Infanticide remains one of the most mysterious and unexplainable human traits and is defined as “the act of killing an infant”.  When a mother kills her offspring, most of us simply can’t understand the thought process that would allow a woman to carry a child nine months, give birth and then take that child’s life. 

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This week marks the arrest of 70-year old Marie Noe in 1998 in Philadelphia.  She was charged with suffocating eight of her children.  Each time one of her babies went into distress, the common denominator was her lone presence.  These deaths occurred between 1948 and 1968.  She eventually confessed to killing four of the children but denied taking the lives of the other four.  Her lawyer negotiated a twenty-year probation coupled with five years house arrest for the now-70 plus year old woman. 

Across the country, sentences vary for women found guilty of murdering their babies.  In 1994, Susan Smith claimed her car was hijacked with her two sons in the back seat, and finally confessed, after a nationwide manhunt, to driving the car into a lake with her children buckled in.  She’s serving a life sentence in a South Carolina prison.  In Texas, Andrea Yates made a 911 call in 2001 claiming to have killed her five children by drowning.  She too was convicted and received life in prison; however, the conviction was eventually overturned and she was found not guilty by reason of insanity.  She’s since been committed to a mental facility in Texas. 

Diane Downs was convicted in 1984 in Oregon for murder, attempted murder and criminal assault.  She also claimed her vehicle was approached by a stranger with an order for her to get out while her three children were in the back seat.  All three children were shot.  One daughter died, while another daughter and a son survived, but who suffered permanent physical and emotional damage. The judge who sentenced her in 1984 was vocal in his desires for Downs to never be released from prison.  She escaped from prison a few years later, only to be recaptured within two weeks.  She was recently denied parole and many believe she’ll never be released.

Clearly, sentencing guidelines vary from state to state and many factors play into how these women are punished.  Maybe it’s that same human nature that drives these women to kill their children that determines their sentences.  Juries and judges are human.  Susan Smith and Diane Downs both played the media and mastered the grieving mother role, all the while lying to everyone around them for weeks and months.  Each allowed law enforcement to continue searching for phantom killers and each allowed other family members to mourn and worry while they had the answers.  Andrea Yates never denied killing her children.  She didn’t allow law enforcement to waste time and resources looking for figment of her imagination she created. 

Regardless of how these cases get played out in the media and courtrooms, and no matter the mother’s behavior, one common thread remains: no one can ever provide a satisfactory explanation for what drives a woman to kill her own offspring.

Is the fact there is no evidence of a caller’s first hand knowledge of abuse within the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Texas enough for a judge to toss out all of the evidence collected during the now infamous raid in 2008? If the lawyer for the religious sect have their way, it’s more than enough. Despite the evidence that was found that proved the caller’s information correct, it could very well mean there’s no way to protect the kids who were temporarily removed a year ago because the caller lied when she identified herself.

This evidence led to search warrants, which in turn led to even more search warrants. Underage marriages, incredibly young girls who faced motherhood long before they were emotionally or physically ready and a host of other abuse allegations were uncovered during the many searches but may now be deemed illegal due to the mental state of the woman who first reported their living situations. The Colorado woman, who was later discovered to be Rozita Swinton has been charged with false reports of abuse to authorities and will be in court later this month to answer those charges.

As lawyers face off in a courtroom regarding the legality of the searches, there are over four hundred kids who have since been returned to their homes so that they can continue living the only life they’ve ever known. The young girls are still having babies and continue to be forced into so-called marriages. The only bright spot is the criminal case that’s now in jeopardy has little, if anything to do with the child custody issues. Those issues are still being hammered out in Texas courtrooms and will probably continue through the rest of this year.

Should law enforcement be penalized for doing its job, even if the initial reasons were less than truthful? As pure as the motives were, the fact Swinton didn’t disclose her actual identity may be what knocks the strength out of the criminal cases. This would be especially tragic since it will once again tie the hands of law enforcement who now know exactly what takes place behind those gates, but are helpless to halt those activities. A judge is now considering the next step in this case. Her ruling will ultimately determine how much farther this case will be allowed to progress.

It seems a Russian professor is convinced the United States will collapse within the next eighteen months.  In fact, he predicts the U.S. will break into six regions courtesy of a combination of continued economic problems, moral degradation and mass immigration.  A civil war beginning in the Fall of 2009 will be the trigger.  One of the benefits, for Russia at least, will be that Alaska will fall back to Russian control. 

