The Zodiac Killer: New Technology, New Leads?

If you’ve ever read about the Zodiac killer, you’ll know it remains one of the most well-known cold cases in the US, if not the world.  The murderer has never been identified.  For an overview of the cases please check out the Wikipedia entry, primarily written by Ed Neil.  You can find it here:  Zodiac Killer on Wikipedia

(Zodiac letter to the San Francisco Chronicle)

Several new tidbits of news are percolating and will be fully announced between now and September 30.  First, former LAPD Supervising Detective Steve Hodel, the author of Black Dahlia Avenger, has released his second book about his father.  Steve built a case against his father – a case believed by many readers of his first book, including me ; and the case was strong enough that the Head Deputy District Attorney issued a ten page memo indicating that were Steve Hodel’s father, George H. Hodel still alive, he would feel confident in bringing him to trial and seeking the death penalty.  That telling opinion, by one of the most experienced prosecutors in the country, based on the investigation conducted by Steve Hodel – himself a veteran homicide investigator for the LAPD, and with  over three hundred homicide investigations and a very high solve rate on his resume, convinced many people that Steve’s father George Hodel did indeed kill Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia.

Beginning with the knowledge (opinion, really) that the elder Hodel was a serial murderer, and he had fled the country to live in Asia for forty years, it was a natural thing for Steve to think:  ‘I wonder if this was his first…or his last’?  And so he began a new investigation which has spanned six years and has brought Steve to the conclusions in his books.  Released this week,Steve’s second book focuses on the trails Steve has found that appear to be the very paths that his father walked.  Steve believes that he has found a series of murders that took place – were committed I ought to say – by his father, George Hodel both before the Black Dahlia series and after it as well.  Steve’s book can be found at the link below, as can links to Tom Voigt’s excellent  website, which has more data, accessible to any researcher with an internet connection, than all other Zodiac sites combined.  I have just finished Hodel’s new book: Most Evil: Avenger, Zodiac and the Further Serial Murders of George Hill Hodel.  It is a fascinating book and I highly recommend to true crime readers. 

Finally, the episode of the History Channel’s new series MysteryQuest which deals with Zodiac.  The promotional ad that is running now in advance of the September 30th episode says:  “Years later, new technology, a new suspect…one step closer to solving the mystery/” 

All together, these events add up to a flurry of activity that brings new attention, and hopefully, new leads to the people still working to see this case solved. 

Most Evil and othe Zodiac books available at Amazon, through Zodiackiller.com

Steve Hodel webpages, blogs, exhibits

http://www.zodiackiller.com/

For a group of amateur sleuths, retired law enforcement, and researchers around the world, these events are eagerly anticipated in that they stir the pot, and provide the possibility of new clues, and possibly new evidence – perhaps even DNA results that could exclude someone.  Quite a week from 22nd to the 30th. 

Technorati Tags: Zodiac killer,serial killer,murder,true crime,Steve Hodel

Fascinating New Book May Shed New Light on Serial Murderers

A few years ago I picked up and read an amazing book.  Titled, Black Dahlia Avenger, it was the story of a retired Los Angeles homicide cop and his work on the biggest cold case in LA.  In the 1940’s a string of murders which were at that time linked by law enforcement to a single killer began with the murder of Elizabeth Short.  Her murder was shocking in many ways, but the biggest surprise of the book was not concerning the victim or even the crime itself, but rather, it was with the solution and unveiling of the murderer as Dr. George Hodel.  Why was that surprising?  Well, in part because he had not been a public suspect before the book was published, but more than that, because he was the father of Steve Hodel, the retired detective himself. 

This wasn’t just another book, and it didn’t just claim to have solved the Black Dahlia murder, as Ms. Short’s killing came to be known.  Hodel was able to uncover new evidence, and ultimately convince the head deputy DA for LA County so completely  that he issued a letter outlining why he would not hesitate to bring charges against Dr. Hodel if he were still alive. 

