Hacked Sony Film “The Interview” Becomes a Real-Life Comedy

Update:  As a consequence of the hacked Sony data, the Sony Corporation has announced that it is cancelling the showing of "The Interview" in all theatres in its distribution network. The decision was criticized by former Obama press spokesmany Jay Carney on CNN Tonight.  Another criticism was levied by noted Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein who agreed with Carney that Sony should not have "caved" but questioned whether such an idiotic movie should have been created in the first place. 

Reading George Saunders “Tenth of December” as I write so don’t complain if I slip into streams of consciousness (or unconsciousness). 

Thank you, James Joyce, if not for inventing it, for taking it to the next level (cliché). “Next level”… overused expression taken from hip-hop. . . like “back in the day”. . . also worn out now that it has crept into the white middle class, as things do when Hollywood gets hold of things, amplifies them, and pretends to be hip. 

Not so hip were the hacked Sony emails showing how Hollywood filmmaker types made little racial innuendoes about Barack Obama.  You’d heard, haven’t you?  The Sony execs wondering aloud (in email print) what racially charged films Obama would like the most… complete with tittering and with a heavy dose of white liberal preening…  Isn’t that what they do? All of it in bad taste, of course, offending even the more conservative Japanese exec-in-charge who made the filmmakers cut parts of “The Interview” that depicted North Korean dictator with his face melting and his head on fire. 

Did you die laughing yet?  Or don’t you know that “The Interview” is supposed to be a comedy?  Yeah, really. The plot is about a duo of journalists who are going to interview Kim. Of course, the CIA, that diabolical scapegoat of pointy headed libertarians with propeller caps, radical lefties wearing Che Guevara tee-shirts sipping lattes in Starbucks, and left-fielding Democratic Party bigwigs  like Senator Dianne Feinstein, always hires journalists to assassinate foreign leaders. 

When talent and creativity is lacking, go with the most ridiculous, abominable script you can find. 

Hollywood scriptwriters and producers think you’re dumb enough to watch it, and maybe they’re right.  We’re all getting dumber, and the dumber we get, the more Hollywood will dump this artless crap on us. If audiences reject bad taste, then go for the Big One—free speech. Yes, make bad taste and moral decay a liberal cause—you’ve got to massage those low and base instincts of human nature. I’ll believe that free speech rationalization when Hollywood makes an honest comedy about the Taliban – or Bin Laden-- or what about Mullah Omar?

   

I’ve got no sympathies for the asshats who hacked Sony, but I doubt it was the North Koreans. It was certainly someone who profits from chaos, from creating conflict between nuclear powers, who would enjoy the destruction that could derive from this dangerous stupidity.  Maybe it was the Iranians. A better guess might be Islamist terrorists, ISIS wannabes perhaps, or even Anonymous anarchists.

Anyway, the fallout continues, to the degree that Seth Rogen and James Franco are now declining to give INTERVIEWS about “The Interview.”  The film industry newspaper of record, Variety, reports that the  two starts cancelled all press appearances previously scheduled. Another newspaper of record, the Wall Street Journal,  in a report today said the star duo felt that, in the current atmosphere of hacks and intimidation, they wouldn’t be able to discuss the film. 

I guess we’re supposed to believe there’s a deeper meaning in this idiotic “comedy”  theme.  I feel sorry for all the people who needed the work, but America will be better off if this movie flops.  It might nudge American businesses to put more effort in preventing computer attacks which, in fact, could turn off your heat and electricity.  Another benefit would be that Hollywood scriptwriters and producers might gravitate to stories that don't play to the worst in us. 

Woody Allen's "Manhattan" -- Those Were Different Times

It’s been so long since I watched a comedy that wasn’t part slapstick, another part vulgar, and the rest just plain silly that I had forgotten about Woody Allen’s 1979 movie “Manhattan.” I caught the tail end of it on Epix just now. Of course, I’m looking at it through the lens of several decades past. The movie came out in 1979 but the time frame in the writers/director mind was probably the late 60s or early 70s.  That’s how I remember Manhattan anyway, when I lived there for a brief period. It seemed as if everyone was looking for someone or something, and everyone was kind of smarter than the people in the small town I came from. That latter characterization pertains only to those like myself who once confused metropolitanism and sophistication with intelligence, as many of us tended to do. I don’t want to write a review-review of this movie, and I only watched the last third of it but the film is positively enthralling, a work of rare artistry, a blend of music, visuals, people, neuroses and aspirations that seemed oh-so-real I might have cried. Well, at least it made me think of crying. The poignant and revealing interludes all fit together and merge beautifully at the end, the music, the Manhattan skyline, the lovely voice of the ingénue-- innocent Mariel Hemingway with her plaintive voice going off to London. The film is giant for writers, film types, and people with beating hearts Those were different times, as Lou Reed once sang about Sweet Jane..

amazon.com/author/anthonyventre

Syracuse University Basketball: Mamma Grizzly Power Award

Because I know next to nothing about basketball, I thought I'd try to impress you with my expertise. This blog is supposed to be eclectic, a tour de force of dilettantism, so who's better to write about basketball than me?

