The Boston Marathon Bombing and Our Future

Boston, MA—No less than 176 innocent men, women an children were made pawns in somebody’s hate struggle.  So far three are dead including an eight year-old boy.  Six people are in critical condition and many more suffered traumatic amputations of limbs. 
The video and pictures are graphic and incredibly heartbreaking.  

What can we do about this kind of violence?  The political Left wants to restrict the birthright liberty of law-abiding citizens. That’s an answer that is repugnant, un-Constitution and intolerable.  

Why do we insist on admitting people into the United States from nations that hate us along with our way of life?  They have a Saudi National with a student visa in custody at a Boston hospital. 

As for the Fascist direction that our new Nation of Cowards is heading with it’s Leftist politicians our own second Civil War is inevitable.  

I expect to see that nasty TSA expanded with unlimited funding and even weapons.  It’s going to be government vs. citizens in the name of public safety.  We are headed to airport style searches wherever we go.  We fought so many wars so we’d never have to submit to these Nazi style checkpoints.  We must resist this with our lives and limbs or say goodbye to the liberty that made this nation great.

I will simply defer to one of America’s great founders Patrick Henry who said, “Give me liberty or give me death!”

Are Military Assault Weapons Constitutionally Protected? The Answer!

Washington, DC—Prohibition brought about unprecedented violence in the United States as criminals fought over the lucrative alcohol trade.  By 1934 Prohibition was over but the memories Chicago's St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and numerous other crimes were fresh in our politicians memories.  They passed the nation’s first federal gun control law.

Prior to The National Firearms Act of 1934 Americans could buy most military small arms and explosive devices at their local hardware store or by the convenience of the US Postal Service!  Machineguns, hand grenades, Bazookas and silencers could be purchased and no questions were asked. 

The new gun law was not a ban on these weapons but a stiff $200.00 tax on each regulated item.  Taxing rights soon became unconstitutional when the Supreme Court later outlawed Poll Taxes because they discriminated against poor people.  That tax has never been raised because they simply know that the tax won’t stand a court challenge.

The so-called class 3 weapons and devices were registered and a paperwork blizzard was created to make ownership of these weapons difficult and expensive.  To this day there’s never been federally registered weapon used in a crime by its owner!  I know of one case where a man was arrested after killing an attacker with a fully automatic registered and taxed rifle but he was acquitted at his trial.

The Supreme Court took up USA v. Miller after Jack Miller was arrested and convicted for possession of a short-barreled shotgun.  He argued that the law violated his Constitutional rights successfully before the Court of Appeals but prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court.  However when it came time for briefs and argument Miller had disappeared and no lawyer was there to argue his case.  The court decided  the case without Miller anyway.

The most important part of the opinion was the passage below.  The problem with this passage was the judges were ignorant of the fact that the military used many short-barreled shotguns called trench guns!

“In the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession or use of a "shotgun having a barrel of less than eighteen inches in length" at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument. Certainly it is not within judicial notice that this weapon is any part of the ordinary military equipment, or that its use could contribute to the common defense. Aymette v. State, 2 Humphreys (Tenn.) 154, 158.”

Accordingly the court held that weapons suitable for national defense are Constitutionally protected!  That’s still the law of the land!  Large capacity magazines and belt fed ammunition have long been part of weapons involved with national defense. 

Today's politicians don't know or care about the law.  They just want to dictate our liberty away.  Within the last few years we have the Heller and McDonald cases that have rallied the Second Amendment in a big way. 

Second City Cop TV, a New Contender in the Video News Business!

Chicago, IL—Chicago’s FOP got smart when they hired Pat Camden after his career as a cop and department spokesman.  Camden can now actually say what Chicago cops can’t without facing discipline.  His retired status gives him a First Amendment right that is now controlled by the FOP.  Okay he does not get to tell us how he really feels but at least the department cannot muzzle him. If they were a little smarter the FOP would make a real reporter out of him.

Of course the FOP and the City of Chicago politicians seem to get along entirely too well.   Seemingly they have little in common but when it comes to voicing what’s on the minds of their membership the FOP fails big time.  I can’t help but fault the FOP for the CPD’s manpower shortages, failures to demand better in-service survival training and firearms needed to challenge the thousands of organized and armed street thugs.      

Technology has given the FOP or anyone the ability to reach their membership with inexpensive but superior video communication tools.  The effectiveness of the FOP’s YouTube reach can be seen in the paltry amount of views their videos have received. They have only double-digit views on most of their videos and their most viewed posting is just past the 400 mark.  The production value of the videos seems to be okay but they’re completely void of any passion for the working cop or for that matter anyone.  They all fail. 