Steve Hodel apparently gave a lot of thought to a troubling feeling he had after finishing that first book.  He knew, as a detective, how unlikely it was that his father would have committed just these murders and then stopped killing forever, or that these were his first murders (coming 15-20 years after the phase at which most serial killers begin to kill).  That feeling led him to investigate the places and times his father lived elsewhere and what he uncovered is the basis for this follow-up book, titled Most Evil.  Links to both books and to Steve’s website are below.  I recommend both books wholeheartedly if you have an interest in true crime.  They are both amazing stories, and I admit I am convinced that Dr. Hodel was in fact the Black Dahlia killer. 

http://blog.stevehodel.com/

Most Evil

Black Dahlia Avenger

Technorati Tags: Zodiac killer,serial killer,Black Dahlia,true crime,Steve Hodel,Dr. George Hodel,crime

OMG Moment Number 631

Don't know if you ever read the FML (F*** my Life! FML link) website but sometimes it cracks me up.  Now I know that some of you might not believe this one could happen, but let me assure you that it could.  According to one poster at the site:

"Today, my girlfriend of a year broke up with me because I didn't fight some guy that started hitting her right in front of me... In a dream. She was totally serious. FML"

I can vouch for the story not being too unbelievable because I once had an employee who quit suddenly.  I asked why, and she replied, "You were really mean to me."  Surprised, and because I hardly ever had contact with her, I asked her when my meanness had occurred.  "In my dream."  I started to laugh, but she didn't.  "You're quitting because I was mean to you in a dream?"  I thought about it just in time to stop myself from explaining how crazy that is, because it occurred to me: ‘do I really want this mental giant doing client work’?  The kicker was that she went to her psychic after the dream and the psychic affirmed her decision because it would be best for her to find a new dream boss who wouldn't be mean to her.  True story.  I nearly had a car wreck laughing about it.

Technorati Tags: OMG,WTF,dreams,psychic

A Little Jolt of Perspective from Ms. Baines

According to the Associated Press, Gertrude Baines, the world's oldest known person died Friday at a nursing home. She was 115.

It is hard to grasp just how different was the world into which she was born in 1894 is from the world today.  Tsar Nicholas II succeeded his father Alexander III.  He would live and rule for another twenty-four years before the Bolshevik Revolution swept him, and the Empire away.  Norman Rockwell was born, as was Nikita Khrushchev.  Robert Louis Stevenson died.   Grover Cleveland was President of the United States.  The Emancipation Proclamation had been issued 32 years prior, the Fourteenth Amendment had given African Americans the right to be citizens 26 years prior, and the Fifteenth had given African American men the vote just 24 years before.  A case then in court would ultimately require ‘separate but equal’ facilities for people of color and Caucasians just two years later in 1896 (Plessey v. Ferguson).  The strife and progress of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s was more than a half century in the future. 

When Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, there were many African Americans of all ages who expressed the view that they had thought they’d not see a black man elected as President in their lifetimes.  Particularly poignant were the faces and stories of the men and women who had fought so hard (and non-violently) in the 1950s to bring genuine equality to America.  Many of them were in their sixties and seventies, and it was touching to see their dream realized in their lifetime.

How much more amazing and touching it was to see Ms. Baines comments about the election of the President.  Baines celebrated her birthday at the nursing home April 6 with music, two cakes and a letter from President Barack Obama, whom she voted for in November. Local newscasts had shown her when she cast her ballot.  Baines, who is black, said she backed him "because he's for the colored." She said she never thought she would live to see a black man become president.

Like so many African Americans on election eve, Ms. Baines had hoped to live to see a  black man elected President, but doubted that she would.  When she was born, President Cleveland was the 24th President.  Barack Obama is the 44th President.  Ms. Baines had seen twenty men elected and serve before finally getting her wish.  Of course, she saw so many other amazing changes in her time that it is tough to imagine – radio, television, space travel, two wars to end all wars, the nuclear era, mass production, all modern technology…the list is mind boggling.  Still, I doubt that there was a more meaningful and powerful change in her lifetime than living long enough to see an African American elected President. 

Ms. Baines once joked that she won the genetic lottery to achieve her age.  I think she also won the political lottery in living long enough to vote for, and see elected, and African American President. 

Technorati Tags: Oldest person,race relations,reacial issues,politics

Suitcases Offer Glimpses into Patient Lives

The Willard Suitcase Project (http://www.suitcaseexhibit.org/flashSite.html) is an amazing and touching website built to showcase the lives of past patients through the contents of a number of suitcases that were found abandoned in the attic of one of the buildings of the Willard Psychiatric Center in New York State.  It was closed in 1995, and the hundreds of suitcases offer a surprisingly detailed snapshot of the lives of these people who had packed them to come to a mental institution.  It is definitely worth a few minutes to take a look. 

