This was no Boat Accident

Well, we have an update on the death of Bill Sparkman, the US Census worker who was found dead at a cemetery in Daniel Boone National Forest. He was naked except for his socks, gagged, and bound hand and foot with duct tape, and had the word "Fed" written on his chest in pen, but authorities are, "Still trying to determine if Sparkman died of foul play." Seriously, I understand how they might not know the motive, it could be a paranoid meth lab operator, or perhaps something to Glenn Beck's 912 whack job anti-government paranoia, but when a man is found naked except for his socks, gagged, and bound hand and foot with duct tape, it's foul play. This is not some friend and confidant of Jerry Fallwell being found in his closet in wearing two rubber SCUBA suits, rubber underwear, diving gloves and slippers, "numerous straps and cords" restraining him, a leather belt, and a dildo in the anus covered with a condom. This is a man who was clearly killed by someone else. Of course it's foul play, and given the area, there is a non-zero possibility that the drug trade, particularly meth, might have something to do with this. The question is who did this, and why, not whether there was foul play involved.

Update on the Census Worker Death

It appears I was wrong, the death of US Census worker Bill Sparkman, which I, and a number of other people was an act driven by the recent right wing anti-government hysteria.

Well, the Kentucky State Police, along with the FBI, have now ruled it to be suicide.

My condolences to his family.

Holy Crap, the Murders Have Begun in Kentucky

It looks like one of Glenn Beck's or Michelle Bachmann's butt boy fans has decided to murder a census worker:

The FBI is investigating whether anti-government sentiment led to the hanging death of a U.S. Census worker near a Kentucky cemetery. A law enforcement official told The Associated Press the word 'fed" was scrawled on the dead man's chest.

The body of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time Census field worker and teacher, was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural southeast Kentucky. The Census has suspended door-to-door interviews in rural Clay County, where the body was found, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Speaking as a former "part-time Census field worker", I think that until the perp is found, the door to door survey should be stopped now.

If you don't like census takers, fine. No congressman for you.

If there is reduced representation of the crazy parts of the country, then the governance of the country will improve.