My nominee for Grizzly Mamma of the year goes to Linda Bryant, mother of Thomas Bryant and, get this straight, both are names you should know.

Thomas Bryant is one of the most sought after high school basketball players in the world.  The whole basketball world is watching to see where he will go with his stupendous talents.  But this column is not about him;  it's about his mom, and her interview by Chris Carlson in the Syracuse Post-Standard.

Believe me, this is the type of mom everyone should have.  There would be no Michael Brown tragedies if every mom in America guarded her sons the way this woman is doing.  Okay, let's just stipulate one thing. Thomas Bryant is one sensational young basketball player.  He is also young.  Many things can happen to the young.  His mom is going to make sure that only the right and good things happen to her kid.  This is just as things should be.

This youngster's experience lately has to do with choosing a college where he will play basketball before, if things go well, he gets picked up by the NBA.  There is no need to embellish the story with a florid style or with journalistic sleight of hand.  Linda Bryant speaks for herself and here's what she said to the Post-Standard reporter:

• "It's down to two (schools) Syracuse and Indiana."
• Linda corrected the reporter who thought that Missouri might be a third choice since one of his former coaches works there. "They're trying to get into it," she said.  Meaning, there is no chance.
• Linda Bryant also dispelled rumors that her son might choose Kentucky, another giant in the college basketball industry. But he was only going there to visit with two of his teammates from high school, Linda told the reporter.
• And while there's much to like, what I like best about Mamma Grizzly Linda Bryant's input into her son's well-being is what she says about Indiana where, according to the newspaper, six of Indiana's thirteen basketball scholarship players have been implicated in either failed drug tests or underage alcohol infractions.  Linda puts it best when she says of Indiana: "They have a lot going on. It seems like we went down there on false pretenses. They didn't tell us anything about failed drug tests or that type of thing going on.  My son doesn't need to be around that stuff."
• Trust me, this Mamma Grizzly is no naif and has plenty more to say in expressing love and concern for Thomas.  Get it straight, don't spare the horse, kick the tires, the woman's on fire.  While her son heard a lot from Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins, she wants it all to go directly from her lips to God's ears: "It's great that we hear from Coach Hopkins. But I told Coach Boeheim, my son needs to hear from you."

President Urkel Obama Undeclares War on Taliban

This story comes from the Wall Street Journal. I take no credit for going to Afghanistan and talking to the Taliban.  It concerns President Obama's recent "pivot" (that being the administration's current favored catch phrase) on Afghanistan.  The Urkel prez has decided that his pacification process (aimed at the American military, not the enemy) was a little too much, too soon.  Since the president shared his appointment calendar for the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban has caused all sorts of havoc in the country, killed scores of innocence people in suicide bombing and other psychotic anti-human attacks, and made territorial gains which had been previously denied them by a concerted effort in American and Afghan blood.

Now, the U.S. military has dragged Obama away from the Choom Gang and back to reality.  Obama has, after much cajolery, decided to attack the Taliban again, but only in places deemed absolutely necessary, i.e, when their positioning is dangerous to US personnel and interests.

But what do you do, Mr. President, about the "tide of war is declining" statements you have frequently made?  I shouldn't be so critical, perhaps. A naive babe last to learn to crawl before he learns how to walk.

Headline Chasing: Logan International Airport, Boston

Today, we turn our attention to the really important news of the day.  As a public service to those who may have to change planes at Logan International Airport, I report the following;

A couple of days ago, a 26 year old man went into the women's bathroom, stripped naked, and climbed up into the dropped ceiling just before a female patron decided she had to go potty. As one misstep often leads to another, however, the man put his weight on the wrong ceiling tile and fell through, disturbing nature's business issuing from the body of the poor, horrified female patron.  I would hope there is a lawsuit stemming from this incident.  Airports have the responsibility of keeping their customers safe from such horrors.

Not only did the whackjob parachute from the ceiling onto the unsuspecting woman, he then proceeded to run out of the bathroom and attack and 80 plus year old man walking with the help of canes.  The offender tried to kill the octogenarian by pressing the cane against the old man's neck, but was thwarted by security which arrived upon being alerted by shocked Logan Airport travelers.

I know there are skeptics among you, so I am linking this story from the Daily Mail.  So you see -- Logan International continues to grab headlines, even in British newspapers.

Democrats Kill XL Pipeline in Senate Vote

In spite of Sen. Mary Landrieu's last minute hustle to find centrist Democratic senators, a bi-partisan bill to green light the Keystone XL Pipeline failed just an hour ago in the Senate.  All 45 Republican senators voted with Democrat Landrieu but she couldn't convince the plethora of anal-retentive left-wing Democrats that the pipeline would created jobs and boost the nation's economy.

