James L. Halperin The Truth Machine

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of people whose hearts stopped beating and were later revived spoke of having
identical experiences. They all remembered entering a long tunnel with the
same beautiful, brilliant light at the end.
Randall thought for a moment, again biting the back of his tongue. But
couldn t that just be what a normal person s brain sees while it s still alive
after the rest of the body dies?
To this day Tilly is most amazed by that fragment of their conversation.
Nobody in the 1990s, not even neuroscientists, knew it was true, yet somehow a
five-year-old child formed that hypothesis in just a few seconds. And even
then she suspected that he was right.
That night, Tilly and Randall began a friendship that would last over half a
century.
During the weeks following the tragedy, several of Liza s colleagues urged her
to file lawsuits against their neighbor and the landscape company. One of her
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partners told her, You could also sue the state of Massachusetts and maybe
even
General Motors. Their insurance companies might settle this case. But Ed, and
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27
especially Liza, had seen what lawsuits did to families. Focused for years on
their own victimization, plaintiffs often magnified the unfairness in their
minds and blamed the wrong people.
(Note: At the time, the deep pockets were usually the ones sued, regardless
of their degree of culpability. 22g CP)
The Armstrongs rejected such bitterness. Though heartbroken, they knew they
could have no more children and made up their minds to pour all their energy
and love into Randall.
When Randall finally slept, he did not dream of flying. In fact, when he
awakened just before noon, shaking and in tears, he couldn t remember having
dreamt at all. He wondered if he would ever dream again.
JAMES L. HALPERIN
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CHAPTER 4
BLACKSTONE S PARADOX
New Haven, Connecticut
June 5, 1998

In the aftermath of the Copenhagen Truce ceding Serbian control of over
70 percent of Bosnia, several Moslem extremist groups issue a joint decree
vowing cataclysmic revenge on Serbia even if it takes 10,000 years. Rwandan
war-crime trials conclude as Amnesty International issues a statement
condemning the trials as biased and alleging that at least 15 percent of those
convicted were innocent. 17,256 Hutus have been found guilty of genocide and
scheduled for execution. The death toll in Ypsilanti, Michigan, reaches 3,147
as the search continues for Elijah Abraham, leader of the religious cult
suspected of poisoning the city water supply. Scientists at Amgen and
Hoffmann-La Roche Laboratories announce the results of a double-blind study on
an
Interleukin 3 drug designed to block blood vessel growth within tumors, and
predict victory over most forms of cancer within 10 to 12 years. Retirement
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age is linked to the national average life expectancy (ALE). H.R. 1176, which
automatically raises the age of eligibility for Social Security benefits to 85
percent of ALE, is signed into law by President Clinton, against the
objections of most legislators of his own party. The American Association of
Retired Persons announces their support for all opponents of the bill, a boon
for the
Democratic party.
Seriously, Marshall, why would I
want to be president, even if I thought I
had a chance?
The two men sat near the front window of Claire s, a mercifully air-
conditioned restaurant across from the Yale campus. It was 90 degrees and
humid, and there wasn t much shade on Chapel Street.
Because every senator in
America wants to be president. Sometimes I
think every last one of you actually expects to be president, chuckled Dr.
Marshall
Imberg, a well-known professor at Yale. It s too soon for you now, Travis,
but you ll have a clean shot in six years. You re the only legislator who
knows how to win this war and believe me, we are at war.
Looking down at his speech, Hall made a few last-minute changes.
At 49 he was an ambitious and talented politician. Three years after
Leonard Armstrong s death, crime was the number one political issue in the
United
States. The freshman U.S. Senator, Travis Endicott Hall of Connecticut, made
the issue his own.
The two men had met in the late 1980s. Already into his second term as
Connecticut Attorney General, Hall had attended a government policy seminar
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during the 1988 Yale commencement exercises, coinciding with his 15th college
reunion. Imberg spoke of governmental innumeracy, a popular term for
illiteracy with respect to numbers and their meaning.
Politicians and bureaucrats, Imberg contended, either misunderstand the
financial effects of their policies or, worse, ignore them because of
political pressure. He cited an example concerning the Federal Aviation
Administration.
Cutting $1 billion from the FAA s budget each year could actually save
lives, he had argued. Consider a family of three, a mother, father, and
small child, traveling from New York to Boston for Thanksgiving. Mom and Dad
barely scrape together enough money for two tickets on the Shuttle. Then the
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