The Official Crimefile Review Of The American Idol Finale

We’ve established that I’m a middle aged, frustrated performer. Late in life I began acting and taking voice lessons. My voice lessons stalled because of a profound but temporary six-month hearing loss. Thankfully my hearing is returning to its normal crappy state. I guess it’s from spending too much time on the firing range. Soon I plan to be back on track with my talented voice coach, Sue Ann Pinner. Sue Ann has me morphing into a genuine lounge lizard. Perhaps I will be forced to put up a video on this blog in the near future. Soon I think you're going hear something big come from Pinner and Huebl.

Where was the inspiration for this stuff when I was a kid growing up in the Windy City? Who knows what could have been. Unfortunately I can’t turn the clock back and get another life to try again. I don’t really regret my career choices I just want to do everything!

So far, I’ve never watched a single episode of American Idol until tonight. I’d been bombarded with clips containing impressive offerings of the two finalists, Katharine McPhee and Taylor Hicks. I tuned in for this two hour, sans commercials, magic carpet ride.

The greatest songs of this show were hits well before the times of our young Idol contestants. I really enjoyed that showstopper medley, capped by the reunion of the great songwriter/singer team of Burt Bacharach and Dionne Warwick. Watching these talented kids with former Idol contestants was a real treat.

Where are the songwriters of today? I guess songwriting is a dying art in this day and age. I have not heard a new song I’ve wanted to spend money on in too many years.

One thing for sure these kids have gotten a giant, kick-starts for their careers. They will be entertaining us for years. For the well-paid producers, writers, judges and host of American Idol congratulations you’ve won my admiration and viewer ship.

When your daughter has a hot date in your car video Guess who?

Throwing Eggs At My Car Is A Bad Idea Video

Back Seat Childbirth Made Easy!

Help for Road Rage Incidents Video

Unusual Traffic Stop Video

The Correct Way To Deal With Auto Thieves Video

So simple a monkey can do it!

Extorting Money From Music Legend Phil Spector For Sport…

Legendary rock music producer Phil Spector is rich and especially vulnerable. Spector is waiting for his day in court so he can prove he did not murder his evening date, Lana Clarkson. She died from a single gunshot wound to her face.

If you want to extort money from Spector these days you’ll just have to stand in an ever growing line.

Spector got crosswise with his first lawyer, Robert Shapiro and dumped him. Shapiro took a $1 million dollar retainer he didn’t fully earn and decided to simply keep the cash. Spector sued Shapiro for return of the unearned money. Shapiro couldn’t wait and miss a chance to take Spector’s deposition. As a result a large portion of which has since been made public. Along the way it opened confidential attorney/client defense information to the prosecutor to use against Spector. Was that fair? I don’t think so. Was it a sleazy, reprehensible act by Shapiro? I think Shapiro’s tactics speak volumes for themselves.

Next came Spector’s personal assistant, Michelle Blaine. Blaine somehow got $700,000.00 from Spector. Spector claims she embezzled money when she knew she’d be called as a witness against Spector at his murder trial. If you’re going to steal money from your boss it’s best to do so when you think you have him by his nuts.

Blaine sued Spector demanding $5.25 million for claims of sexual harassment. Needless to say Blaine can be counted on to trash Spector’s reputation when she’s called as a prosecution witness. Blaine smells every bit as bad as Shapiro.

The judge has ruled that ancient claims of Spector’s misbehavior from 1975 and 1972 can be used to poison the jury against him at his trial. Spector should be thankful he’s not 900 years old. There is apparently no time limit barring the introduction of past gossip and hatred by old paramours or jealous bystanders. If he were old enough, Spector’s jury would certainly hear that he's somehow responsible for the beheading of Marie Antoinette and perhaps helping King Henry VIII kill some of his wives.

Normally a conviction occurring from a jury being tainted by this kind of garbage would take a decade to grind through the appeal system. Does Spector have enough time on this earth to outlive his appeals?

Should Spector be convicted you can count on seeing the dead woman’s family looting Spector’s estate like pirates.

Hitler Did New York?

How many Americans know that Adolph Hitler got quite a reception when he visited New York? You have to see this video to believe it!

