Thursday, October 31, 2013

The Official Crimefile Review of THE BOOK THIEF



Geoffrey Rush and Sophie Nélisse shot with my iPhone
Los Angeles, CA—I made sure I was in town to catch this film screening at the Daryl Zanuck Theater on the Fox Film Studio Lot.  What a treat it was!
The Book Thief is a film adapted from the Markus Zusak book by the same name.  It’s a story about life in Germany during that dark period of 1933-1945. 
It’s a joint offering from Fox 2000 Pictures, Studio Babelsberg of Berlin.
It’s about a young and illiterate girl, Liesel Meminger played by Sophie Nélisse.  Liesel gets taken by Nazi social services from her mother and sent to an older couple for adoption.  Liesel has to adapt to a new and somewhat frightening wartime life in different surroundings. 
Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson play her new parents who are struggling to make ends meet during wartime.  They seem mismatched but Rush's character cuts the ice as he turns on the charm. 
The story surrounds Liesel’s thirst for literacy and a new sometimes larcenous love for books.  Books were very expensive back then and they were yesterday’s version today's laptop computer.  
The police state was no picnic for German citizens who had a real and genuine fear of their government.  Liesel's new parents have a little intrigue of their own in their home  
This film is both a real thriller and tear-jerker.  First time feature film director, Brian Percival, masterfully directed this film.  All of the actors are wonderful. 
I don’t want to give too much information and spoil the film.  You will love it along with the  John Williams musical score.  The costumes and props were perfect.
It’s one of the best films I’ve ever seen. It’s a breakout vehicle for young Sophie Nélisse who is sure to win an Oscar Nomination for her terrific acting. 
I was thrilled to meet and chat with Rush, Nélisse and Percival about this exciting film that will be in you local theaters in early November. 

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Cop Facing Felony Charges For Shoving DUI Suspect Caught on Tape.


Cassandra Feuerstein
Skokie, IL—The Cook County State’s Attorney announced that felony charges were brought in a criminal complaint against 19-year veteran Skokie police officer Michael Hart, 43. 
Last March, another officer of the Skokie Police Department arrested Cassandra Feuerstein, 47 for DUI. She was brought into the station where Feuerstein was subjected to the routine booking process that includes fingerprinting and photographing.  
Officer Hart was assisting in that effort but apparently the woman became uncooperative and resisted the process. 
At some point Feuerstein refused to be photographed and as she was being returned to a holding cell she fought that effort with both hands to prevent that from happening. 
There is video with a view inside the cell but none to show what happened outside the cell door.
Officer Hart is seen giving Feuerstein a hearty shove into the cell when the unthinkable happened.  The woman went face first into the sharp edge of a concrete bench suffering some regrettably nasty injuries. 
Feuerstein has had to since undergo reconstructive facial surgery.  She’s also suffered vision and dental problems as a result of this event.
What this excessive force?  Did Feuerstein bring this upon herself by physically resisting Hart’s command and being placed in the cell?  Did officer Hart have malicious intent?
I can’t help but pity Feuerstein in that her resistance did not justify the injuries.  On the other hand I’m convinced that officer Hart never intended to inflict any injury whatsoever.  He was simply trying to get her back into the cell.
I fault the design of the cell itself having a bench with sharp concrete edges.   The facility architect and designers apparently did not take into account the fact that violence often takes place in such holding cells because drunks and mentally deranged people are the most likely to inhabit them.
The risk is equal to police officers when they must restrain or remove prisoners that resist them. 
As for Feuerstein she was apparently drunk since she entered a plea agreement and paid a fine for the DUI.
The shove itself doesn’t bother me because I’ve shoved my share of angry or drunken arrestees.  I’ve never seen such an outcome result like that, ever.
I consider this an accident, nothing more.  Was this a crime?  I just don’t see that being the case.

Hart knew full well the cameras were watching and he obviously knew his every move was recorded.  That makes a pretty solid case that he'd not intentionally injure the woman. 
This is a matter that belongs in the civil courts.  I’m horrified that a man’s career, retirement pension and liberty is jeopardized over this incident.
Officer hart is in need of a good lawyer and defense investigator.  This case needs to be tried in court rather than by the gossip of police haters.
Hart has been charged with Aggravated Battery and Official Misconduct.  Cook County Circuit Court Judge Israel Desierto has ordered that Hart held on a $75,000 bond.  It’s unknown if Hart has yet retained a defense attorney. 
I don’t know anything about Feuerstein’s background but I can’t help but feel the horror of the outcome of the officer’s shove. 
I’m not however convinced that officer Hart could have ever envisioned the injuries resulting from that shove. 