What this means, of course, is that well-heeled limousine elitists will continue to kill jobs for blue-collar and oil products factory workers who would benefit from the building of the pipeline.  Meanwhile,the anti-oil industry limousine liberal elites continue to gulp down huge quantities of oil and its by-products in their huge homes and private jets.  They, too, have their Jonathan Grubers who use deception to convince the victims of failed economic policies that it is better to fill billionaire Warren Buffett's oil trains than to safely move oil down through a pipeline to the people of Louisiana, Mary Landrieu's home state.

To the issue of human safety and environmental safety, I have a two- word response:  Lac Megantic.  Be sure to watch the video of the little Canadian town that was virtually annihilated by an oil train explosion.  Aside from destroying a good part of the town, and killing forty-seven people and injuring many more, the oil train disaster has required great new expenditures on HazMat teams and long term cleanup operations. If you're thinking that what happens in Canada doesn't concern Americans, then keep in mind that these very same trains pass through Maine and other states.

Moreover, what's wrong with helping the Canadian economy by passing the XL Pipeline?  Has the White House declared war on Canada?  That will be next, I suppose.  For why does Obama balk at establishing an economy of mutual benefit to both Canada and the U.S.?  After all, the Obama White House hasn't hesitated to provide foreign aid to people who want to kill us.  Well, perhaps, that's the whole thing in a nutshell.

From Warren Buffet's Mouth to Obama'sEars: XL Pipeline Veto Train Wreck

Here's a riddle for you.  What has been approved through four EPA reviews and carries the imprimatur of Secretary's of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry?  You guessed it. THE XL PIPELINE!  Now you get the hat and a free copy of White House Stink as President Obama tells the world he's smarter than everyone else and will veto any bill Congress puts on his desk approving the pipeline much sought by Obama's CANADIAN ENEMIES and by dozens of Democrat congress members like Mary Landrieu of Louisiana. 

That's what happens when Billionaire Obama supporters like Warren Buffett buys up railroads and puts billions into transporting oil by rail all over both countries.  Obama can't get off the man's errr... you know what...  because with Buffet's continued support it's a bit like Obama hitting the powerball lottery.

The question is how long can the mandarin in the White House keep on deceiving American workers and depriving them of much needed jobs?  Where are the so-called Demcrat "populists" like left wing neo Marxist Elizabeth Warren on this?  I guess her "populism" extends only to the academic limouse elite liberals who put millions into their campaign funds. 

It's a known fact, too, that the pipeline is far safer environmentally than trains.  And they've killed less people, too, unless you want to conveniently forget about the those Canadians who were killed in an oil train crash in Lac Megantic.  I guess it's small potatoes with the environment left when an oil train crash only kills FORTY-SEVEN people.

How Ridiculous is CBS TV's "Madame Secretary?"

I liked the concept when first I heard CBS was doing a political show.  My enthusiasm waned when I realized the writers hadn't done their homework, had no clue about foreign policy, were   espousing left-leaning social policy and getting their talking points from the DNC.

The photo above is a bit deceptive, including former Clinton Sec. State Madeline Albright in the front row. This is really Hillary Indirect.  On the bright side, Tea Leoni has the right masculine/feminine je ne sais quois while Carradine has his hard-assed presidential role in equal intensity.  Minor characters are interesting and fun enough.  It just sucks that good actors have to front for ignorant uninformed scripts.  Don't those writers read real newspapers?

The big question about the new CBS show “Madame Secretary” is whether it’s the publicity arm of the Hillary Clinton 2016 Campaign. I kind of doubt it’s exactly that, but I wish it were, because it’s ridiculous, just as Clinton’s most outstanding and outrageous failure Foggy Bottom was well… Benghazi, the death of our ambassador to Libya, and three other brave souls. I’ve watched the CBS show one or two times now (I’ve lost count) and I’ve decided two things: 

 1)  It’s a comedy and 2)  I should get a sense of humor.

This TV show is made to laugh at. Madame Secretary is a quasi-Marxist-pro-Iran-anti-Israel Superwoman—a type always in demand on MSM network TV in the year before a national election.

Tea Leoni plays Madame Secretary in the quiet breathy husky voice style of a retired veteran CIA analyst now living on a horse farm.  Suddenly, there appears on the clichéd and dusty road leading to the ranch a parade of SUV’s.  Stepping out of the one in the middle is the POTUS himself. POTUS immediately taps Elizabeth for Secretary of State and, of course, she will step up to save the country from the dark forces of conservatism. Yep, that’s how it’s done folks. That and stuff like the Sec State’s handsome husband explaining philosophical gibberish to his admiring and spellbound students—which is always how it happens in real life, right?