Technorati Tags: Psychological institutions,mental hospital history

Not Talking to Your Kids About Race Produces Racial Assumptions

In some ways this article presents the obvious, but I doubt most of us would assume that simply not mentioning race equality explicitly would lead our kids to assume we dislike or mistrust other racial groups.  Even avoiding the discussions because we don’t want kids to ‘notice’ skin color seems to produce the assumption that we dislike other skin colors.  And kids will notice the differences anyway.  Not discussing our views leaves them to make assumptions based on our unwillingness to acknowledge or discuss differences in skin color.  The Newsweek article:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/214989

Technorati Tags: Race,Racial Issues,Society

Solar Wow – Half Trillion Dollar Project to provide up to 15% of Europe’s Electrical Power

A consortium of European companies has committed to building a huge group of solar collectors from the Saudi Peninsula to Morocco. The power collected would be transmitted to Europe via undersea cables.  Power collected would also be distributed to power grids in the countries where the generation plants are located. 

It is an amazing amount of money committed despite many details left to be worked out, including the nuts-and-bolts of cost and profit contributions in generator nations, political stability and not least, the financing.  All that, if worked out, and assuming undersea cables not currently available are developed and deployed, would produce still less than 15% of Europe’s electrical demand in 2050.  To me at least, it is not an encouraging indicator that at least this alternative source of electrical power can be a meaningful contributor to the grid.

Technorati Tags: Alternative Energy,Energy,electricity,solar power

Paintballs work too…

We live on a street that although it is in a quiet residential neighborhood, is marginally wider than the streets nearby.  A lot of kids play alongside the street, and it is probably the busiest strolling and jogging street in the neighborhood.  It is also seen as a sort of main street, and as a result it is not uncommon to see people driving by at well over the speed limit, and well above a speed that would allow them to react to a kid or a jogger around a corner or unseen behind a parked car.  These are maddening enough to residents, but occasionally you’ll see (and hear) a driver go by at a truly ignorant and dangerous speed.  I have said more than once that I ought to get a paint ball gun, fill the projectiles with chicken manure, and express myself concerning these drivers speeds (I may, or may not have once expressed myself with a tennis ball and been encouraged by my dear spouse not to continue this form of expression).  So, I was amused to see this photo (Copyright 2009 Capitol Broadcasting Company) of one neighborhood’s response to a similar problem:

Technorati Tags: Funny pictures,funny photos,humor

Mariner’s Doug Fister Off to a Great Major League Start

An update on Doug Fister, the pitcher I mentioned a few weeks ago as an interesting call-up to watch.  After one relief appearance Fister has been simply outstanding in five starts.  With ‘quality starts’ (six innings pitched with 3 runs or less allowed) in 4 of his first 5 starts, and much better than that in most of them, Fister has proven that his great control works well with a very good defense behind him.    Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu particularly commented on Fister’s success at working out of jams - ``This guy's really got a great feel for pitching.''    I especially have been impressed as he has built up his pitch counts, as he has held batters to a lower batting average after his 75th pitch than before it.  It is looking more and more likely that Fister will be a serious contender for the starting rotation in 2010. 

Technorati Tags: Seattle Mariners,Doug Fister,Mariners

Talk About Fresh Blood in Office

This article about an eighteen year old recent high school graduate running for city council in Pocatello, Idaho suggests one good way to bring fresh blood into politics. 

http://www.kidk.com/news/local/57418282.html

Technorati Tags: Politics,Pocatello

Boise State Starts Football Season with Big Win

In what will be the program’s only opportunity to face a major conference opponent this season, Boise State made a strong statement that may well boost them into the Top Ten this week.  It will be tough for the Broncos to get consideration for a national championship even if they manage to go undefeated this season – their schedule won’t play well in the BCS ranking system – but they definitely did themselves a favor with a national audience, proving that last year’s defeat of the dominant program in the Pacific Northwest was not a fluke.  Though the loss of temper by Oregon’s Blount will likely be the most memorable image of the game in most minds, the way the young Broncos dominated the line of scrimmage will likely help the program among voters in the polls all season long.

