“How the hell could anyone operate a bed-and-breakfast from the site of a mass murder?”

The murder dates back to 1975, as local farmer Les Mark was shot execution-style, along with his wife and 2 very young children. It is one of Iowa’s most infamous crimes, and is the subject of a book, “Brother’s Blood: A Heartland Cain and Abel” by Scott Cawelti, a retired college professor who went to school with the convicted murderer.

The man convicted, as one could guess by the title, was Les Mark’s brother. Much like Cain and Abel, the story laid out is one of brotherly jealousy, as Les Mark was slated to take over the family farm and real estate business. This infuriated big brother Jerry Mark, who planned out his revenge: a cross-country motorcycle ride (under the guise of “finding himself”) from California to Iowa. Jerry planned carefully, or so he thought, and carried out his crime. The police investigation uncovered many inconsistencies with Jerry’s alibi, such as phone records contradicting where Jerry claimed to be calling his girlfriend from. Another key piece of evidence: Jerry signed off on purchasing rare bullets that matched the type found at the murder scene.

Cawelti devotes three chapters to the trial, resulting in Jerry Mark’s conviction. Reportedly, Jerry’s lawyer advised him to take the stand in his defense, feeling this was the only shot at a ‘not guilty’ verdict, but Jerry refused.

Cawelti is a good writer, and puts out a narrative that quickly engrosses the reader, using a style much like Truman Capote did for the true crime classic “In Cold Blood.” The book is likely to have a narrow target audience, namely people like myself from Northeast Iowa that live in the vicinity of this crime scene, although I could see Cawelti’s talent for storytelling (I attended a pretty captivating book presentation of his, which is how I got the book) could potentially expand the book’s reach.

There are two really big issues I have with the book, however. While Cawelti is open about fictionalizing family conversations, dream sequences, and Jerry Mark’s personal thoughts, because these fictionalized portions take up such a major chunk of the narrative, I question the classification of “Brother’s Blood” as a nonfiction/true crime book.

More troubling, however, is the book’s glossing over of a 2006 US District Court ruling that ordered either a new trial or Jerry Mark’s release. This ruling was based on prosecutors withholding witness testimony from defense attorneys that undermined the case against Mark. Also, prosecutors claimed that cigarettes found at the crime scene were smoked by Jerry Mark. DNA testing on the saliva from those cigarettes ended up excluding Jerry (the advances in DNA testing taking place after Mark’s trial).

(The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the District Court ruling, effectively shutting the door on this case.)

There has been plenty of evidence in recent years of prosecutorial misconduct resulting in the unjust imprisonment of innocent defendants. As of this writing, The Innocence Project says 289 people have been exonerated from DNA evidence. Both of these circumstances exist in this case. Failing to turn over evidence to defense attorneys is MISCONDUCT. The DNA on the only piece of evidence prosecutors had to place Jerry Mark at the scene of the crime DOES NOT MATCH.

I’m not arguing that Jerry Mark is innocent. But it seems to me the reader could imply reasonable doubt if these details were adequately addressed in the book. If Cawelti was interested in telling the WHOLE story of this heartbreaking saga, he would’ve devoted more pages to these developments. Since Cawelti believes Mark is guilty, he should’ve attempted to thoroughly debunk these details. Instead, they’re given a couple paragraphs.

That’s not good enough.

Shikha Dalmia of Reason does a good job explaining what that “tax cut” really is: American corporations trying to avoid double taxation on their income. If Presient Obama was serious about job growth, he’d lower the uncompetitve corporate tax rate and eliminate the US government’s worldwide taxation policy.

Jacob Sullum has an analysis of the Court hearing from November.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has a good write-up on the legal protection of anonymous speech in this country. This lawsuit clearly doesn’t give a damn about precedent.

Funny that Ron Paul isn’t nearly as adament on exposing the anonymity of his ghostwriters.

*Despite all of Santorum’s grievances about America’s alleged “decaying culture,” Steve Chapman points out that all the major cultural indicators that Santorum is concerned about (divorce rates, abortion) have IMPROVED during America’s descent into “moral relativism.” Santorum has every right to believe whatever religious doctrine he wants. I have religious beliefs myself. But to push policies that enforce these doctrines appear to backfire. All the more reason to let people live their own lives.

