ASSASSINATION

Image credit: WikiCommons

Word association game.
Life - death.
War - peace.
Love - hate.
Assassination - _____________.

Fill in the blank.  

My unscientific random analysis coupled with a poll of one reader influenced by a predisposition for all things conspiratorial, lead me to be convinced that the overwhelming majority of baby boomers would fill in the above blank with either “JFK” or “Kennedy.”

Forty-nine years ago today marked the first time I can ever remember having heard that word used.  It has, for me, become inextricably connected with the events of that fateful day in Dallas, Texas.

For reasons unexplained, I’ve always been interested in the origin of words and their romantic stories.  According to Wikipedia, “The word assassin is often believed to derive from the word Hashshashin (Persian: حشّاشين, ħashshāshīyīn, also Hashishin, Hashashiyyin, or Assassins), and shares its etymological roots with hashish.”  The legend goes on to include stories of professional killers who were under the influence of hashish when sent upon their murderous missions of mayhem during the crusades.

Further research brought me to the discovery that the first literary use of the word was by William Shakespeare in 1603 when he penned Macbeth.  Here is the line from whence it came.

“If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly: if the assassination
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch
With his surcease success; that but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all here,”

Perhaps that outtake is also the origin of the “be-all/end-all” expression. [How’s that for a non sequitur?]

On November 22, 1963, I was in the sixth grade.  Our class wasn’t exposed to the study of Shakespeare until high school.  By that time, we had become familiar with enough assassins to last a lifetime: Sirhan Sirhan, James Earl Ray, and [maybe] Lee Harvey Oswald for starters. Later a generational icon would fall at the hands of Mark David Chapman and perpetuate the idea of many conspiracy buffs that assassins known by three names were actually members of the CIA.

Forty-nine years after the Kennedy assassination, my first novel has been published and features a woman who is an elite professional assassin.
She may never become a household name in our culture.
She could possibly experience her fifteen minutes of fame with baby boomers.  
She doesn’t use hash. She likes vodka and cranberry.
She’s not in the CIA.
She goes by only two names.
Claudia Barry.

"Thrilling Cities" QUIZ -- Answers

We hope you enjoyed the quiz and that you enjoyed the REVIEW as well.

A = Vienna

B = Hong Kong

C = Geneva

D = Tokyo

E = Macao

F = New York

G = Hamburg

H = Naples

I = Monte Carlo

J = Los Angeles

K = Chicago

L = Las Vegas

M = Honolulu

N = Berlin

Elvis Found Alive!

Why can't the mainstream media pick up a really good story?  When all the best stuff comes out, we're often left to rely on documentary films to tell us the whole (real?) story.

Such is the case with the return of Elvis "The King" Presley.  Documentary film producer, Joel Gilbert, brings us the story and is reviewed by my wife, HERE.  Accompanying the DVD was a recently released "Comeback" album from Elvis himself.  The CD includes some fresh covers of some of Elvis's most poplar tunes and rock and roll classics (such as Every Step You Take by The Police) along with a new composition, "Lisa Marie" especially for this project.  You can find my review of the CD, HERE.

Join the more than 50,000,000 Elvis fans in welcoming his return!

GITMO Anniversary and Satan's Spy

January 5, 2012 will mark the tenth anniversary of the Guantanamo Detention Center.  The use of torture to obtain information varies from country to country and differs also by culture. The timeliness and importance of the information needed are also factors.  The use of torture is typically denounced and at the same time used continuously -- even by the countries that denounce it.

Internment of one's enemies is also a tactic that is used and it, too, is perceived differently by other cultures.

And then there's capital punishment.  What a can of worms!

These issues and more are all included in a best selling novel by Andre Le Gallo, Satan's Spy. We spoke recently and I asked him about these topics.  Here is his reply:

Le Gallo:  Both the internment of Japanese Americans and the use of Guantánamo reflect national security policies crafted to deal with the perceived threats of the time.   To my knowledge there was no popular outcry at FDR's  executive order and the use of Guantánamo has now received bipartisan imprematurs by two very different administrations, Bush's and Obama's.   An interesting, and unintended, consequence of  leftist uproar  over the Bush counter terrorist policies has been an increase in the loss of life and intelligence. Rather than face opposition from its core supporters, the Obama administration has chosen to kill rather than capture enemy combatants in spite of their intelligence potential.

Interesting comments from a former CIA agent.

My review of Satan's Spy can be found HERE.

Is torture ever appropriate?

For some people, the mere presence of a K-9 in the same room is torture.

For some people, going to work is torture -- especially if the wrong associate is there and is on a tear.

My most recent article as National History Examiner looks into the subject.  Please check it out and share in the social media. Tweets and FB "Shares" are especially welcomed!