What Books Are You Reading Part 2

[Doka]

I read mainly Fiction, for Me , I tend to find more "Truth" in fiction, than I do non-fiction books.........

I am a fan of the outdoors stuff. As well as "whodoneits" I like the books of C J Box and his "Joe Picket" novels. I just finished one called" Free Fire" written in 2007

synopsis

Joe Picket returns, this time to the wilds of Yellowstone National Park. Deftly plotted and full of intrigue, Free Fire is C. J. Box's best novel yet.

Joe Pickett, having recently been fired from his job as a Wyoming game warden, is working on his father-in-law's ranch when he receives a call from the governor's office. Governor Rulon-a devious but down-home politico-has a special request, one Joe knows he can't refuse. For weeks, the headlines have been abuzz with the story of Clay McCann, a lawyer who slaughtered four campers in cold blood in a far-off corner of Yellowstone National Park. After the murders, McCann immediately turned himself in at the nearest park ranger station. It seemed like a slam-dunk case for law enforcement-except that the crimes were committed in a thin sliver of land with zero residents and overlapping jurisdiction, the so-called free-fire zone. McCann had taken advantage of a loophole in the law: neither the state of Wyoming nor the federal government can try him for his crime, so he walks out of prison a free man.

Governor Rulon, sensitive to the rising tide of public outrage over the McCann case, wants his own investigation into the murders. The governor will reinstate Joe as a game warden if he'll go to Yellowstone to investigate. Joe, happy to get his badge back, even under these circumstances, agrees. However, it quickly becomes clear to Joe that McCann is deeply involved with some illegal activity taking place in the park-something tremendously lucrative and unusually dangerous. As Joe and his partner Nate Romanowski search in the unlikeliest places to find the key to the murders, they find out that it may be hidden in the rugged terrain of the park itself.

https://www.amazon.com/Free-Fire-Joe-Pi ... 0399154272


I enjoyed the book, it had a lot about Yellowstone in it. Not to mention the Area of the park labeled "Free Fire" Zone or "The Zone of Death" Guess What? It is real! The book was written in 2007 and as of today 2/5/2017, That deadly, very real loophole in Yellowstone Park, is still open!


The Yellowstone Zone of Death

Yellowstone National Park contains a 50-square mile "zone of death" where, legal scholars suggest, a person could commit murder without fear of prosecution. This zone is the part of the park that extends into Idaho. 

The reason for this free-pass-for-murder lies with the Sixth Amendment which guarantees a defendant the right to a trial by a jury "of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed." The zone is in the State of Idaho, but because of the unique legal status of Yellowstone, it's in the judicial District of Wyoming. Therefore, to prosecute anyone a court would need to form a jury of people who live simultaneously in the State of Idaho and the District of Wyoming, and no one fits that bill because no one lives in the Idaho part of Yellowstone. Without being able to create a jury, a trial couldn't proceed.

This legal loophole was first pointed out in 2005 by Brian Kalt, a professor at Michigan State Law School, in an article published in the Georgetown Law Journal. Kalt urged Congress to pass legislation to fix the loophole before someone tested the loophole by committing murder in the death zone. The simplest fix, he proposed, would be to change the district lines so that the part of Yellowstone in Idaho would be included in the District of Idaho.

The Rest Here
http://www.weirduniverse.net/blog/comme ... of_death1/

[kbot]

Been reading How to Be a Victorian: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Victorian Life by Ruth Goodman:

Snippet:

Lauded by critics, How to Be a Victorian is an enchanting manual for the insatiably curious, the “the cheapest time-travel machine you’ll find” (NPR). Readers have fallen in love with Ruth Goodman, an historian who believes in getting her hands dirty. Drawing on her own firsthand adventures living in re-created Victorian conditions, Goodman serves as our bustling guide to nineteenth-century life. Proceeding from daybreak to bedtime, this charming, illustrative work “imagines the Victorians as intrepid survivors” (New Republic) of the most perennially fascinating era of British history. From lacing into a corset after a round of calisthenics to slipping opium to the little ones, Goodman’s account of Victorian life “makes you feel as if you could pass as a native.

My Mom's family lived in England and Ireland during the time that this book is describing, so I find it interesting to see how the times were. Reading a section on child labor that was enlightening - as was the process of just getting ready for the day without plumbing.....

[kbot]

Just finished a great book:

The Lady Poverty: a XIII. century allegory

https://www.amazon.com/Lady-Poverty-XII ... 342&sr=1-1

This is a digital copy (1901) from the University of California's library system of a 13the century manuscript written by St Francis of Assisi on his reasoning for basing the Franciscan Order on the ideal of poverty and the subsequent renunciation of materialism. A classic.

Can also be found here at Forgotten Books' website:

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/en/readb ... 10109804#8

[Doka]

Kbot Quote:


Regarding the Franciscans "ideal of poverty and the subsequent renunciation of materialism. A classic."


Interesting how many of the peoples of the world just seem to come by "Poverty" naturally, with no renunciation of anything?

[kbot]

Kbot Quote:


Regarding the Franciscans "ideal of poverty and the subsequent renunciation of materialism. A classic."


Interesting how many of the peoples of the world just seem to come by "Poverty" naturally, with no renunciation of anything?

I guess that this was Francis' "curse" - having to have had to been born into a rich family. What is amazing is that he was able to identify a higher purpose and chuck the materialism aside and positively affect people centuries after his death. Most people in similar circumstances would have told to the world to go suck wind...... Need confirmation? Turn on the TV........

Francis, to his credit, did, and instructed his followers to act as Christ did - they literally begged for their daily needs and many times were beaten for their efforts (as many beggars are, even today). We have a group of Franciscans not far from us in New Bedford that are very different from many religious I have dealt with over the years, and I have seen a LOT of religious over the years........