In future dictionaries, I expect the "Hoffa hunt" to replace the archaic "snipe hunt." A snipe hunt is an elaborate practical joke, a hazing rite: A first-time snipe hunter is handed a paper bag and released in the woods, with directions to bring back a rare snipe. But the snipe is fictitious quarry. At the hunt's end, the novice hunter is all alone in the dark, humiliated.
A Hoffa hunt is more contemporary fun. Instead of a few snickering accomplices, it requires a vast array of staff -- FBI agents, sure, but also construction workers, and caterers, and arcane experts in the art of bone removal, including anthropologists and archaeologists.
Instead of a humble paper bag, the Hoffa Hunt requires a great array of equipment -- from SUVs to earth-moving backhoes, from laptops to spectrometers.
The possibilities for spending gobs of money on a good Hoffa hunt -- like the current all-out assault on Hidden Dreams Farm, the Milford Township farm that only three days ago was a peaceful haven for purebred Morgan horses -- are many. And the spending -- the Milford dig is likely to cost at least $250,000 and probably more -- creates mini-industries that snipe hunting expeditions never spawned.
Right now, media from across the country are encamping outside the site, with their trucks, their electronics and their appetites for food and drink. Laboratories are cranking up their diagnostic machinery. The FBI's crews of experts must be housed, driven, fed.
Oh, sure: A successful hunt would solve one of the last century's great murder mysteries, and settle an old score between the FBI and the once-mighty, Mob-ridden Teamsters union of that era. It would bring fame and adulation to the leader of the successful hunt, too.
That's the lure, as well, to every cranky aging felon who wants one last con or plea. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of cases less hopeless than this three-decades-old case of a corrupt union boss killed by criminal associates. The Detroit area hardly lacks crimes that require solutions -- that are begging for the kind of manpower and resources now being deployed on this loony Hoffa hunt.
What if Hoffa's remains are found in Milford? After decades, the remains are unlikely to provide the kind of forensic evidence that could lead to the killer -- and even less likely to lead to a killer's conviction in court.
Justice for Mr. Hoffa or his family is unlikely. Besides, the rest of us have learned to love the legend. Where is Jimmy Hoffa? He's part of our culture and lore, an unsolved mystery that, if solved, is more likely to depress us with sordid, sad truth than to create any kind of satisfaction.
Don't bother the FBI with that, though. Its agents are massed in Milford, laying waste to already-pinched budgets and priorities, with visions of G-man glory in their heads. And why? To re-enact some mad law enforcement ritual that always ends like a snipe hunt: with the taxpayers in the dark, holding the bag.
This idiot writer completely misses the point: whether you dig for Hoffa or for an unknown, missing vagrant, if you get a tip that a body is to be found somewhere, you go dig. It's what we owe each of our citizens, and it's how we ensure that we always seek (even if we don't always find) justice. A murder is a heinous crime, and our society has rightly said that there is no statute of limitations on murder. Murderers should never sleep easy. Whoever whacked Hoffa should be found, if at all possible, and brought to justice. Same for whoever killed the vagrant.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/26/2006 13:16 Comments ||
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#2
If thoses Mythbusters dudes couldn't find him, then the FBI uptight agents certainly won't be able to locate anything, unless they put Special Agent Dale Cooper and his midget dreams on the case.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 25 (UPI) -- Two men are both claiming to be the biological father of a Florida teenager shot by police. The Palm Beach Post reports the unusual paternity battle appears to be motivated by the prospect of a wrongful death claim. Only the natural father can seek damages against the Delray Beach Police Department.
Jerrod Miller, 16, was killed in February 2005 after he drove a borrowed car onto the grounds of a school.
Kenneth Miller told a judge in West Palm Beach he had provided financial support for Jerrod and his twin brother, Sherrod, and had a long-term relationship with their now-deceased mother. "I take care of my kids," he said.
Terry Glover asked for a DNA test, using samples taken from Jerrod after his death.
They both cut and run when it's ruled that no lawsuit can go forward.