I thought that the way Boise State’s Haut was seen taunting Blount after the game was unsportsmanlike (though I admit to not knowing if Blount had said something to Haut before the camera caught up with them), as Coach Peterson must have thought while he was trying to pull Haut away from Blount,  but there is no excuse for the sort of cold-cock punch Blount threw.  Hitting a guy that isn’t even looking is always a chickenshit move, even if the guy did mouth off.  I think what got Blount suspended for the rest of the year (and, in effect, the rest of his college career), was the combination of the sucker punch AND the way he went after BSU fans as he left the field.  Even coming out of the locker room and apologizing was too little too late after such a prolonged and thuggish lapse.  Autzen Stadium has gained a reputation among the fans of Duck opponents as a thuggish crowd – there have been assaults, vandalism of vehicles, and it has been a likely place to get beer poured on your head if you are wearing the wrong color shirt – in recent years, but this was on the field, and by a player.  It may prove to be an expensive act of self-indulgence for Blount, potentially ending his hopes for being selected in the NFL draft. 

The fact that Boise State dominated on defense, played pretty well on offense, but had lots of room to improve (witness the fumbles, poor special teams play and some sloppy route-running and blocking), makes them right on schedule for this point in the year – game 1.  Oregon, on the other hand, found themselves dominated on the line by a WAC school, dysfunctional overall and unable to make big plays on either side of the ball.  The Ducks will have Purdue and Washington State at Eugene to get early wins, with a solid Utah team, and tough games with UCLA and Cal, the Huskies and then USC rounding out the first eight games.  It is not too hard to wonder if they may be 3-5 or 4-4 after eight games.   

One thing I do have to say that might get me a homer charge, is that unless there was a lot more to what Haut said or did than what we saw, the main reason you hear some calling for him to be punished is simply because Blount hit him.  If we kicked out or suspended every guy that trash-talked or taunted there’d be no one left to play the game (except maybe Jim Zorn and Kurt Warner).  You don’t have to have played football to know how much talking goes on, simply watching from the stands or the tube will suffice.  Do I think Haut was a lout for rubbing Blount’s nose in a bad performance and a tough loss?  Yes I do.  Do I think that justified the response (a blind-side punch to Haut, a punch to the helmet of a teammate, a struggle with policemen trying to escort him to the locker room and an attempt to get to a Boise State fan who taunted him) of Blount?  No way.  Nor any of the parts of his five-minute long tantrum that covered several hundred yards to the locker room.  Haut’s taunting was lame and not an example of good sportsmanship.  Unless there was more to it, that is all it was, and as such, it was probably one of a hundred examples of trash-talk that went between the teams.  He does not deserve to be punished for his taunt simply because of the lack of self-control – the way the guy he taunted went off like a rocket – at being taunted. 

Among the good articles I’ve seen on the game (and the Blount incident) this week:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ilhn7WrzkOLbcgfZ56pYjlMK2kaQD9AHD9781

http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/boises-win-lost-in-the-shadows/

http://www.idahostatesman.com/BSUFootball/story/889237.html

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/cityregion/19688111-57/story.csp

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2009/09/canzano_legarrette_blount_has.html

Technorati Tags: Blount,Haut,Boise State Football,Oregon Football,Boise State - Oregon game,BSU - Oregon,BSU football,Blount suspended,NCAA football

Coach Mora Improves in Fulfilling His Destiny and Restoring Balance to the Offense

Seahawks 14   Chiefs  10

Forgive the undertones of Anakin Skywalker and balancing the Force, but don’t you think that Coach Mora’s task this year – transforming a team that has been pass first for Mike Holmgren’s entire tenure, and more so last season than any prior years, into the kind of punishing and reliable ground assault he ran in Atlanta.  The Seahawks haven't been reliable at running the ball since 2006, and last year’s squad was nearly pitiful.  So, it gives me a  great deal of enthusiasm-building interest to see that Hawks nearly achieve the fabled run-pass balance.  Tonight, in the third pre-season game, Coach Mora got ever so close to balance, running the ball 38 times, and passing just one snap more than that at 39.  Oh, so close.  Who knows what sporting glory will come when Mora achieves his goal, and balance is in the offense?  I think I need to tweet this!