Hart is expected to appear in court on November 20, 2013 to face these charges. 
Read documents and watch the video below
   hart proffer.pdf





Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Military Tactics and Rules of Engagement are Now Civilian Police Procedure


Chicago, IL—I can remember the days when the Chicago Police Department rejected the idea of SWAT teams as a horrible idea.   They did not want the public relations fallout from the SWAT concept.  They recoiled at the idea we would become urban commandos.
They did have so-called heavy weapons training but that only involved the Ithaca Model 37 .12 gauge shotgun, the .30 US M-1 Carbine and a few 308 hunting style scoped bolt action rifles.  These weapons were kept in wagons dubbed, The War Wagon and they were dispatched to difficult crime calls. 
Ballistic vests were yet unheard of and our issued batons were made of wood.  Our required duty weapon was a Colt or Smith & Wesson revolver chambered for a .357 or .38 special round.  We were issued 12 round of .38 special ammunition.  They were solid lead, round nose 158-grain bullets that bounced off most car windows.
Later they went to a hollow point all lead .38+P round that was somewhat better.  We were allowed a second firearm either semi-automatic or another Colt or Smith & Wesson revolver.  Many chose the Dirty Harry .44 magnum Model 29 or 1911 .45 semi-auto pistols.  Now they heavily restrict the types of secondary handguns allowed.
Today they operate something they call the Hostage and Barricade Unit.  It’s a SWAT team by another name.  They have adopted military methods and now they have all that commando equipment.
The militarization of police agencies is reminiscent of the darkest times of Germany 1933-1945.  They created the Brown Shirts (SA) and later the SS to do things most honorable military men would be ashamed to be involved with. 
At a rapid pace our police have been ignoring our Bill of Rights and advancing on Americans with military tactics and rules of engagement.  That is frightening for sure.
The response by Boston authorities to raid homes and remove families at gunpoint while they were looking for the marathon bombing suspects was incredibly un-American and wrong.  That was absolute TYRANNY!
The above photograph speaks for itself; police should not be pointing military style rifles at our faces absent a real threat or probable cause.  
I can’t help but believe that our own government has nasty plans for those of us that disagree with the administration’s Red politics.


Sunday, October 27, 2013

Learn About The Early Development of The Colt Detective Special

Fairfax, VA--They left out the other Colt variants such as the Agent and Cobra patterned after this gun but here is a video from the NRA National Firearms Museum.




OBAMAGEDDON! We Must Purge the Obama Junta!

Washington, DC—Barack Obama and his henchmen squandered a staggering amount of taxpayer cash on everything but productivity or our economy.  They’ve made their friends and supporters obscenely wealthy as they’ve driven so many millions of American to the welfare and food stamp rolls.
The Obamas should have been judged by the nefarious and notorious company they kept.  Instead they were elected on empty promises of hope and change.  The Obamas were inside a criminal Chicago cabal.  Their closest associates included Reverend Theodore Wright, Anton “Tony” Rezko, Rod Blagojevich, Jessie Jackson, Jr., William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn.  Communists, terrorists, swindlers, liars and thugs make the inner circle of Obama’s world.
America was incredibly vulnerable after eight years of the mismanagement of that pretend Conservative president George W. Bush.  Voters and our media handed over the reins of our government to a bunch of Chicago’s more ruthless criminals.
Americans are experts in morally bankrupt TV reality show trash such as The Kardashians, but they can’t even minimally recite much of anything from the Bill of Rights or simply name the three branches of government.  American ignorance and apathy has allowed for this disaster.
The showpiece of this gang of criminals was the Obamacare program.  Rejected by Congress and Obama for their own healthcare solutions, this secretly crafted train wreck has been forced on an unreceptive and unwilling America.
In the process our already troubled health insurance industry was put into utter chaos.  Millions of paid health insurance policies are in the process of being cancelled.  Those that sill have insurance are in total shock and disbelief  after seeing their premiums skyrocket well out of financial reach. 
The massive stress created by this mess has cause employers to find ways to under-employ people to avoid the health insurance issues altogether.  Nearly half of the states have opted out of this monstrosity.  American productivity is at nearly a standstill as a result.
The Obama’s paid a school chum hundreds of millions to create the Obamacare website and the results very predictable.  Perhaps the Obamas should have hired some webmasters from popular pornography sites rather than some pal. They don’t have difficulty collecting billions from their customers or protecting their privacy!
Assuming they could make it work Americans apparently have little interest in the disaster called Obamacare. The massive privacy invasion issues along with involvement with the IRS is right out of the KGB, STAZI or the Third Reich!  
As always sick and injured people will flock to hospital emergency rooms and simply not pay the bills.  I can’t imagine how the health care industry will deal with Obamageddon.
Obamacare is on Life Support and it’s time to pull the plug and concentrate on jobs and productivity.  That will only work with massive tax breaks.  Working Americans are usually insured and not dependent on government.  Obamacare has become perhaps the largest tax money embezzlement scheme known to mankind. 
The second biggest mess is our massive and unconstitutional spying on our allies and ourselves.  The Patriot Act along with the TSA, Homeland Security and the NSA has created a massive government criminal enterprise.  
We were warned by three heroes of our information age.  They told us about the the criminality of our government leaders.  Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning deserve our protection.  We need to protect these men and others like them.
All of Europe embraced the Obama Cabal with loving arms.  Now our European allies elected officials have learned they personal phone calls have been monitored at Obama’s insistence.  As Germany’s Chancellor Angelia Merkel and the others wake up they should be looking to arrest Obama on his very next visit.
America can no longer afford to allow Obama and his henchmen to remain outside of a maximum-security prison.