Cell Phone Gun Hysteria…

Here we go again. This rare little .22 caliber gun disguised as a cell phone is in every pocket. It’s going to kill us all! No, you can’t buy it in a gun store or have it mailed to you from some Internet source. The media and some police agencies are creating more panic.

It’s cumbersome to shoot, noisy and ineffective. A far better weapon would be a decent folding pocketknife.

You can count on getting the intrigue prone mental midgets that search Americans entering airplanes and public buildings to tell us how hard they’re working to protect us from this awful gizmo. Sooner or later we’ll all see this gun used in some goofy Hollywood movie.

This gun has been around in Europe for at least a decade and has yet to be used in a crime. Trust me, criminals would rather have a real weapon.

Venice California Ralphs Cleans Up!

Progress! The Ralphs located at 910 Lincoln Blvd in Venice California has taken the first step to remedy my earlier reports about their filthy shopping carts. Though this Ralphs store is still a long way from being one of their cleaner stores as today I watched 100 or so clean, refurbished shopping carts being delivered.

It remains to be seen just what steps will be taken to keep them sanitary. But this is a vast improvement, at least for now. As I said I will report on any other improvements or relapses.

Clarabell Has Died…

A performer who delighted every American baby boomer, Lew Anderson by playing Clarabell the clown has passed away.

The Howdy Doody Show with Buffalo Bob Smith along with some other great characters charmed children through the new medium of television. For people my age, Clarabell was the first clown we ever saw and loved.

Clarabell used his bottle of seltzer to hose down his fellow actors for our amusement. His speech was only through pantomime and via a small bicycle horn on his waist. Clarabell communicated volumes of information that was understood by all.

Clarabell only spoke once and that was with a tear in his eye saying, “Goodbye kids” when the show was finally yanked off TV in 1960 after 1000 episodes.

Anderson was already an established jazz performer, and bandleader when he took on the role of Clarabell.

Anderson has died at age 84 from prostrate cancer complications in a Hawthorne, NY hospice.

Bob Keeshan, who went on to become Captain Kangaroo and Bobby Nicholson also played Clarabell in earlier episodes.

Buffalo Bob Smith passed away in 1998. Anderson is survived by his son, Chris, his wife, Peggy of South Salem, N.Y.; another son, Lewis Jr.; a stepdaughter, Lorie George; and five grandchildren.

Jimmy Hoffa Is Still Missing

Yes, I met Jimmy Hoffa back in 1967. He had just been unloaded with other federal prisoners in the Dirkson Federal Building in Chicago from a dark brown, US Marshal’s prisoner wagon. Hoffa was wearing those unique, antique handcuffs the US Marshals used back then. Hoffa was soon handed a cup of black coffee and a baloney sandwich after they took the cuffs off. Despite his troubles Hoffa was polite and jovial.

Hoffa soon went away to Club Fed. In 1971, President Nixon commuted his prison term.

Four years after Hoffa was released from the can, he vanished from a suburban Detroit restaurant in July of 1975. Conspiracy theories as to who was behind the disappearance were just starting to fade away but for another “lead” that have taken the FBI to a Milford Township property just Northwest of Detroit.

Unlike Elvis sightings, that have plagued Las Vegas, nobody has claimed to meet Hoffa.

Here’s the latest: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1984310

There’s A Public Safety Crisis In Chicago.

The Chicago Police Department’s in-service firearm training is no small scandal. The department used to mandate officer’s firearm qualification quarterly. Today the officers fire a paltry 30 rounds only once a year.

The danger to both the public and the officers over this policy is substantial. Add to this that the officers are required to begin their careers with an underpowered 9MM service round.

Is it any wonder that in one high profile shooting officers struck someone with 25 rounds and he’s still around to talk about it?

The sad fact is that Mayor Daley’s gun hatred has actually given criminals greater firepower than the police. When they had that infamous Bank of America shootout in North Hollywood California a few years ago the LAPD officers were complaining they had to borrow higher-powered weapons from local gun stores. Try that in Chicago where there are no gun stores! In a similar crisis in Chicago the HBT response would be much too little and too late.