Seahawks at Chiefs Box Score

Seahawks Insider

Technorati Tags: Sports,NFL Football,Seattle Seahawks,Matt Hasselback,Seattle Running game

Imaging Shows How Acupuncture Works

As someone who has tried acupuncture and found that it helped to reduce back pain, this study showing the mechanisms at work in so doing caught my eye.  The acupuncturist I saw, who has been an instructor in Seattle for many years, believed that the way acupuncture works on pain to be very similar to what this study shows.  Read the article at:  Imaging Shows How Acupuncture Works

Technorati Tags: acupuncture,pain management,brain imaging

Sully and Professional Ethics

Man, I admire this man for a lot of reasons.  He is about as responsible as they come, isn’t he? 

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local-beat/Library-Waives-Fee-for-Sullys-Waterlogged-Book.html

Technorati Tags: Heroes

Seattle Police Make Arrest in 25 Year Old Case

From Seattle PI Crime Blog writer Casey McNerthney: –( Link)

A 50-year-old man was arrested Friday for an August 1984 cold case that was reopened three years ago, police said.

Gracey, a retired furrier seamstress lived alone in the house and was found in her bed by three neighbors who entered the house after their calls went unanswered.

Officers said DNA linked the suspect to the crime earlier this year. Seattle Police Det. Mike Ciesynski told the Seattle Times the man arrested was Gracey's neighbor and his mother was a friend of the victim.

Seattle police spokesman Jeff Kappel acknowledged the Times article but would not elaborate on the case. Officers said the suspect was arrested at police headquarters.

Gracey's son, Gilbert Bagley, told the P-I in 1984 his mother had been concerned about prowlers and had been burglarized once before. Bagley, who lived in Spokane, died April 26.

Read the 1984 report here.

McNerthney and his colleagues at the Seattle PI Blogs are part of one of the first online-only efforts, and thus far the results have been very good – according to this article in the New York Times:

“Industry analysts called it a long-shot experiment, but Seattle PI.com has kept most of the reader traffic it had as a newspaper site. Hearst will not say whether it makes money, but it says that audience and revenue are ahead of projection.”  (Seattle Times Resurgent as Solo Act)  The reference is in an article primarily outlining the great financial results of the Seattle Times, since the PI print version was halted.

Technorati Tags: DNA evidence,Cold Case,Seattle Cold Case,Seattle PI,Seattle Times

Queen Anne Architectural Gem is Offered

If you are interested in architecture check out the article posted below.  If you are interested in Andrew Willatsen, responsible for bringing the Prairie Style of Frank Lloyd to Seattle.  One of the rare Willatsen homes in Queen Anne is the Tracy Strong home on Bigelow.

If you’re interested in the personal history of the home – the experiences and stories about the lives lived there, the extensive restoration by Caty Burt, the recent visit of Tracy Strong Junior, the son of the man that built the home in 1921.   At 93, he clearly recalled many things about the house and the neighborhood, even though he was six at the time.

There are several other interesting items about the property in this article in the Queen Anne News.  You can read the story here.

Any questions, ask me, I am an expert on this home.  It’s my family’s home!  And for those who are interested, but not interested enough to click on the link:

---

8/19/2009 3:52:00 PM 
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Historic Hilltop gem goes on the market, The Strong House boasts architectural legacy

‘a simple yet stately family home in the Prairie style’

Jennifer Rice
Special to the News

Technorati Tags: Queen Anne Hill Seattle,Andrew Willatsen. Seattle home architecture,notable Seattle houses,Seattle Real Estate

