. The Phrase Finder reports that Fred M. Canfil, a friend of Truman’s, had seen the expression on a sign and had another made and sent to Truman. It is likely that Canfil had seen the sign on the desk of army officer Colonel A. B. Warfield, who had the sign on his desk as early as 1931. Truman intended for people to know that he would not “pass the buck,” which, as was posted previously, means to pass responsibility. Poker players often used a knife with a buck horn handle to indicate the dealer. That person would “pass the buck” or responsibility for dealing the next person.

Drones versus Water Boarding

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President Obama has won reelection, so it seems appropriate to revisit the politically sensitive question about the treatment of “terrorist prisoners.” First and foremost, it seems the policy of refusing to use the term “terrorism” resulted in the Obama administration putting out false information about what happened in Libya. I’ve read that there was an official policy issued to the State Department after Mr. Obama’s first election that they were not allowed to use the words “terrorism” or “terrorist.” Perhaps that’s why the term “spontaneous riot” was used in the misleading reports. I speculate the desire to not have a national security scandal just before the election also had something to do with it.

What changes to national security policies will we see now that Mr. Obama is safely re-elected? Perhaps we will now what he had in mind when he was recorded telling the Russians he would “have more flexibility” after the election. I’m also wondering whether the policy of targeting terrorists (perhaps he calls them “rioters”) with drones will be continued. It is reported that he meets with a select group of military, national security, intelligence, and political advisors each Tuesday morning to review a list of enemies called the “kill list.” He is then said to personally decide who is to be killed by a drone. The CIA probably operates the drone, because federal law would require public reporting and congressional approval if the military is involved. Drone strikes have killed people in Pakistan and Yemen. Of course people who have misfortune to be near the targeted person are also killed. Continue reading →

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

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unbrokenThe copy of the book by Laura Hillenbrand I read was purchased by the Friends of the Westminster Colorado Public library. The book was selected by the Northern Colorado Common Read (NCCR) for this year and there were several discussion sessions that included meetings with veterans. The book is the story of Louis Zamperini. He was saved from a delinquent childhood by a bother who convinced him to try out long distance running. He broke the high school record for the mile. He was a star on the University of California track team where he met a mysterious Japanese man named Jimmie Sasaki who later turned up as a Japanese military official. Louis finished seventh in the 5000 meters at the Berlin Olympics. He soon was a bombardier on raids over Japanese targets in the Pacific, and perhaps the brutal training and running of the 5000 meter “torture chamber” prepared him for what was in store.

Louis participated in several bombing runs against Japanese targets, and was one of three who survived a plane crash in the Pacific. They had two small rafts and meager supplies; the survival kit did not make it to their rafts. One of the other men ate the entire supply of chocolate the first night, which left them with no food. Louis caught an albatross that landed on his head, the meat was so putrid they couldn’t eat it, but they did catch a small fish with a hook baited with the meat. Sharks circled the rafts for almost the entire 47 days of drifting. The sharks occasionally resorted to trying to jump into the rafts and had to be fended off with the oars.

The men teetered on starvation with only an occasional fish, bird, or the livers from a couple of small sharks to keep them barely alive. They roasted under the sun, and rains came just often enough to keep them from dying of thirst.

The men fired a flare to attract a plane, which turned out to be Japanese. The plane made several strafing runs, shot up the rafts, but miraculously missed the men. One raft couldn’t be saved and became a sun shade. They patched the other raft despite the fact the sandpaper in the patching kit was not waterproof and the sand had fallen off. One of the men died shortly before the raft drifted up to an island where a Japanese boat took the two survivors captive. Continue reading →

Second Anniversary for Rocky Flats Facts Web Site

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It has been two years since this web site was launched. Maintaining the site has required significant technology research and application, and I credit Keith Motyl for keeping the site up to date. My contribution has been generating the content, and all the reading and writing has been a good retirement project. I must think it is worthwhile, since I’ve added another web site.  FarmerIsland was launched to promote the book “Angry Pigs Organized Against Gerbils: The Farmer Island War.” The book was written based on the ideas of four grandchildren (listed as Creative Staff and Illustrators). Adults have been very complimentary and a third grade teacher who read the book to her class reports that the children enjoyed the “delightful book.”

There has been one major irritant. SiteBuilder has not provided us with a way to control comments that I call “graffiti.” The blog allows me to decide whether a comment is pertinent, and I can allow it to be posted or reject it as spam. The review and expression links on SiteBuilder do not give that option, and we have attracted hundreds or thousands of comments that seem to be directed at marketing luxury products and other items that have no connection with the content. We struggle with the daunting task of deleting all of this “graffiti” while leaving the legitimate comments that provide value. Continue reading →

Potshot

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According to Merriam Webster the term is used to describe “a shot taken from ambush at a random or easy target.” It is more commonly used to describe critical remarks made in “…a random or sporadic manner. The first known use was in 1858, and was used to describing a shot that was unsportsmanlike and only worthy of those whose only object was to fill the cooking pot.