Noemi Schlosser is a Globe Trotting Actress Living Life One Adventure at a Time!

Actress Noemi Schlosser with Crimefile News Blogger Paul Huebl
Antwerp, Belgium—This terrific city is home to writer, director, singer, actress and comedian Noemi Schlosser.  Noemi has traveled to Chicago, L.A., Israel, Spain and all points in between putting up entertainment.  Each project is a new and exciting adventure for this talented lady.  It is also a lot of very hard work.

A while back on one of her visits to the USA she sat down with me for an exclusive interview.  Noemi is bright, funny and delightful.  I spent the day with her taking her to such places as The mausoleum where the late actress Marilyn Monroe is interred, the L.A. Art Museum and the headquarters of the Screen Actor’s Guild where I’m a member.
For me my visits with Noemi both in Chicago and L.A. have been a real treat!  I look forward to our next meeting perhaps in Europe.  I have to say I’m proud to count Noemi as a dear friend!
Enjoy my interview below with this fine lady!

Monday, October 21, 2013

Learning from Mitch Bergsma the Amazing Deaf GoPro Camera Guru


Austin, TX—Recently I’ve joined the GoPro camera aficionados in a big way.  I’ve also learned that YouTube has some terrific tutorials for almost anything.  So I went searching for ways to best exploit my GoPros (so far I have two). 
I found Mitch Bergsma’s YouTube channel and began watching this fellow’s fine instructional videos.  Most of his videos have no sound nor does he speak.   Nonetheless I’m learning a lot from the video tips he provides. 
Bergsma is young, athletic, incredibly creative and happens to be stone deaf!  Having suffered a somewhat serious hearing loss in recent years I’m fortunate in that I’ve been helped with hearing aids that allow me to function quite normally.
Bergsma who was born deaf has also been helped with hearing aids but prefers to work without them.  It’s obvious that he’s adapted very well at a time before the hearing aids were improved as they are today.  Let me be the first to say my hearing aids annoy me but I can’t live without them.
Bergsma communicates in sign language, pantomime and the written word.  He has a great presence and has a great gift for communication even without saying a word.  Bergsma is a true showman!  Among other things Bergsma is a wakeboarder, scuba diver, and video producer.  He does business under the name MicBergsma Productions.  Bergsma also sells the products he profiles on his various Internet sites.
On YouTube MicBergsma has over 70,000 subscribers and that translates to cold, hard cash!  He garners advertising revenue and his strong Internet presence promotes his equipment sales.  I’d say he’s on his way to being a great American success story.
Bergsma posts videos everyday on YouTube about everything like sports, GoPro tips, his life, anything he captured on camera.
Bergsma is an inspiration.
http://micbergsma.com