One of the best things about living in Queen Anne is discovering and rediscovering this neighborhood's hidden gems. The quaint staircases, unique restaurants and abundant parks are all part of what make Queen Anne unique. But the plethora of historic houses residents can enjoy while walking the Hill's charming streets are perhaps the largest contributor to Queen Anne's allure.
A stroll around the "crown of Queen Anne" will take you past dozens of stately mansions, adorable bungalows and, unfortunately, the empty plot of land where the Black House once stood. The Black House at 222 W. Highland Drive, designed by Northwest Prairie­-style architect Andrew Willatsen (1876-1974), was torn down amid controversy in 2004. But if you continue walking around the "Crown," across Queen Anne Avenue, over to 1622 Bigelow Ave. N., you will pass a lesser-known historic hidden gem designed by that same architect that still stands intact. Known as the Tracy Strong House, it's been lovingly restored - and enjoyed by only three families over the past 90 years.
The Tracy Strong House, designed by Willatsen and built between 1921 and 1922, is currently owned by the Burt family. Willatsen was an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright and a major contributor to the development of progressive architecture in the Northwest. He and his partner Francis Barry Byrne are often credited with bringing the Prairie Style to Seattle more than 30 years before Wright's first Northwest commission.
The Burt Family plans to put this home on the market and will host an open house on Sunday, Aug. 23. Open houses and house tours are like "candy" for the closeted architecture fan. It's a rare treat to experience, even if only for a moment, what it's like inside a historic architectural treasure like this one. It's even rarer to hear first-hand what it was like living inside the home almost 90 years earlier. This past June the Burt family got an unbelievable surprise when the original owner's 93-year-old son, Tracy Strong Jr., returned to Seattle for a visit. He spent time with the Burt family and showered them with fascinating tales of what his childhood was like living inside their home long before the Great Depression.
Caty Burt remembers, "It was such a special afternoon and I will never ever forget it. It felt like travelling back in time, and I couldn't believe how much he remembered and how detailed he was about what this street was like in the 1920s. He talked about playing on Bigelow's empty lots, walking to the old John Hay School, and sitting on the front porch for his daily dose of castor oil and orange juice. He told me he still can't tolerate orange juice to this day!
"My kids really enjoyed hearing about the gigantic outdoor Christmas tree they decorated each year. He said it was so big you could see it from Capitol Hill - and even downtown!"
It's hard to imagine Bigelow Avenue with empty lots, but that's just how Tracy Strong Jr. remembers it. And back then a good portion of the land surrounding 1622 Bigelow Ave. was owned by his grandfather, Sidney Dix Strong. Sidney Dix Strong was an outspoken community leader who served as minister to the Queen Anne Congregational Church. His son, Tracy Strong Sr., commissioned local architect Willatsen to build a simple yet stately family home in the Prairie style that took advantage of the site's spectacular view. Tracy Sr. was a social reformer and child welfare advocate. He was responsible for the YMCA's boys' programs, Camp Orkilla, and he went on to become general director of the world YMCA in Geneva, Switzerland. Later career highlights include amnesty work for war prisoners and displaced European families from World War II.
Tracy Strong Sr.'s sister, Anna Louise Strong, was an outspoken activist, local and national journalist, and an elected school board member (who was later recalled due to distrust of her progressive ideals). A prolific writer, Anna Louise maintained friendships with many notable persons, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Leon Trotsky, Lincoln Steffens and Upton Sinclair. Her many books are still available today in the Seattle Public Library. The Andrew Willatsen archives and historical documentation on the Tracy Strong House are available in the University of Washington Special Collections. Inquiries on the sale of this home should go to Randie Nelson at Windermere

Queen Anne resident Jennifer Rice owns up to being a "closeted" architecture fan.

DNA Evidence Can Be Fabricated – Pretty Easily, It Turns Out

An interesting article was published online in a forensic journal indicating that DNA evidence can be manufactured even without any blood or tissue from the targeting profile.   

The implications for courtrooms is hard to overstate, and in fact the authors of the study are associated with a Tel Aviv genetics lab that is marketing a means for forensics labs to distinguish between faked and genuine samples.  The company, Nucleix uses a molecular technique that allows technicians to tell if a sample has been fabricated.  The technique relies on the fact that amplified DNA — which would be used in either deception — is not methylated, meaning it lacks certain molecules that are attached to the DNA at specific points, usually to inactivate genes.

Abstract for FSI Genetics Article

NY Times Article by Andrew Pollack

Israel National News

Of course, as DNA has become more and more commonly used, and in general it has been regarded as being impossible to fake – and unlikely to be mistaken – it has taken on a huge and pivotal role in adjudicating guilt or innocence in criminal cases.  How many cases in the future will end with reasonable doubt because the results might possibly have been faked?  Absent some system such as that offered by Nucleix, I think there is the potential for a lot of them, to say nothing of the appeals of existing cases. 