But you can’t have a TV show about Super-Secretary of State without taking on the contemporary political baggage, can you? My favorite and most revealing episode of the heavily left-leaning bent of the show’s writers has two contemporary political issues at its heart:

1     * The XL Pipeline (renamed something else)

        * The Iranian v. U.S. nuclear negotiations in Vienna.

Now the trick is to defend Obama’s failures in each of these areas while playing to the least common denominator of stupidity in the American public. As we know, Obama has stopped the XL Pipeline these past six years to appease his pseudo-environmentalist left-wing supporters, Canada wants the pipeline, preferring to ship oil to its good buddy the U.S. rather than send it west and then offshore to some foreign destination. Even the unions want the pipeline, knowing it could create an estimated 30,000 jobs for people in manufacturing, constructions, and the building trades. 

Yet, the cynical left-wing writers of this dreck and drivel political soap opera provide a scene in which it is revealed that the Pipeline Proposal was entirely the work of “Big Oil” lobbyists and is full of error, outdated information, and outright lies. In the real world, of course, the XL report was written by the EPA and sub-EPAs of the states XL would pass through.  All of them cleared the pipeline, saying it was cleaner, safer, and better for the environment than the oil trains, especially the one that crashed and burned and killed so many people in Canada. 

Apparently the “Madame Secretary” writers do not know any of this.  Big Momma the Sec. State lectures everyone around her on the evils of oil. 

More on the Iranian sub-plot next post –every bit as comic as the bit about the pipeline.  It’s too much celebrity socialism to ingest all at one time.  “Madame Secretary” apostrophe “s” family is whacked, too, cardboard stick figures, very much different than the realistic characterizations of celebrity political/legal offspring in shows like “The Good Wife.”

Albert Camus and the Ebola Plague

The Ebola virus that has terrorized West Africa and is currently spreading fear in the U.S. has an interesting precedent in a book written long ago by the late French writer, Albert Camus.  This book is called "The Plague" (in English) and is interesting because of its parallel with the current Ebola outbreak.

There is an interesting psychology at work in the book, and it serves as a warning to what may be happening today.  The Camus book is about an epidemic of bubonic plague that afflicted the city of Oran in Algeria more than a half-century ago.

The reactions to the first case of plague that wracked Oran were very similar to what Americans are experiencing today from their government.  The city officials first reaction was to reassure the citizens that everything was under control, and there was no need to be afraid.  Of course, the plague progresses until it decimates the city and imprisons its inhabitants.

There's a great deal more in the book than the tiny bit I've mentioned here.  It's well worth reading, and I would call it one of the quintessential books of all time.  Aside from the grim terror of the disease itself, it is the psychology of the people and the government of Oran that is most interesting.

Hopefully, we'll do a little better than Oran did in the 1950s (I think) but, nonetheless, it's taken the Obama administration and the U.S. medical system far too long to take the Ebola epidemic seriously.  And while the medical establishment, after some grievous mistakes, seems to be rising now to confront the danger, it doesn't help that a certain politician (guess where) wants us to believe that an "Ebola Czar" (a lawyer, to boot) will quiet the fears caused by the administration's weak knee-jerk reaction.

Last Chance: A Novel of Betrayal and Redemption

You can buy "Last Chance" for only $2.99 at the Kindle Store.

It's a big business.  Narcotics, drugs.  For some, it's recreation.  Is it such a big deal if you want to hang around your TV set on a rainy day and smoke a blunt?  No, it's not.  But weed isn't the whole story.  .

Billions of dollars flow out of the U.S. every year and into the hands of people who want to do us in.  Coke, heroin, methampetamine.  Some of the weed is grown in the U.S. and lots of the methamphetamine is made in the U.S., too, but much more of it comes from outside the country.

 You may think that's okay, at the same time you bitch about corruption, about how you're the victim of him or them or the white guys, the black guys, the immigrants, the government, a whole list of oppressors imagined or real.

It's bigger than you think. The important thing is that the billions of  dollars that flow out of the U.S. are enough to impact the economy as a whole.  The dollars are used to buy American institutions, businesses, allegiances, and governments.  U.S dollars are used to buy heavy weapons for terrorist groups in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia,  and in places like Afghanistan.

 I wrote a book about it.  A fiction book.  I can only tell the truth by lying about it in fiction.  The name of the book is "Last Chance."  Take a look.  Click on it. Maybe you don't like the cover.  Maybe you don't like the title.  Never mind, read the book. I think you'll find it interesting.

You need to realize how much and what the billions of dollars sucked out of America is doing to the country.

Last Chance: International Intrigue, Political Corruption & Personal Heartbreak

Last Chance is a sprawling tale of international intrigue, political corruption, and personal heartbreak. From the murder of a street level drug dealer in New York City, “Last Chance” takes you to the heart of a battle between the cocaine cartels of Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia and a desperate American government. 