Sunday, October 20, 2013

The Political Fallout of Comparing Politicians to Adolph Hitler

Los Angeles, CAAdolph Hitler was evil personified. Hitler murdered six million Jews and over nine million Germans lost their lives because of that vile despot.
Jews in particular become offended when any of our politicians are compared to Hitler.  They take the position that Hitler was so evil he stands alone as an object of hate.  Suggesting anyone else may be trying to fill Hitler’s shoes marginalizes that dictator’s horrific accomplishments.  
Let me say that Hitler was not just evil but more importantly he had great success in his world-class crime spree and genocide.  It’s not that others are not less evil; they just never had Hitler’s kind of success. 
Josef Stalin was every bit as evil as Hitler and was also an enemy of Jews.  Josef Stalin killed as many or more people than Hitler, but since Stalin was victorious in defeating Hitler his henchmen authored the history books. There were a vast amount of Soviet war criminals that got a free ride after the war.
There are other lesser evil politicians than Hitler and Stalin.  They are not less evil only less successful.
Politicians by nature want to dominate entire populations.  As they obtain power and the spoils of office they become obsessed with wanting more power and wealth.  The more power they have the more they want.  They invent ways to tax people into slavery and eliminate freedom.  Any politician can become another Hitler.
After World war Two and the Holocaust the surviving Jews adopted the slogan, “Never Again!” The problem is that since the beginning of mankind we have had despots and Holocausts.  We don’t have video, film or pictures documenting those horrors because that technology did not exist.  We simply treat the older history is intangible legend.
The fact is with human beings we can count on many more Hitlers and Stalins.  That especially true if we allow our politicians to have absolute power. We are making the same mistakes with Obama as the Germans and Russians did with their despots. We are giving him and his henchmen more power than they could possibly need. 
As humans we have a duty to rein in politicians when they extend their authority over liberty and freedom.  With Barack Obama we are making the same mistakes the Germans, Russians and Italians did before World war Two with their despots.
How soon we forget how Hitler promised the people of Germany everything.  Hitler was loved and even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.  He was Time Magazine’s Man of the Year! 
Could we travel the same road with Obama or any American politician?  We’d be foolish to say that it could never happen.  It did in the past and will in the future.  What’s past is prologue.  
It is anything but wrong to watch and compare every politician to past mass murderers that held public office.   It is our duty.  If we ignore our duty to watch and control our politicians we may wake up and find slavery, torture and genocide right in our faces.   We will have nobody to blame but ourselves. 

Trial Jury Internet Misconduct is Widespread and Pervasive in America!


Los Angeles, CA—When an American jury is empaneled they are admonished to avoid all print, broadcast or Internet related materials involving the case they are deciding.  Do they follow the rules when the juicy gossip is only a few mouse clicks away?  The answer is NO! 
Before I indict all jurors let me suggest that a small percentage do obey the instructions.  Perhaps it is only because they are not computer literate.  The rest are a bunch of undisciplined folks that do what they damn well please.
It is apparent that our jurors allow themselves to become influenced by illicit outside information. 
My blog gave me a real window into a jury in action on a Hollywood Attempted Murder case that began in December of 2005.   Alexander Terminassian shot and wounded an assailant, Marco C. Fuentes.  I remain convinced that the charges should have never been filed!  It was a clear act of self-defense.
I was outraged by the excessive bail and felony charges for Terminassian, a cab driver.  I doubted that he get a fair trial because of the gun rights debate and the extreme La La Land prejudice against guns and lawful self-defense. 
I was convinced that jurors would never learn about the criminal record or illegal alien status of Terminassian’s attacker in the courtroom.  I conducted my own background investigation on the state’s star witness and so-called victim.   I posted the results verbatim on my blog direct from L.A. County court records.
The theory is that the jury would never see that material but I was convinced at least a few may Google the names involved and learn the truth.
I have a web counter on my blog that tells me the Internet service provider’s number and domain.  It shows how they found my articles along with the search terms. It also give approximate locations of the visitors along with the amount of time they spend. 
I use my web counter to see what my visitors are interested in and look to exploit the information to increase my blog traffic.
The Terminassian story was popular in the L.A. region and among gun rights groups.  But after a few months of the incident there were very few visits to that story.
Fastfoward to 12 months later in 2006 and I noticed a small cluster of hits on the Terminassian stories from the L.A. area.  Why the sudden interest I wondered?  Something was going on!  Perhaps a news article provoked the attention?  Googling the unusual name Terminassian only generated my stories.  I kept digging.
There were exactly 14 hits and I saved a screen shot capturing the ISP numbers.  I investigated the reason for the hits and discovered that Terminassian’s trial had begun and they just picked a jury of 12 with two alternates!  Could the newly empaneled jury be breaking the rules by doing Google searches?  
For the next couple of weeks the same blog visitors returned again and again!  Somewhere between three and 10 hits from the same ISP numbers.  Suddenly I got a comment from a man that claimed to be a juror on that case.  I checked his ISP and discovered he had been on my blog continually from the first day the jury was picked. 
I asked that he contact me and he did by e-mail and phone.  He told me he was the foreman of the jury and that he was surprised to learn about Fuentes’ background on my blog.  He pretended to not have seen it until after the case was over.   I played along with his game and did not snitch, until now.  Of course the Statute of Limitations now prevents any punitive action against him over his transgressions.
After the trial the traffic stopped on my Terminassian stories. 
What I’m suggesting is that the Internet has proven to be a real game changer in American Justice.  Today juries must be sequestered if they are to be shielded from outside influence. Because of search engines like Google insignificant web sites can influence juries and their verdicts even more than traditional media outlets. 
Judges are going to hate dealing with this issue and sequestering every jury would shut the entire system down in gridlock.  The cost of transportation, meals and hotels would be staggering to taxpayers.  What is the solution?
Below is a link to the stories and be sure to read the comments.
http://www.crimefilenews.com/search?q=Terminassian

This story repeats on that link to be ignored...



