Nightmares, Part II

Another nightmare comes to my mind tonight as I consider on news of the naturalized citizen from Lebanon who drove into Temple Israel in Michigan. There are perhaps 4.5 million Muslims in America and we can assume that a share of them side with Iran in the war that is raging.

In my nightmare, Muslim attacks snowball. When one Muslim attacks, others hear of it and decide to join in. Soon there are attacks all over the nation.

Most Muslims are great-- wonderful people, but with 4.5 million of them, there are enough who could decide to commit terrorist attacks. In my nightmare, our land becomes riddled with such attacks.

Drones in the Skies of America

A nightmare flashes in my mind upon hearing of the precautionary warning that Iran has plans to launch killer drones at California. I image Iranian terrorists buying a manufacturing facility in one of our western cities and turning it into a plant to manufacture drones. These terrorists are not so foolish as to launch their weapons of destruction from their plant but build launch sites in spots out in the country that can fold back into the ground-- not to be discovered once the drones have been launched.

The drones whistle into the skies, knocking down passenger airliners. They blow up seats of government throughout the west. They destroy freeways, explode National Guard sites in an effort to add to the number of American servicemen killed, and take out hydropower dams and energy plants.

Could the Iranians pull off such a harrowing nightmare? One wonders.

(Blogs)

 

Suicide, You Say, or Was It?

Epstein's death was ruled a suicide, but has a full investigation been done? I mean, has it? Even if you've interviewed everyone concerned, did you give proper weight to all the evidence?

Take the bank records showing that an officer charged with watching his cell received a $5,000 check just before the death. Has anyone pressed her as to who wrote her the check, and why they gave her such an inordinate amount of money?

I call for a full investigation. 

 

Circle Back and Check Again

A recently released document from the Epstein file says an inmate says he heard a voice say, "You dudes killed that dude" the morning Epstein died, He even fingers who the alleged killer was. The inmate claimed his fellow inmates said, "Miss Noel killed Jeffrey.," that being a reference to the female guard, Tova Noel.

Convicts are often not treasures of honesty, assuredly and admittedly. This inmate could be just trying to make a name for himself or stir things up. Plus, it is true the FBI investigated the death and ruled it a suicide. So did the DOJ inspector general. In fact, the DOJ has investigated the case several times. And the medical examiner also found it to be a suicide.

But do not close the door so quickly. 

The medical examiner originally did not mark either box --homicide or suicide, instead picking the "pending studies" box. A supervisor soon ruled it suicide. But Epstein's brother, Mark, does not believe it a suicide. Years later he pulled in a forensic pathologist who found inconsistencies. The fractures in the neck were not consistent with suicide, he said. And there wasn't anything high enough above in the room that Epstein could have attached the sheet (or whatever was used for the hanging).

Sometimes, when things are bothersome enough, you circle back and check yet another time. The House Oversight Committee should hire an independent investigator.

This just in: That committee today said it intends to interview Tova Noel. That's good. And it should also interview the prison guard. What he said is being dismissed as a rumor. I would suggest, though, he is a witness.

 

Principled Democracy

I believe in democracy. And that means not marginalizing the voice of any group or any individual. I do not believe in efforts to gerrymander, or to make it difficult for Native Americans to vote. Nor will I fall in with high-handed politicians who have repeatedly rejected the will of the people.

 Save the Great Salt Lake

The Great Salt Lake is home to one of the nation's greatest bird habitats. Do we want it to dry up? It is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere. The Great Salt Lake produces enormous quantities of brine shrimp and brine flies, forming the base of a globally significant food web. I ask again, are we going to allow it to dry up? The exposed lakebed is already one of the largest sources of toxic dust in North America, the dust spreading arsenic, lead and other heavy metals to the lungs of those breathing the air along the Wasatch Front. This is our lake and we need to save it. Join me in fighting for it.