I’m going to be looking for more on this topic – especially to hear if other scientists agree with the Nucleix folks about how easy it would be to fake evidence.  Stay tuned.

Technorati Tags: DNA testing,DNA evidence. DNA Results Faked,Forensics,Forensic Science

Seahawks Win First Preseason Game

Preseason is not a time to think much about wins and losses, and early preseason games don’t give me too much of an idea how the team that ultimately opens the regular year is going to look and play by then.  There were a couple things that I thought were encouraging in tonight’s preseason opener in San Diego, won 20-14 by the Hawks in Jim Mora’s first game as the new head coach. 

First, there were no injuries to note.  After the last couple of seasons in particular, when guys seemed to go on the injury  lists just getting from their cars into the practice facility, it was great to get through a game (albeit one in which almost every starter either didn’t play, or did a quick ole and hit the showers) without any injuries.  It may be just an easy and coincidental observation that a number of players commented in various ways about how ‘fit’ they felt already.  Could it be that Mora’s focus on conditioning and physical play is already paying some dividends in the form of fewer injuries?  If so, will it continue throughout the year?  If it is just a coincidence will it please continue all year, Oh Grand Pigskin Deity?

Second, the Charger’s first offensive play from scrimmage was a Seahawk sack of Philip Rivers, and it set a nice tone for the Seahawks defense, which looked to me to be quick, physical and it seemed to me that a lot of the defensive play was occurring at the line of scrimmage, not so much with four to six guys converging to smother a runner three or four or five yards beyond the line of scrimmage.  I think every Seahawk fan would love to see a defensive front that contested the play at the line of scrimmage, and we saw that a lot tonight. 

The Hawks ran the ball often tonight, and though the average gain was unimpressive, it was a clear sign of the new philosophy at work when the Hawks ran the ball thirty-three times and threw it only thirty-five.  The new blocking approach hasn’t gelled yet, clearly, but it will be fun to see what this team can do with a tough defense and a commitment to running the ball, and doing it well.     Overall, it was a nice start to the new era – essentially meaningless I know, but despite that , I admit that I found myself revving up a bit.  Could be that I sensed some encouraging elements in the Hawks play, or schemes, or philosophy, or, I suppose it could just be that the NFL is back and I LOVE that every year just a little more than the year before. 

I will admit that I did miss the sight of Mike Holmgren, and the potential – Vesuvian as well as mad scientist-like that always seemed to be simmering just beneath the surface.  I enjoyed hearing that Mora is just as committed to accountability as Holmgren was, but according to one of the players where Coach Holmgren might see something he didn’t like on the field and go Krakatoa on a player, Mora’s style relies more on visual aids (unless you count volume, an impossibly bright red face and a glare so intense it could be used for welding).  He tends to run video of a play, stop the video and make it clear that he didn’t want to see that type of thing (be it bad technique, missed reads, sloppiness, whatever) again.  In some ways I’d say that approach is even more directly calling a player out than the red-faced tongue lashing.  When done with film and slow-motion replying of the play, Mora makes his point, and uses the entire team to hold the player (and by extension every other guy who might need to learn from the error he’s shown) accountable.  It is a different approach, but it doesn’t sound like a soft one to me.  And the knock on Mora (probably from idiots like me) has often been that he’s a ‘player’s coach’.  The implication in that remark is that the coach is soft and doesn’t hold his players accountable.  I don’t know that this description fits Mora, or if it ever has in this sense.  But if the tone I’ve heard from his players continues, and his means of holding himself, his coaches and his players accountable is in fact similar to what the players have described, I think Coach Mora will put paid to this particular vague and uncertain ‘knock’ on him pretty quickly.

(I think no matter how well any coach does for the Hawks, I will always miss Coach Holmgren much as I still miss Lou Piniella after all these years…)

Technorati Tags: Seattle Seahawks,Seahawks,Jim Mora,NFL Football,injuries

Footnote to a Nice Little August Mariners Win

Seattle managed to salvage a win today in the fourth game of a four-game series with the Yankees at Safeco field.  Rookie pitcher Doug Fister earned his first major league win with seven innings of three-run ball and the great control (no walks) he’s shown in his minor league career.