Here I have to ring the bell of Second City Cop and True News for sharing the candor, concerns and needs of the working cops via their blogs.  They each get at minimum 10,000 hits per day.  Frankly these bloggers represent the membership of the FOP far better then their actual union representatives.  This seems terribly wrong.  Actually the taxpayers are being well served by SCC’s existence too. However, something’s missing here. 

If the person behind Second City Cop were on a Union ballot there’d be no question who’d win the membership’s votes.  SCC has no funding, no TV production skills or equipment.  SCC does not have a YouTube Channel. If SCC had a video reporter or two to cover events near and dear to cops they’d get better viewership than most of Chicago’s local TV news organizations.  The reporters and producers of SCC would have to be retired cops or civilians.  I can’t help but see a serious potential for profit here.

I’m taking the liberty to create a fictitious new contender for TV news about crime, cops, courts and corruption in the Windy City.  It will be of course, web based.

The local media has been pandering to Chicago’s politicians since there was media.   News provided to Chicagoans is first put through a filter that protects political corruption and every opportunity.  Unfortunately through extortion city officials threaten businesses that would sponsor real news.  Chicago’s news organizations are all too aware and pull their punches as a result.  SCC on the other hand has only one master, the men and women of the department.   

Let’s say that SCC-TV is born.  It would have a single purpose to report crime, courts and corruption news. Weather and sports are sometimes important to cover as they impact crime and cops.

One thing for sure such a media organization would get zero cooperation from the CPD management.  Of course the street cops would pour in information along with lots of smartphone video shot in the field.  

The SCC-TV reporters and producers must be pros that understand television, promotion, story telling, production and beating the local news competition.  Journalistic standards and credibility must be part of such an endeavor.  

Chicago has a real need for a SCC style TV news on the web startup.   Rather than to rely on business sponsors this could be offered to views via paid subscriptions of perhaps $10.00 per month.  The website would have some free postings and tease stories that require a subscription to watch. Frankly subscribed 10,000 viewers would float this boat in a hurry.  But depending on the quality of the content that audience could grow exponentially.

Here’s a video I put up about simple TV production for the Internet.  You need to know all my great equipment only cost me around $7,000.00 :

Here is a report I did for WND when Conservative blogger Andrew Brietbart died:

Trial By Television in Phoenix, The Jodi Arias Three Ring Judicial Circus.

Phoenix, AZ—Maricopa County Judge Sherry Stephens is presiding over a broadcast and Social Media lynching of the hapless accused guest of honor, murder suspect and defendant, young, Jodi Arias.  Arias is facing the death penalty in connection with the stabbing and shooting death of her former lover.

Kinky and lurid sex tales have sensationalized the case with the ever-present help of a gaggle of celebrity court pundits.  The Court’s Public Information Officer Karen Arra is doing her best to make sure the media wont miss a second of every salacious aspect of this sad case.  She can be seen everyday outside in the street socializing with the media stars set up in satellite trucks and the improvised field TV sets.

Of course there’s the highly graphic and detailed Mormon anal sex angle of this csse where religion and sex converge on each other like speeding freight trains in the night.  Visions of little boy’s Spiderman underwear dance in the heads of the jurors and spectators along with those watching at home on their iPads, iPhones and every conceivable new technology device. 

Then there is that prosecutor, Juan Martinez who’s become a lynch mob’s favorite Rock Star.  Apparently Martinez loves mugging for pictures and signing autographs for the bloodthirsty and sex crazed spectators during court breaks.

Judge Stephens lost control of her courtroom in the very beginning and of course any likelihood of a fair trial has passed long ago. 

The evidence seems to be quite damning but I just can’t imagine this as a death penalty case.  There’s no question that Arias has redundantly and desperately lied to authorities while giving various conflicting accounts of this death.  There is however no eyewitnesses and we along the jury must guess what really happened.

The state apparently refused to offer Arias less than death in exchange for a guilty plea leaving her no choice but to face this poor excuse for a trial. 

I don’t mind cameras in the court because the public should see what goes on in our government. However the time to post, broadcast or publish the video should be only after a verdict is rendered.

As for jurors and their admonition not to read, watch or listen to media reports about the trial?  That’s nothing less than a cruel joke.  My own research suggests that no less than 95% of jurors violate those rules.

I remember as a youngster the infamous 1954 Show Trial of Dr. Sam Sheppard in Cleveland, Ohio. This story became the basis of that wildly popular TV show of the 1960’s, The Fugitive, starring the late David Jansen. 