When Victor Saronna, ex-Army Airborne Ranger, finds himself enmeshed in the narco underworld of crime and drugs, he finds the allure of profit and power too appealing to resist. But when he's forced to kill or be killed, his luck at staying in the game is about to change. Now, he is making a deal with the DEA and their CIA cohorts to stay out of jail – but it may cost him his life.

Sandra Genova, the gutsy and attractive prominent reporter for the New York Inquirer, is offered a chance to interview Saronna – a move engineered by his street-smart lawyer. And when she is offered the opportunity to travel to South America to report on escalating levels of violence at cartel cocaine production facilities, she's shocked to find Victor at the center of a series of targeted assassinations and attacks.

In other words, go to Amazon and buy the Kindle version of my book for only $2.99.  It's fiction, but it's true fiction, if you catch my drift.

The Ray Price Baltimore Ravens Scandal

You knew about it and so did everyone else.  The story surfaced a couple of months ago with a video of Baltimore Ravens running back throwing his then girlfriend around outside an elevator in an Atlantic City casino.  ESPN tells the story properly if you want a detailed read right here.

If you're like me, you thought the first video was plenty ugly but quickly put it on the back burner of your mind.  The great mahouts of the NFL would figure it out.  And the Jersey prosecutor would sort out the details.  Ho-hum, time goes by and you think the matter's resolved.

And now this, the TMZ video of what happens inside the elevator.   Janay goes for the high block and Rice gives it to her hard with a big left hook.  She goes down like she's been dropped off a tall building.  Then he tosses her around, arranging her this way and that way like she was just another crack-ho.

And then as the crap blows up in his face, he marries her so she can't/won't testify against him.

I heard the Ravens coach Harbaugh today and he sounded liked an idiot.  The NFL commissioners also sound like idiots.  And because the prosecutor also sounds like an idiot, it has become hard to find anyone in the happening who does not sound like an idiot.

If there is an idiocy reality show that connects with this, I would say that the prosecutor would win it.  When you've got a video of a full-scale bludgeon assault, you don't need the former girlfriend/wife of convenience to testify anything.

And it doesn't matter the poor abused young woman doesn't want to press charges.  This was a violent assault--aggravated assault in police legal terms.  If a guy like Mike Tyson gave a shot like that to a female, he'd have gotten 25 to life with no chance of an alternative track other than prison.

And why would that be?  Because boxing is boxing and you expect such things from boxers but not from football heroes.  Football heroes are the people you would like to be.  They attend college.  They get fat pro contracts worth millions. They have press agents and reps whose only business is to make them smell good no matter what they do.  But there is no way to make the NFL commissioner smell good, nor the Baltimore Ravens coach, nor the prosecutor who swooned before the Football Gods.

I'm not dictating that Ray Rice should get 25 to life.  All I'm saying he should be processed through the system as most anyone else would be except sports celebrities.  And then, after a jury has watched the video and come to a conclusion, the verdict should be rendered.

If at that point the sentencing authorities wanted to apply some enlightened remediation of the sentence, that would be quite another thing than how this is being handled now.  As things stand, you're supposed to be an idiot too, and fall under the spell of every jock-worn sports cliche and feel sorry for the fool.

This was purely disgusting.  You can't do this to women.

Over Hillary and Dale: The Biggest Mistake

I am watching Democrat and Republican pundits handicapping Hillary Clinton's chances of being the next president of the United States.  Everyone is on the same page about her slipping popularity.

One pundit blames her high-flying lifestyle being juxtaposed to claims that she and Bill "struggled" after leaving the White House.

Another claims that it is her perceived insincerity which accounts for her slide in popularity.

While both characterizations have merit, I think the pundits have underestimated the determination of certain Americans to have a female president at any cost.  This is the same group of people who voted for President Barack Obama (twice) because it was, to them, most important to have a non-white president at any cost.

I think it is plain to everyone that we are not, under the Obama administration, in an era which stands any chance of being called "America's finest hour."  The economy lags.  Jobs for young people are rare or non-existent.  African-Americans are suffering more than ever.   Foreign policy is a complete mess.  The countries of the world have lost a great deal of respect for America and don't hesitate to say so.  It seems that everyone is glad to see America get its Obama "comeuppance."

Which brings me back to Hillary.  She's much smarter than the pundits would like to admit.  She's too smart, in fact, for her own good.  Having been upended  and outmaneuvered in the 2008 elections by Barack Obama and the Utopian dreamers who invented him, she thought that her best chance of being president was in taking the Secretary of State job.  This would be the type of experience that would give her depth, gravitas, and the aura of being a 'great lady.'

Except for Benghazi, that might have worked.  Given the widespread American disinterest and large-scale ignorance of foreign policy, that might still have worked.

Hillary lately assailed Barack Obama's mess of the Middle East--Syria, Iraq, and also Afghanistan (not an ME country but same incompetent drift).  This is reflective of her knowledge of having made a mistake and a wish to separate herself from the Obama mess.

