Unsettled Matters

There's nothing quite like an old unsolved mystery to make an old retired investigator start to twitch and jingle. Maybe it's time to get back out there and show them how it's done...

And when it comes to old mysteries  a couple of doozies popped back up this week.

First, anyone who grew up in Michigan in the 50s and 60s has always wondered what happened to Jimmy Hoffa's body. Rumors have circulated for years but his bones have never been found. Now a deathbed confession has led searchers to a supposed burial site in New Jersey and once again the old Mob-related murder mystery is back in the news.

Hoffa was the former head of the Teamsters Union with deep Mafia ties when he disappeared in 1975. Despite many searches in Michigan and elsewhere his fate has never been confirmed. 

Now it turns out that a landfill worker who died in March 2020 reportedly told a friend that his father had said that he had been ordered to bury Hoffa's body underground in a steel drum in New Jersey. The FBI has searched the site with no results reported to date.

So that's one.

The other old case is the 1965 assassination of Malcolm X. By exonerating the two men convicted of his killing this week, New York City investigators have resurfaced the question of who actually did kill the black activist leader.

An investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office found that prosecutors, the FBI and the New York Police Department withheld key evidence that would probably have resulted in the men’s acquittal.

So they have been freed and the case is once again officially unsolved.

This long after the fact, it my seem extremely unlikely either that Hoffa's body will be located or Malcolm's killer(s) will be identified, but don't tell that to an old investigative reporter.

We aways believe that the answer is out there, under the next stone, around the next corner, or courtesy of the next deathbed confession.

It just requires the right person to show up at the right time to crack the case.

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SATURDAY'S HEADLINES:

* Africa’s rising cities -- By 2100, 13 of the world’s 20 biggest urban areas will be in Africa. This is how Africa will become the center of the world’s urban future. (WP)

* VIDEO: Austria Announces Covid Vaccine Mandate for All (AP)

* Tens of thousands march in Vienna against COVID measures before lockdown (Reuters)

* Dutch Covid-19 Lockdown Protest Turns Violent (WSJ)

* Grammarly Raises $200 Million at $13 Billion Valuation (The Information)

*Jimmy Hoffa: Deathbed confession sparks long-missing U.S. union boss body hunt (BBC)

* FBI searched under New Jersey bridge for Jimmy Hoffa's remains last month (CNN)

* F.B.I. Agents Became C.I.A. Operatives in Secret Overseas Prisons -- Lawyers disclosed the unusual arrangement in evidentiary hearings to prepare for the Sept. 11 trial at Guantánamo Bay. (NYT)

* Native Americans dispel myths by living their truth: ‘We are still here’ (WP)

* U.S. wildfires have killed nearly 20% of world’s giant sequoias in two years (Guardian)

* Kyle Rittenhouse Acquitted of All Charges (Apple News)

* France to ban sales of dogs and cats at pet shops (NHK)

* Britain seeks ban of single use plastic plates and cutlery in England (Reuters)

* On Putin’s Strategic Chessboard, a Series of Destabilizing Moves (NYT)

* Putin is testing U.S., NATO with buildup along Russia-Ukraine border, defense minister says (WP)

* U.S. seeks balance as fears grow Russia may invade Ukraine (AP)

* Biden's balancing act in the Middle East has a problem: Israel (Politico)

* Covid-19 live updates: Delta variant dangerous during pregnancy, CDC reports say (WP)

* Europe’s Covid surge forces Austria to plan mandatory vaccination (Financial Times)

* Canada flood shows how climate change could fuel atmospheric river storms (Reuters)

* Chinese naval ship enters Japan's waters (NHK)

* Chinese, Russian bombers fly near Japan (NHK)

* Afghanistan: The teenage girls returning to school under the Taliban (BBC)

* Taliban meet German, Dutch diplomats (NHK)

* Abducted Afghan psychiatrist found dead weeks after disappearance (Guardian)

* Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai’s disappearance galvanises sporting elite (Financial Times)

* CDC advisers back coronavirus boosters for all adults, urge them for people 50 or older (WP)

* Is work getting better or worse for women? (Politico)

* The Decision That Cost Hitler the War -- “Hitler’s American Gamble,” by Brendan Simms and Charlie Laderman, examines Hitler’s ill-fated choice to declare war on the United States. (NYT Books)

* 'Emotionally brilliant': Adele releases new album '30' (Reuters)

* What to Know About Teen Boys and Videogames—According to Teen Boys (WSJ)

* Research sheds light on what's killing young people, especially boys and young men -- Globally, boys and young men made up two-thirds of all deaths among young people in 2019. A recent report finds that many such deaths in this "neglected" age group are preventable. (NPR)

* Economists Trace Great Resignation To Comedy Central Airing ‘Office Space’ Constantly During Workers’ Formative Years (The Onion)

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"Now I Wonder."

Chris Isaak

 Now I wonder. 

I keep on praying for a blue sky, I keep on searching through the rain. I keep on thinking of the good times, will they ever come again? 

Now I wonder. Now I wonder. I keep on praying for a blue sky, I keep on searching through the rain. I keep on thinking of the good times, will they ever come again?

Now I wonder.
Now I wonder.

When I was younger I believed, that I could win.
Now I wonder.

There was a time when you and I, walked hand & hand.
Now I wonder.

I keep on searching for the old me, I keep on thinking I can change.
I keep on hoping for a new day, will I ever feel the same?

Now I wonder.
Oh I wonder.
Now I wonder.