*While Santorum claims to believe in keeping families strong, apparently that does not extend to families with non-violent drug offenders.

For his part, President Obama also views a VAT favorably, claiming it has “worked for other countries.” If by others, he means Europe, that’s not the kind of “success” I want our policies to generate.

Josh Barro has a good analysis of ex-candidate Herman Cain’s “9-9-9″ tax reform, which included a VAT. Not exactly friendly towards middle class taxpayers, to say the least.

You could say pro wrestling in the mid 1990s resembled presidential politics-dominated by two large out-of-step entities that everyone basically had to settle for. But within this structure, there is always an unwelcome outsider who relishes the role of party crasher. While the effort is ultimately doomed, this challenge to the status quo inspires a rabid, near cult-like devotion, providing one hell of a ride while it lasts. Think Ron Paul’s candidacy during this election cycle, Ralph Nader in 2000, or Ross Perot in the ’90s.

The party crasher in 1990s professional wrestling was Extreme Championship Wrestling.

ECW is the subject of Scott Williams’ book Hardcore History: The Extremely Unauthorized History of ECW, first published in 2006, with the paperback released this past November. The WWE has an ECW book of their own, but with insights from certain ECW alumn not included in the WWE book (such as Shane Douglas and Raven), this one feels a bit more authentic.

Williams traces the history of ECW back to 1991, with the start of independent promotion Tri-State Wrestling Alliance. Based out of Philadelphia, Tri-State earned a small but dedicated fan base. Tri-State quickly faded from the scene, but ring announcer Tod Gordon (who had been supporting Tri-State financially) did not want to see his wrestling dreams die, so he formed Eastern Championship Wrestling. It was the fateful decision to bring in Paul Heyman (initially as a talent) that changed the course of wrestling in the ’90s. Eventually becoming head booker and majority owner, Heyman produced a product much more in tune with the pop culture of the time. The result-a promotion that was more violent, more reality-based, and more reflective of the era’s cynicism compared to what was offered by the WWF and WCW.

While cutting edge and influential (Dave Meltzer is quoted as saying ECW “changed the landscape of professional wrestling”), ECW had financial hardships from Day 1. It becomes almost laughable that Heyman kept telling others that ECW’s long-term salvation was just one deal away, whether that deal was getting on pay-per-view or getting a national TV deal with TNN. That ECW survived as long as it did (according to the book, Heyman dumped $3.75 million of family money into what gets referred to as a “vanity project”), and that the talent continued working without pay for as long as they did was remarkable. The chapter on ECW’s bankruptcy is truly something to read.

The book does a good job touching upon most of ECW’s major angles and matches, including the Raven-Dreamer feud, Taz-Sabu, Pillman’s shoot promo, Shane Douglas throwing down the NWA championship, and the Raven-Sandman crucifixion angle (including a still photo). There are some interesting backstage tidbits as well, including how Shane Douglas returned to ECW after his failed WWF run, the politics of the WWF-ECW working relationship, and Tod Gordon’s attempted defection to WCW with other ECW talent. ECW’s darkest episode, the Mass Transit incident, is given its own chapter.

The book also gets into the 2005 reunion shows and the first months of the WWE’s relaunch of ECW. Despite the recent reprint, the timeline cuts off shortly after the embarassing “December to Dismember” PPV; therefore it does not discuss Vince McMahon as ECW champion, the brand’s unspectacular end, or the TNA-promoted ECW reunion.

Williams does make some factual mistakes. His description of the Eliminators-Dudley Boys match from Barely Legal 1997 was actually their match from Wrestlepalooza 1997 (my personal favorite ECW show). He also talks about the ropes breaking during Sabu-RVD stretcher match from Heat Wave 1996. Except that their stretcher match actually took place at The Doctor Is In 1996, and the ropes malfunctioned during their “death match” at Hardcore Heaven 1996. Williams also claims Raven showed up on Monday Nitro two days after Wrestlepalooza 1997, when it was actually 3 weeks later.

Despite these inaccuracies, I did enjoy the fun little trip down memory lane this book provides. A definite recommendation for any ECW “smaaaart maaaark!!!”

Trade contributes to a higher standard of living, so this bit of news is welcome. In an environment of otherwise activist government policies, lets hope this trend of barrier-removing continues.

Unfortunately, it happened right here in America.