Friday, October 18, 2013

The Crimefile News review of The Fifth Estate


Berlin, Germany—The Wikileaks massive document dumps exposing mass government deception and corruption inspired this film. 
Apparently fugitive blogger/hacker Julian Assange somehow got ahold of the script and completely hated what he’d read in this Dreamworks project.
Hundred of thousands of cablegrams were intercepted and forwarded to the Wikileaks organization.  The material was censored before it was published by various news organizations.  Wikileaks went ahead and posted the raw material on line for the entire world to examine.
The biggest issue was the material provided by Army private Bradley Manning.  Was manning a spy or a whistleblower?  I think the answer lies in the corruption and deception by our own government.  Manning is doing some serious time over his role.  Frankly I’m on his side of this argument.  Americans have a right to know when their elected officials are engaging in deception to us. 
The scriptwriters took liberties with the story and I’m ignorant of the details that were twisted by these scribes.   The mainstream media engaged in their usual methods to protect their politicians.  The established media no longer controls the message because thousands of bloggers like me have pushed them aside in recent years.
As for the film production it was terrific.  I loved the material shot on location in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland.  I’m so very fond of those European nations.   There is a really terrific night scene shot from the roof of Berlin’s Dome Church that I visited in 2011.  I actually found an iPhone someone left on a pew that I quickly turned it in for a happy owner.
The acting by Benedict Cumberbatch (Assange) was terrific as his former “crime partner” Daniel Bruhl (Daniel Berg) was great.  I’m a huge fan of Laura Linney (Sarah Shaw) who delivered in her State Department role along with veteran actor Stanley Tucci  (James Boswell). 

van Houten and Linney
I’m a total fan of the talented Carice van Houten (Birgitta Jónsdóttir).  Van Houten portrayed a member of Iceland’s Parliament and the publicist for Assanage.  I must confess that I found that the Jónsdóttir roll did not offer van Houten a chance to display her terrific gifts of emotional interpretation.  Nonetheless I did enjoy watching her bring the pages of her script to life.
If you like Europe’s terrific eye-candy and culture this film is for you.  The only problems that I see is that the ignorant movie going masses are totally apathetic to government corruption and deception. That is the kind of ignorance that allows for fascism and tyranny.  Apparently most Americans would rather worry about the interracial relationships of the Kardashian bimbos. 
I liked the film and will add the Blu-Ray DVD to my collection.  The photography and special effects were somewhat groundbreaking. 
On a side note I want very much to see Carice van Houten in the kind of roles that better test her abilities. I want to see this lovely Dutch lass walk the Red-Oscar Carpet.   As an SAG-AFTRA actor myself, I’d be thrilled to play a scene or two with Van Houten.  Someone needs to cast me as her father or perhaps boss.
I have a script with a starring role for van Houten and I’d love to play her character’s lawyer.  I guess I will have to keep on dreaming.


Monday, October 14, 2013

LAX Dry Ice Bombs Obvious Work of a TSA Baggage Screener


Los Angeles, CA—For the second night in a row dry ice bombs exploded in LAX terminals housing international flights. However tonight there were reportedly three bombs discovered, two of them were duds.
The bombs were planted in to so-called “sterile areas” of Terminal 2 and the Bradley International Terminal.  It’s obvious that the suspect is familiar with the video surveillance camera locations and is well acquainted with airport security procedures.  
I will go out on a limb and suggest that a near-do-well TSA baggage screener is trying to get elevated to hero status and a win a promotion.  He, and yes I’m sure the offender is a male has a nefarious self-aggrandizing plan. 
Frankly getting bombs and firearms past the TSA checkpoints is child’s play.  The TSA has been running an expensive fraud on travelers as they have done nothing more than create an illusion of security. Along the way they created a massive jobs program for the hard corps unemployables they put in faux law enforcement uniforms.
The TSA security theater program was nothing more than a way for tyrannical politicians to gain the cooperation of worried travelers to abandon their Constitutional rights against unreasonable searches. 
This is a solvable case that will be cracked through skilled interrogation techniques by investigators.  Stay tuned.