This is a big problem than cannot be resolved no matter how many public media appearances Obama and Mrs. Clinton make to hug it out .  Hillary should have sat it out and baked cookies (meaning she could have maintained a clean public persona by engaging in humanitarian affairs) and waited for 2016.  She would have been better off.

So 2016 is a good opportunity to put the country right except that Republicans have a habit of forming circular firing squads.  That Rand Paul, that Libertarian version of Hillary, stacks up well statistically against her is an indication of American confusion.

Sierra LaMar: Hard Case for the Prosecution

In California two years ago, a fifteen year old girl named Sierra LaMar disappeared while walking to her bus stop.  Not long after, police had a suspect in mind:  Antolin Garcia-Torres .  Police have not revealed how they connected Sierra LaMar to Garcia-Torres, but they have linked his DNA to Sierra's clothing found not far from where the presumed victim lived. 

The DNA alone will not result in a conviction as there are many ways Sierra LeMar's DNA can intermingle with that of another person without her being dead.   To be blunt, the defense may perhaps claim that Sierra had sex with Garcia-Torres and that he dropped her back off at the bus stop. 

The term "presumed victim" is used here because no body has been found and defense attorneys are sure to argue that she is still alive, perhaps kidnapped by someone else, or perhaps a runaway.   This is a typical and very common quandary posed by cases in which habeas corpus is a major factor.  Habeas corpus--if you've accused my client, then you must produce the body--quite literally in this case.

No body, no crime, the defense attorney will say.  So what do the police have on Garcia-Torres, besides her DNA on her clothing?  The answers may come when the grand jury transcript is released to the public in accord with a judge's order. 

The defense attorneys for the accused have tried to have the transcript sealed, but grand jury transcripts are typically part of the public record.  The San Jose Mercury pressed for the information and got it.  The transcript will be released very soon.

What distinguishes this case from a host of others is that, without a body, the state has intimated that it will seek the death penalty.  If what the police say is true, that Garcia-Torres is charged with the attempted kidnap of two other women,  it's very likely he will be found guilty.

The death penalty?  Well, without a body, that will be a stretch for any jury in California.    

Bergdahl Kidnapped by Aliens from Outer Space, Two-Star General Will Conclude.

From Fox News comes a report that the Army just appointed a two-star general to 'investigate' the Bergdahl affair.  In itself, that means what I predicted all along, that the Obama administration was in a pickle trying to figure out how to whitewash Bergdahl's desertion.  This investigation, favored by the Susan Rice who publicly described Bergdahl as a hero, is the solution you're expected to swallow hook, line, and sinker.

Appearing with Judge Jeanine Pirro was retired Col. Hunt who had a sober read on the situation, as does everyone else who has dutifully served in the military.    Bergdahl's desertion is a done deal, a fact.  There is no glossing over this, no need for investigation. As Col. Hunt said, if you walk away from your post and don't come back within 30 days, you're a deserter.   It's black and white.  It's impossible to come up with any kind of other scenario without saying something to the effect that aliens took control of his mind and body and walked him off.

Essentially, this is what the announced investigation will conclude.  The aliens won't be from outer space.  They will come from the volumes of real and fantasized pseudo-scientific psychological jargon you can find in any college library.

Uh, okay then.   Aliens embedded themselves into Bergdahl's mind and whisked him away.   That's all there is to it.  Frankly, I don't give a much of a damn what happens to Bergdahl, but I do care that the administration coverups of nearly everything are criminal and dangerous to America. 

Obama Failure to Strike Status of Forces Agreements with Malaki Leads to Iraq Chaos

You can't blame Bush any more, Obama.  Even your closest advisors say that the Iraq you "inherited" was in a state of calm that had not been witnessed before the time of Saddam Hussein.   You felt that way yourself, apparently, because you decided to immediately withdraw U.S. Troops entirely from the region without even leaving a small residual force in place.  Against all advice and opposition, you surrendered Iraq to chaos.

It's difficult to consider the impact of the lack of leadership you displayed in Iraq.  To announce a time line for U.S. withdrawal was perhaps the worst decision, a political decision designed to appease your pacifist left-liberal supporters.  Of course, ISIS would take the opportunity to plan strategy, organize, arm,  and wait for the U.S. withdrawal so it could effect an assault on Mosul, Tikrit, and other key Iraqi cities.

If there is any good news, it would be the surge of the Peshmerga Kurd troops into Kirkut, their historical center.  You can understand that they have as much a right to claim that, especially with the government troops fleeing it, as the Russians had to claim Crimea. 

It's chaos, and President Obama has no answer for it.  The answer should have been ready and waiting before you announced a pullout timetable.  Now there are no operatives or troops on the ground and we are reduced to getting vital information from news outlets which are as clueless and opinionated as you are.