SEVENTY-five women converted to Islam from January to this month with the help of Discover Islam's Ladies Section. The women's nationalities included British, Russian, Indian, Sri Lankan, Filipina, Ethiopian, Bangladeshi, and Thais. They were also enrolled in classes about Islam, answering their queries and providing moral support.
The women who believed in and thus converted to the Islamic way of life and faith came from different walks of life. "My husband, who is a Bahraini and believes in Islam, has never asked or even mentioned about me converting because he did not want to pressure me in to anything," said a British woman, who did not wish to be named. "I have been in Bahrain for 22 years now and been married to him for 20 years, and after all these years I feel that my destiny is Islam.
"I used to be a Christian Protestant, but it is now that I am experiencing inner peace.
"Though I haven't started wearing the abaya yet, I do read and study the Quran regularly.
"I have been going for Arabic classes for quite some time now and it is there that I was introduced to the Quran and I started exploring the new me."
Another converter is a Filipina woman who has changed her name from Marissa Dulay to Samira Dulay. She has been in Bahrain for 16 years working first at Al Bustan Hotel and Resorts' administrative department and with the Saleh Al Medfa Law Office at Al Dana. "I have been studying Islam for more than a year now and the members of the Discover Islam Ladies Section have managed to clear all my queries about the religion," said Ms Dulay, a Christian Catholic.
"My family who is in the Philippines were a little shocked when they heard my decision at first, but now they are happy when they realised how happy I am.
"I have already started wearing the abaya and my next hope is that if I do get married, it has to be to a Muslim man.
Discover Islam Ladies Section member Fathima Maka said the women were never persuaded by the centre to convert and that it was their personal decision. "However, we do all that we can to teach those who approach us about Islam.
"Some of them don't come back and some do to know more and more.
"I also know some people who have been inspired to convert after visiting the Al Fateh Islamic Centre in Juffair."
Member Saher Jawed said many of the women were married to Muslim Bahrainis. "Many are also working as house-maids with Muslim families and that is how they start observing the Islamic way of life and feel the need to know more.
"Only when we are sure that they are fully aware of what they are accepting into their life and it is something which cannot be reversed, do we take them to the next step."
A get-together was organised for the newly converted women by Discover Islam at the Ladies Section villa in Manama. The chief guest of the event was Social Development Minister Dr Fatima Al Balooshi, who welcomed the women who embraced Islam and encouraged them to learn and practise the religion.
#1
"Only when we are sure that they are fully aware that they are agreeing to become property of what they are accepting into their life and it is something which cannot be reversed or we will kill them, do we take them to the next step which is full submission and loss of all rights."
Most people want to end slavery, but apparently some want to be human property, otherwise known as slaves.
Whatever floats your boat, ladies. Though, before you take that final step, you might want to take a little trip into Saudi as property a woman. Just for grins and giggles, you understand.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/26/2006 9:51 Comments ||
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#2
I can only imagine what someones fractured life must be like to find "Inner Peace" in Islam. With articles of giving kids to other families to repay debts and other horrids accounts of that peaceful religion it is agian beyond me how any person would want to get involved with Islam. But then Jim Jones had hundreds of fools finding inner peace with him. I wish them the best, they were not born into this, they are making a choice to be part of it.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/26/2006 10:12 Comments ||
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#3
"I used to be a rad muzzie from Soodi Christian Protestant, but it is now that I am experiencing inner peace......
...as I drive my Mercedes across the Manama causeway and sip evil single malt, eat delicious BBQ pork, and enjoy TCN whores at the Holliday Inn.
#5
Such a relief, not having to think for yourself or bear responsibility for your own failures in life. god wills it.
Such a comfort, letting others dictate every moment of your hidden and worthless day on earth. Release that responsibility for thought and action.
Such a relief to not stand out in the crowd that demands you submit to their way of life, but join it. Because individuality requires courage in the face of the crowd.
Such a reassurance in submitting permanently, releasing choice forever. Because choosing is hard. it requires thought and accepting the results of the choices made.
#7
I would love to read
"Police cannot make a positive identification, so they have executed hundreds of Muslim men found in the area."
In a coupla more years, however.
"Dang! That's quite a pair of items y'got there, girlie!"
who has been raising a storm in several small towns in Maharashtra by wearing revealing clothes at her live shows, has been denied permission to perform at Aurangabad.