If you’re looking for signs of encouragement about the new Mariners brain trust, players…well, just about every tangible and intangible thing you can call to mind or spreadsheet is loaded with such signs.  Are the Mariners developing talent better than in recent years?  YES.  Evaluating talent better? YES.  Managing on the field better? YES.  Showing better defense, situational batting (getting the bunt down, hitting it to the right side, working counts deeper)…YES.  In so many of the ways baseball teams, players and front offices are apt to be evaluated and compared to give fans an idea of whether the team is getting better, the data is showing not just progress but significant progress.  With the exception of offensive production, this is a team  that has done a whole helluva a lot right since this time last year, starting with the hire of Jack Zduriencik, Don Wakamatsu and their respective staffs, and going right down to the players commitment  to hard work, winning attitude and a great clubhouse cohesiveness.  Pitching has been outstanding and the club defense has been brilliant. 

Perhaps the best quick indicator of just how far this team has come in one year, is the little footnote to which I refer in the header.  I witnessed win number 61 last season on the season’s final day, in a stadium full of freakish ‘local’ mascots, kids trying to figure out what sort of super hero mascot these oddballs were, and where the few people watching baseball were rooting for the Ms to lose the game in hopes of securing the top pick in the baseball  draft.  Alas, the Mariners won number 61, avoiding the first overall pick, my kids were able to figure out only 17 of the 20 mascots (even AFTER we read the descriptions in the program).  This season, though the playoffs are a long shot for the Ms, the team won the 61st game more than a month earlier than last year, and the winning pitcher was rookie Doug Fister just one of the many stories that have made this season exciting and encouraging.  Baseball is fun again in Seattle, and anyone who isn’t encouraged about the direction of the club is plain and simply and Eor (and couldn’t they have got Eor from Winnie the Pooh for mascot day last year, instead of recyclable burlap sandwich bag man, just as an example?). 

I can’t wait to see how this season plays out, and I find myself calmly expecting great things from this organization over the next few years.  Yep, here in Seattle, with our own Mariners. 

 

Technorati Tags: Seattle Mariners,Mariners,baseball,sports,MLB,Doug Fister,Jack Zduriencik

Seattle Tries Unusual Drug Strategy

Last week, Seattle Police contact a group of small-volume drug dealers.  The cops had plenty of evidence to successfully prosecute the dealers, but the contact didn’t include arrests.  Instead, the repeat offenders and known small-volume dealers were invited to a community meeting.  That’s right, they were invited to a community meeting, and no arrests were made.  Instead, Seattle police and county prosecutors held a community drug impact meeting and asked the dealers to remain after the public meeting broke up.  In a nearly unique approach (I know of only one other example, in North Carolina, where it has worked well for a couple years now by all accounts), the law enforcement officials outlined for the dealers what they were proposing.  The deal:  you guys quit dealing now, and we will not prosecute you.

Eighteen dealers attended the meeting and it sounds more like a Rotary meeting than a get-together of drug dealers.  City Attorney Tom Car said that the attendees were networking, getting contact information from each other, police and county prosecutors.  “They were in a kind of shock”, he said, and the frustrations that police have had with constantly re-arresting the same small-volume guys seemed at times to be a kind of drug-dealer Whack'-a-mole.

The attendees were informed of the evidence against them, but were told that if they stopped the dealing now, they would not be prosecuted.  Police are not making the same offer to big-time drug sources, but for the small-volume guys it amounts to one free pass.  The community presence at the first part of the meeting serves a purpose as well:  it lets the dealers know that the community has tired of their activity and will not be so ready to look the other way in the future.  It is a type of peer pressure that seemed to make an impression.  Police also provided drug treatment counselors and resources after the meeting in an effort to make it as easy as possible for the small-volume dealers to make a break with their past.

If the project is successful in the Central District indications are that it will be rolled out in other parts of Seattle.  The real question is, how long will this work?  So far, it has worked for a couple years in North Carolina.  Seattle is yet to be determined. 

Seattle Times

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Seattle P-I

My Northwest News

 

Technorati Tags: Drug dealers,Seattle drug dealers,Seattle drug policy,drug policy,crime,Seattle