Fortunately, CNN --your unofficial dispatch offices-- will trumpet that you are considering alternatives.  And considering alternatives. And considerating alternatives.  And consulting, And studying.   All of this is what you've done with Libya, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan as you destabilized these countries and others. 

‘No’ Didn’t Mean ‘No” in Bergdahl Tradeoff - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

No" means "no" except when you're talking to the Obama administration about prisoner exchange-when "no" could mean anything at all. Even "yes."



Press Secretary Jay Carney was quoted in a June 21, 2013 news briefing saying that the Obama administration would make no decision on trading Guantanamo detainees for absconded American soldier Bowe Bergdahl "without consulting with Congress and without doing so in accordance with U.S. law."



Then suddenly as a bolt from the sky, President Obama suddenly appeared, arm in arm at the White House with the mother of the absconding soldier and the bearded dad spouting prayers of thanks to the Taliban in Arabic and Pashto, to say that Bowe Bergdahl had been freed.



Click on the link below to read more:





‘No’ Didn’t Mean ‘No” in Bergdahl Tradeoff - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Fox Series “Gang Related” Premieres to Mixed Reviews - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Fox Series “Gang Related” Premieres to Mixed Reviews - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com



We're Giving You This Special Gun Because You're a Hero Cop



There's a mawkish, corny, and ridiculous scene where the chief, as a tribute to Lopez' greatness, gives him a Kimber .45 knockoff of the legendary Springfield 1911. The scene is typically gun clueless, aimed at liberal Hollywood gun control types who actually believe this will be the pistol that tames the barrio. Okay, I have a bias-I'm a Sig-Sauer and HK kind of guy. And I see Kimber as a target competition .45, not the best tactical weapon.



(this is a mere excerpt -- click on the link to read at least one line about hot Israeli actor Inbar Lavi) 

In Praise of the Death Penalty - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

In Praise of the Death Penalty - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com



Hit the link to read the full story:



The death penalty is supposed to be a punishment, not a therapy. Capital punishment has the other purpose of ridding society of people who would, often after being released from prison, attack, torture, terrorize, and kill innocent members of society.



What is a justice system if it yields to the advantage of murderers, rapists, child killers, and their apologists?



I wonder why there is such media indignation in the botched execution of Clayton Derrell Lockett in Oklahoma this week. Lockett had been released from prison only months before. He had received a seven year prison term in 1992 and another four year prison sentence in 1996. Among his crimes were threats to kill state witnesses who would testify against him.



Unfortunately, the state had to wait until Lockett actually killed, kidnapped, and tortured someone before law enforcement could permanently protect its citizens from mayhem, torture, and sadism.

Obama to Samsung: the Selling Stops Here - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Obama to Samsung: the Selling Stops Here - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com



So why should the White House now draw a red line in the sand and threaten legal action against Samsung Corporation for tweeting a photo of the president with the Boston Red Sox team and with star David Ortiz? The White House statement from press secretary Jay Carney sounds a lot like that well known scene in Casablanca where Captain Renault is "shocked, shocked" because "gambling is going on in here!"

Vanished Flight 370 Looks like Foul Pay, Walks like Foul Play - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Vanished Flight 370 Looks like Foul Pay, Walks like Foul Play - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com



Yesterday, there were opposing points of view between the Malaysian government and the Wall Street Journal regarding the seeming disappearance of a 777 passenger jet. Looks like the Wall Street Journal wins this one. The newspaper of record was first to report (from unnamed sources) that Malaysian Airlines flight 370 kept flying as long as four hours after it dropped from radar. In disputing the WSJ report, the Malaysian government was engaging in a bit of sophistry if not outright Three Card Monte.

Malaysian Government Disputes WSJ Report on Mysterious Flight 370 - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Malaysian Government Disputes WSJ Report on Mysterious Flight 370 - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com



At this point, it may seem to the average reader that Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 might not exist. Ships, planes, and helicopters, aided by radar and satellite images, have scanned miles of ocean and land masses in search of the plane.

The disappearance of MH370 with its 239 passengers and crew has baffled experts and frustrated media reporting. It's almost as if every entity involved in the search is living in a different universe.

The level of desperation is such that the search efforts have been extended to crowd sources. Yes, that's right. You can log on and do your part in searching for debris within vast expanse of ocean and land images collected by Chinese satellites.

The latest and most jarring report is that the search area could range for thousands of miles beyond the aircraft's flight path and well beyond the current search areas. This report, from the Wall Street Journal, holds that the plane kept flying for hours after it dropped from radar and stopped sending locator signals.

Bartiromo Debut Likely to Beat Down CNBC with FBN Morning Business News Slot - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Bartiromo Debut Likely to Beat Down CNBC with FBN Morning Business News Slot - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com



Maria Bartiromo, the fire-breathing Dragon Lady of business and economic news, premiered this morning on the Fox Business Network. From her former post on CNBC, Bartiromo encapsulated the day's economic news on Closing Bell with an authority befitting a queen. Bringing Bartiromo on board with Fox was quite a coup for FBN.

