Mar. 29, 2005 - 19:34 MST

THE WONDERING JEW

An Atlas Shrug

Reading in this morning's Rocky Mountain News of the earthquake near where the devastating earthquake happened not too long ago that caused a tsunami.

"Almost all of the deaths reported after the 8.7-magnitude quake were on Indonesia's Nias Island, a popular surfing spot off Sumatra island's west coast and close to the epicenter."

From what I read the December 26 quake and tsunami was a magnitude 9.0 and it is estimated that the sea bed rose 60 feet in that one.

A 10 inch tsunami was reported at Cocos Island 1,400 miles west of Australia from the latest one.

"Nias Island was badly hit on Dec. 26, when at least 340 residents were killed and 10,000 were left homeless."

"The devastation there from Monday's quake appeared to be worse. In the town of Gunungsitoli about 70 percent of buldings collapsed in the market district, officials said."

"The MISNA missionary news agency in Rome reported that a huge fire was raging early Tuesday in Gunungsitoli."

The foregoing quotes were from an article by Michael Casey of the Associated Press.

Local news and a good part of national news pales in comparison when a person thinks of the tragedy of people victims of the quake and tsunami of December 26 are once again put through the torture of an earthquake, fire and collapsed buildings. It makes me wonder, when will it stop ? How long will it take people to rebuild ravaged lives ? Are there some who will wander through a fog for the rest of their lives living in the hell that many military people live now Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome ?

In other news, Lisl Auman will probably get another trial. Mike Littwin's Column had the heading "Instead of fixing the law, justices fix the sentence"

Which in essence is what it will probably do. We'll see.

Hair splitting by our state Supreme Court in saved the life of a convicted killer.

From an article by Sue Lindsay of the Rocky Mountain News the details of the crime are thus:

"Robert Harlan's fatal crime rampage began early Feb. 12, 1994, after 25-year-old cocktail waitress Rhonda Maloney left her job at a Central City casino."

"Maloney was driving home when Harlan ran her car off the road and raped her at gunpoint."

Just before 6 a.m. Jaquie Creazzo saw Maloney screaming for help on an Interstate 76 ramp leading to Interstate 25. Maloney, victimized for two hours, said she had just escaped her captor, who had threatened to kill her."

"Maloney got into Creazzo's car, and the two headed to the Thornton Police Department with Harlan in pursuit."

"Harlan opened fire. Creazzo crashed on the lawn in front of police headquarters. Shot twice, she survived but remains paralyzed fromt he chest down."

"As Harlan dragged Maloney from the car, Creazzo remembered him saying, "You thought you were going to get away, bitch, didn't you ?"

"Maloney's nude body was found under a bridge near Watkins a week later.

"Harlan was convicted and sentenced to death July 1, 1995."

From the main article by Sue Lindsay, "A convicted murderer who raped a woman for two hours, paralyzed a good Samaritan and left his victim's nude body under a remote bridge was spared execution Monday because jurors consulted the Bible when deciding his fate."

In the ruling:

"Key points in Monday's decision by the Colorado Supreme Court."

"We conclude that introductions the Bible by a juror to demonstrate to another juror a command of death for murder creates a reasonable possibility that a typical juror could have been influenced to vote for a death sentence instead of life."

"Some jurors may view biblical texts like the Leviticus passage at issue here as a factual representation of God's will. The text may also be viewed as a legal instruction, issuing from God, requiring a particular and mandatory punishment for murder."

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So many people in Indonesia, so much suffering, visited on them a second time in less than a year. There will be no settlement for them, no court reversal, no easy out for time served. They will have to struggle for the rest of their lives to survive. Oh, sure, some of the rich will make out alright, they always do, but the rank and file will suffer on.

Our criminal justice system is a twisted mass of contradictions and is being twisted to and fro by lawyers. I can see in my own mind that Auman got a bum rap and probably should be let out with time already served. But Harlan ? I wonder was all this An Atlas Shrug ? . . . . . . . . . . .

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