It took many years but Sheppard was freed after a re-trial but as a totally shattered and only a shell of the popular young physician he once was.  He became a third rate professional wrestler because he was unable to reintegrate to the medical community.  He died as a battered and broken man at the age of 46.

One important note about the Sheppard Media Lynching, is that back then they did not have the technology to broadcast live from courtrooms.  They relied on after the fact TV, radio and print reports.   I also think that details like the Mormon inspired anal sex information was off limits back then to broadcaster’s reports.

 Declaring a mistrial in the Arias case is long overdue.  The retrial should be done sans the TV cameras and Rock Star prosecutor.  Rather than a re-trial perhaps an offer of less than lethal injection in exchange for a guilty plea can save taxpayer a huge bundle of cash.  Perhaps even dignity could return to our sacred hall of justice. 

There is Life After Police Work! This Retired Policewoman Rocks!

Lorraine Iwan

Los Angeles, CA—For those that don’t know I’m a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild.  I attended a SAG function a couple of years ago in Hollywood and met a hopeful young lady actress.  Her Name is Lorraine Iwan and she happens to be a retired New York city policewoman.

I don’t know how old Lorraine is but she seems way too young to be retired. She packed her bags and relocated in LA LA Land so she could bring a little reality to cop dramas but she can also sing!   

Hollywood is a tough place to compete and make a living as an entertainer.  Lorraine was out making the rounds trying to get noticed.  Her credits are slim right now but I think that’s all about to change! I really hope that Lorraine get’s a top Hollywood agent and can see her dream come true.  

She just posted this video and I’m sure you’ll agree with me that there is life after police work.  Rock on Lorraine!

How’s This For A Gun Control Scandal!

Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .38 with Eagle Grips Secret Service grips in pink Kirtinite www.eaglegrips.com

Washington, DC—Guns are stolen or sometimes simply lost.  You can believe that loads of hot guns are in criminal hands waiting for an opportunity for deadly mayhem.

The ones reported stolen are listed by gun’s make, model and serial number are listed in the giant NCIC computer maintained by the FBI.  Additional information such as the police agency report number is also listed.  That’s so that a recovered guns can be used to prosecute the criminals in possession and so the gun could be returned to its owners.

Incredibly, by law the government has kept this information secret from the public, licensed gun dealers and firearm repair businesses.  Guns that are bought, sold or repaired are never compared with the list of hot guns.  It’s impossible to say how many criminals avoid detection, arrest and punishment because of this unforgivable and asinine government loophole.

Cops on the street occasionally run serial numbers of guns that are found in possession of suspected criminal and once in a while an arrest is made.

If the list were a public record law-abiding gun owners would never buy a gun without whipping out their trusty iPad and checking the number.  The dealers, repair centers and the public would be more than willing to call the cops and make sure the gun was returned to its rightful owner.  Along the way the criminals involved would be facing arrest and prosecution.  There’s no question that lives would be saved.  

Okay my blog visitors are pretty smart people and I have loads of cops that read my stories.  I want someone, anyone to offer up a good reason that the NCIC hot gun list should not be made public.  Somehow I don’t think that will happen.

Perhaps it’s time to ask the politicians for a real “common sense” gun law that would bring about the arrest of many armed criminals.  If you’re like me you know our politicians advocacy of gun control is nearly always disingenuous.   Making the hot gun list public is a true no brainer. 

The Gift of Friends

On a plane from Geneva or Amsterdam a few years ago I sat next to a man and we struck up a conversation.  We seemed to hit it off well and exchanged business cards and went on our way.

Later this man’s family became involved in multi-million dollar litigation.  I got a call from his attorney and this fellow I remembered from the plane.  They needed some serious investigation. 

Soon I was sent out of state to get the skinny on the adverse party and spent a week or more doing just that.  I searched far and wide for something resembling a smoking gun for use in the courtroom.   My client’s lawyer really put a tight leash on me somewhat obstructing my areas of inquiry.   In these kinds of things the lawyer is the boss. I held my nose and obeyed him.

I turned up a bunch of things but nothing seemingly particularly exciting.  I called in my information from the field and forwarded my report later.

I was disappointed that I found nothing seemingly spectacular.  I felt they did not get the bang for the buck.  Boy was I wrong!  The documents showed that the adverse party committed perjury and the winds of fortune changed dramatically for my client.

My new client was a rare one.  He’s sane, sober, hard working and shared many of my interests.  Now my client has become a great friend and that’s the real bonus for that job.  The gift of friends is a true blessing in life. 

My new friend found at least one more friend through my friends.  Friendship is contagious.  I must say I like how this turned out.