Revealing clothes? Oh, horrors! [Pant!]
Worried over the disturbances caused by fans in some of the towns, the Aurangabad police has refused permission to Rakhi to perform in the city.
"Yew cain't shake them thangs in this here town, girlie!"
"You mean these?"
"Vijay! Get me my pills!"
Her show was scheduled for yesterday. The police cite the trouble raised at her earlier shows in towns like Kolhapur, Nanded and Sangli. Of course, much of the brouhaha at her shows were caused by anti-social elements wanting to gate-crash.
"Open the gate! We wanna see her shake them thangs!"
In Nanded last week, police caned an unruly mob that forcibly entered into the auditorium and occupied the front row seats.
"[Thump!] Those seats are reserved fer Hizzoner! [Thump!]"
"Ooooow!"
Rakhi Sawant's shows being sponsored by a liquor company across the state have attracted thousands of people, but the authorities have been unable to manage the crowds. In virtually every town that she performed recently, there have been problems. Cases were also registered against her for obscenity in Kolhapur and Sangli.
"That ain't obscenity! Those're titties!"
Posted by: Fred ||
05/26/2006 02:51 ||
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Explosive material found inside a Phoenix apartment during a narcotics search was determined to be the same highly unstable substance widely used by suicide bombers.
Authorities do not know how William Ronald Roberts, 38, obtained a pound of triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, but said there is no indication that he is affiliated with any terrorist organizations.
Department of Public Safety officers went to Roberts' apartment near 16th Street and Highland on a narcotics tip Wednesday. The officers, who were acting under the Maricopa County HIDTA task force, found personal amounts of marijuana, methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in the front of the home.
But Roberts cautioned them before they went any further.
"He said he had something in the kitchen he needed to tell them about before somebody got hurt," said Officer Tim Mason, a DPS spokesman. "He had an explosive device he thought was flash powder and said he obtained it on the street."
Mason said there was no indication that Roberts produced the explosive himself.
Household chemicals are the base ingredients for TATP, and its finished product is barely detectable to conventional bomb detection systems. The FBI recently began training K-9s to identify peroxide-based explosives like TATP.
Officials from Phoenix police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms removed and detonated the explosives found in Roberts' apartment. An investigation is ongoing.
Roberts was booked into a Maricopa County Jail on suspicion of failure to appear and driving with a suspended license. There could be additional charges. aka acetone peroxide. From the wiki: "Many people have been killed or permanently injured by accidents with acetone peroxide. It is widely used by people who want to make homemade explosives because of its low cost and ease of manufacture. They often have no idea of its extreme sensitivity, or they make it anyway solely because it's cheap and can be made in a refrigerator."
KUANTAN: If you pick up a copy of Playboy carrying a publishing permit number, do not think what you have is legal reading material.
Deputy Internal Security Minister Datuk Fu Ah Kiow said the ministry had never approved any publishing permit to any company for such a magazine.
The so-called permit registration number appearing on the magazine cover is fake. Our enforcement division is in the midst of carrying out an investigation to find out the background of the printer and publisher.
We will get to the bottom of the matter and reveal the culprits involved, he told reporters before meeting village security and development committee members of Kuantan district at MS Garden Hotel here on Friday.
He was commenting on reports that a Malaysian edition of Playboy was being sold in Kelantan.
#4
Without the right to freely criticize those in power, any pretentions to freedom of the press are just that, pretentions.
The powerful universally hate and fear criticism, as the one true way their power can be reduced--any other means can be corrupted, coopted, subverted or bought.
So where does the free press truly exist? Brussels has taken it away from Europe, Russia lost its little flicker of truth, and even England now uses a perverse slander law to steal away this right.
Remember this the next time you hear of universal human rights, and think of how few there are that have them--and how all of the powerful claim that their people have them.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 25 (UPI) -- Two men are both claiming to be the biological father of a Florida teenager shot by police. The Palm Beach Post reports the unusual paternity battle appears to be motivated by the prospect of a wrongful death claim. Only the natural father can seek damages against the Delray Beach Police Department.
Item girl 
