Motes for the Middle of Everything

Questions about this: Nearly 50 years after a 15-year-old girl was stabbed to death in suburban Chicago, genetic genealogy has led to an arrest in the case. Through genetic genealogy, an unknown suspect’s DNA left at a crime scene can be identified through his or her family members, who voluntarily submit their DNA to a genealogy database. This allows police to create a much larger family tree than if they were limited to using law enforcement databases like CODIS. Great that they identified the killer. My problem is their use of a database without a search warrant. If someone related to me submits their DNA, it becomes part of that database. And so do I. Even though I did not give permission to become part, hell, I might not even know the person submitting. I see just a little problem with rights, search and seizure laws, and privacy. Or maybe it’s just me.

Background check: An Alabama state trooper arrested last week on charges he raped an 11-year old girl had been kicked out of the FBI amid a string of sexual misconduct allegations but was hired by the state agency with the apparent help of a fake bureau letter that scrubbed his record clean. An Associated Press investigation found Christopher Bauer was suspended without pay and stripped of his security clearance in the FBI’s New Orleans office in late 2018 — effectively fired — amid allegations that included a co-worker’s claim that he raped her at knifepoint. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the state police, told AP that it conducted a “full and thorough” investigation into Bauer’s background. It appears they didn’t even verify the fbi letter. The state couldn’t find anything wrong, but a reporter had no problems getting information. And they want us to trust “the government” and the fbi. Nope. Don’t do it.

If you can’t be the reason someone smiles, be the reason someone drinks.

I see a NetFlix movie here: Belgium’s leading expert on COVID-19 is in hiding after being placed on a hit list by a rogue military sniper with ties to the far right. Jürgen Conings, a military instructor, went on the run almost three weeks ago after making threats to Professor Marc Van Ranst, a virologist who has advised the Belgian government on restrictions to slow the spread of the coronavirus and vaccines. According to reports, Conings had drawn up a hit list of 10 targets, including Van Ranst. Reports say that a lawyer who worked on his divorce, his ex-wife, and senior military figures involved in disciplining him for his extremist beliefs are also being shielded. In the 1950’s-1970’s Belgian soldiers were the center of the African Mercenary armies.

I’m on the schools side: It’s a moment that every high school senior anxiously awaits, the opportunity to walk across the stage and receive their diploma. For Ashley Saucedo, a graduate of Southwest Legacy High School, the pomp and circumstance were cut short. Saucedo said she was escorted out of the Alamodome on Saturday, June 5, after displaying the Mexican Flag during her graduation ceremony. She said the portion of her walking across the stage was edited out of the graduation video. Saucedo said she hoped the flag would make her parents proud. Her statement; “I also did it for every parent out there who’s an immigrant and comes here to the United States to have a better life.” Two thoughts. 1) You graduated from an American school, not a Mexican school. 2) And your parents came to America to give you a better life, not Mexico. You should have pride in what they became, not what they left behind.