Aside from the experience she brings, Bartiromo brings a loyal audience and a network of global business connections that a Secretary of State would envy. On her first broadcast this morning, the reporter broke the story of billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal's investment bets on American technology companies like Twitter, Square and AOL.



Damned with faint praise, perhaps, but the tough "Money Honey" Brooklyn babe is not to be underestimated-not face to face anyway. She deftly manages interviews that would have other reporters slavishly repeating what they have been told by powerful financial brokers.

Aluminum Body Full Sized Pickups: Let the Games Begin - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Aluminum Body Full Sized Pickups: Let the Games Begin - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com



You see women in hip-hugging jeans stepping out of them in Malibu and lugging paintings in and out of art galleries in Manhattan. You see soccer moms and dads everywhere carrying both team members and equipment together on the same trip. Military people often buy pickups because, with the mobility required of service people, they can throw much of what they own into the back and get rolling. While the pickup truck market yet has room to grow as more and more people realize the inherent value in owning one, drivers who rely on them for making a living are driven to carry housing mortgage sized finance contracts or go to the used car market.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, CNY Killer David Renz Await Separate Capital Punishment Decisions - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, CNY Killer David Renz Await Separate Capital Punishment Decisions - Yahoo Voices - voices.yahoo.com



What's this about? Capital murder, Boston's Marathon Bomber, and the David Renz horror.



The Central New York case of David Renz is one such case which continues to provoke a great deal of public anger and outcry. Renz pleaded guilty in July to stabbing to death 47 year old Lori Bresnahan after abducting her and her ten year old daughter outside a shopping mall in Clay, New York. According to investigative reports, Renz cut away the child's clothing with the same knife he used to murder her mom, and proceeded to rape the child.

Who's Right? Director Weinstein or Howard Stern

NRA-ILA | Pride and Prejudice? Hollywood Mogul Aims to Attack NRA with New Film

Wherein a well-known Hollywood producer/director tacks this way and that as the mood suits him.  Guns might have saved the day for some of the Nazi holocaust victims during the Warsaw uprising of Polish Jews.  Weinstein admits this, yet he would have taken their guns away in the years leading up to Hitler's extermination camps.

Hey, the guy makes movies so what does he know about real life?  If that's not ironic enough consider that Hollywood hardly ever makes a film without gratuitous gunplay.  In face,extraneous gun play in movies is likely what sends unstable people off their rockers on American streets and in American schools. 

Bottom line.  Weinstein would take guns away from responsible people while promoting gun violence to whackos through excessivly violent film.  I guess there is a plot shortage and a dearth of creativity in Weinstein's neighborhood.

Anyway, hit the link. It's an interesting news report about Weinstein's appearance on the Howard Stern Show. Incidentally, Howard Stern is a gun owner and has a carry permit.

The Spectacular Now - Have Some Drinks on Hollywood

One of the Los Angeles movie blogs (LA Screenwriting?) was touting the people who wrote the script for this movie.  (possibly a cousin?  you never know)  So I'm interested in reading film scripts these days for the reason that I'm trying to write two of my own. 

All I've figured out so far is that there is a handsome 18 year old protagonist who has a hot GF, that he has a nice smile, and a flask in the back pocket which he keeps swigging from.

It's all kind of funny, you know, ha-ha -- and if we don't know that, the 'hero' Sutter reminds us constantly about how much fun drinking is.   I thought we were done with all that.  It's so yesterday, so outre, so corrupt. 

Yeah, we know people drink and we know the business of Hollywood isn't to launch a prohibition campaign but please....  drinking is a boring, cheap way to get laughs unless you're in the 9th grade.

I'm not too enthusastic about reading the rest of the script  but I probably will.  The screenwriter has some talent, no doubt, but the big question is why is he throwing good money after bad. 

Is this movie funny?   Anyone see it?  If the script has a redemptive turn at some point, I might.  But so far it's drech (sp).  What's that Yiddish word?

Correct Me If I'm Wrong But. . .

The U.S. handoff of the Middle East to Al Qaida and ISIS is nearly complete. 

The forces of terror have taken over in Iraq and that especially insults the men and women who fought and died there.  What's the U.S. policy?  To snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?   Now ISIS and Al Qaida are back and that's only because the current administration, including Hilllary Clinton, had the cut and run strategy on their mind all the time.  Worst of all, the Iraq pull-out didn't have a stable Iraq in mind at all.  The objective of the current administration was strictly political, to fulfill one of President Obama's campaign promises.

Yeah, we know:  "The tide of war is turning. . . " or something like that.  Hollow words, borrowed elsewhere no doubt, to the families and the troops who lie in quiet military cemeteries.