Before we dismiss him as a quack who has no concept of American economics, we should keep in mind Igor Panarin is an expert on America-Russia relations.  He’s a former KGB agent and has worked for the FAPSI, which is similar to our National Security Agency, and has worked for former Russian president Boris Yelstin.  He appears to be an incredibly intelligent man, even with his dire predictions, of America’s failure, or more accurately, “the end of the U.S”.  He’s quoted as saying, “There’s a 55-45 percent chance right now that disintegration will occur.”  Among other changes he’s predicted along with Alaska’s change, he’s convinced California will fall under China’s rule, Texas will become the “Texas Republic” and will go to Mexico while D.C. and New York will become part of what he calls “Atlantic America” and will join the European Union.  Canada gains a few states while Hawaii becomes part of either Japan or China.  He then further reiterates the reasonableness of Russia claiming Alaska, since it was part of the Russian Empire for “a long time”.   He shows his faith in President-elect Obama by declaring he hopes he can work miracles, but by Spring, we’ll all see there are no miracles.  I doubt that.

I think he’s underestimated us, though.  It’s kind of like motherhood: mischief kids can get their hands popped by mom, but if someone else tries to discipline them, look out, a world of hurt is coming the way of the misfortunate soul who took that liberty.  History tells us we don’t take too kindly to others determining our collective fate.  And regardless of what happens within our own borders, the thought of any other country stepping in is just silly. Still, he’s become quite the invited guest among Russian media outlets and the Wall Street Journal is reporting he’s conducting interviews on average twice a day.  Add to this the fact the Kremlin looks to the U.S. as the one source for everything that’s wrong on the planet, and his eager audience just can’t seem to get enough. 

Professor Panarin is wise in one of his acknowledgements.  He admits Russia would suffer if the U.S. does indeed collapse simply because his country depends on the U.S. dollar as well as the trade markets between the two countries. 

My money’s on the U.S. and the only danger this man presents is the fact he has so many marching to the beat of his drum.  That’s the problem with folks who make such across the board statements: it never occurs to them that when the “magical date” comes and goes, with no indication of any of their predictions coming full circle, then tend to go down as “has-beens” that really never were.

As over one million Texans are scooting in any direction but south, there are grim warnings for those who choose to stay and ride out Hurricane Ike. I’ve never seen a warning of “get out or face certain death” from any official with the National Hurricane Center (NHC). That pretty much removes any question of whether an evacuation is necessary. Still, there are those who will stay not because they’re members of police, fire or hospital staffs, or because they can’t evacuate, but who will make a conscious choice to remain and ride the storm out. That’s not uncommon. It’s a huge risk, but not uncommon. But where do public officials draw the line? A warning is issued to residents and visitors, and then a small percentage chooses to stay and while police departments are suddenly bogged down with all that comes with hurricanes, their resources are stretched even further because they know there are still people on Galveston Island or any other area in the path who are left vulnerable to the whims of this storm. I remember the 911 tapes that were released after Hurricane Katrina. If you’ve not heard any of them, there were operators who had no choice but to listen as water overtook shelters that the callers had thought would provide safety. How do you reconcile that in your mind? And is it fair that such horror is out of your control, and knowing it never had to be that way, but yet it is for some?

So, what’s the solution? You can’t arrest someone for choosing to remain in his home and even if you

Hurricane Ike

could, you’re only transferring these people to another area that’s going to be hit just as hard by the same storm you’re trying to protect them from. And then what? What if the jail or other holding place you have relocated these stubborn residents to is destroyed, only to discover that their first shelter remains in tact? Hurricanes are stressful enough and there are those who simply cannot evacuate because of their responsibilities to the communities they protect. Life is risky enough without the added dangers of any tropical system, and certainly one the size of Ike. That monster has consumed the entire Gulf of Mexico!

From NHC:

THE AIRCRAFT DATA INDICATE THAT IKE REMAINS A LARGE CYCLONE.
HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 115 MILES…185
KM…FROM THE CENTER…AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND
OUTWARD UP TO 265 MILES…425 KM. AN OIL PLATFORM IN THE
NORTHWESTERN GULF OF MEXICO RECENTLY REPORTED SUSTAINED WINDS OF
78 MPH…126 KM/HR…AT AN ELEVATION OF 400 FEET.

It’s headed straight for a location that includes the nation’s largest oil refinery, Johnson Space Center and Houston happens to be the fourth largest city in America. And still, despite the certain damages to these entities, odds are, there’ll be bodies found beneath the rubble of what’s left. On such a sad day that we’re reminded of all that was lost seven years ago and images from the many ceremonies to honor those lost during 9/11, it appears as though we will once again watch with sadness what’s left after such destruction, this time at the hands of Mother Nature.

Maybe it comes down to the responsibility of each citizen who chooses to remain behind, but the consequences of those choices will rest solely on those left to pick up the pieces.