I don’t know where the FOP stands on this matter but this is a serious officer safety issue that needs union attention.

Providing inadequate training always opens police agencies to huge litigation payouts. I refuse to accept the idea that the lives of the officers and citizens of Chicago are not worth better training and selection of firearms.

Every recruit should be able to begin their careers with their choice of a .45 or .40 caliber service pistol. In service training should be quarterly with no less than 150 round being fired.

It seems smarter to pay for the training than for lawsuits and disability payments for wounded officers. The weapons upgrading will have no additional cost since the officers must purchase their own approved weapons.

Perhaps some publicity about this scandal needs to be seen by the personal injury lawyers that like to sue the City of Chicago. Personally, I rather see the officers and public better protected.

Prosecutor Mike Nifong’s Waterloo?

Mike Nifong reduced a bombshell rape allegation to a political re-election campaign cornerstone. When Nifong announced the Duke lacrosse-rape allegations, he would not shut-up. Nifong showcased this beast while waiving a race card to get national attention for his campaign. The problem was he’d not yet investigated the case.

The accuser is a private dancer/whore with a history of making phony allegations and mental illness. Her race is not an issue but her lack of credibility and supportive physical are huge concerns. Her past has caught up with her with the help of Nifong himself. Her story has changed dramatically during the course of the preliminary police investigation.

Had Nifong investigated the case a little, he may not have presented it to the Grand Jury because he’d have discovered its huge holes. The dancer/whore is an obviously troubled woman who deserved to be told that there was insufficient evidence to proceed. This all could have happened without 70 racially charged press conferences given by Nifong. Unless some real evidence surfaced, nobody’s reputation would have gotten smeared.

Some Nifong defenders are saying he must have some secret evidence that would support the prosecution. After more than 30 years in criminal justice I have never met a prosecutor that did not waive his damning evidence from the highest tower in the land for all to see. If Nifong had a smoking gun he’d have shared it with the world.

All prosecutors want the defense to believe that conviction is unavoidable to coerce the defendants into plea agreements.

Mike Nifong will be remembered for this case just like that New Orleans, nut case, Prosecutor Jim Garrison who prosecuted that hopelessly flawed conspiracy case to kill President John F. Kennedy.

Who Are The Victims Of Illegal Immigration?

Yes, there are victims of this invasion of third world poverty crossing our Southern border. They are our own underemployed and poor Americans of every color. The illegal immigrants who steal their jobs because they are willing to work for slave wages make our own poor suffer even more. The labor unions have lost most of their strength, as the millions of illegal aliens became a huge source of scab labor.

The colossal impact of providing free medical care for the third world’s unwashed has made medical care for too many Americans unobtainable. The task of trying to teach millions of children in our schools who don’t speak English is crippling our already overburdened schools. This invasion is as damaging to America as any war with bombs and guns.

It’s amazing to watch the radical Left Wing and the anti-labor Conservatives join forces to invite millions more invaders with the promise of legal work and amnesty for their past crimes. Supporters of the amnesty program are strange bedfellows indeed!

It’s time to force our politicians to do their job and protect our way of life. This is not about race or culture but about simple economics.

Suicide By Cop Syndrome

Today’s story came from a friend. He sent me a news article from Maryland that I won’t post here because we’ve heard this story too many times before. Some kid had a serious mental crisis (too often fueled by illegal street drugs). He felt suicidal and instead of finding a tall building and doing a swan dive he got a weapon and taunted the cops to kill him.

Cops have seen every kind of possible human stress and are masters at dealing and negotiating with distraught people. Cops always want these kinds of cases to end peacefully because if it does not the violent results are sure to bring tragedy and lots of litigation. The real truth is cops are very understanding and want nothing more but to help these troubled people get whatever help they need to go on with productive lives.

Cops must weigh their own safety when dealing with armed and suicidal subjects. For some unknown reason there is a popular misconception that a knife or cutting instrument are somehow not deadly like a gun. That’s just not so. If anything the reverse is true. See my earlier reports and video on knives vs. guns.

Inventors are very busy trying to invent the perfect non-lethal device that would always bring these confrontations to a happy ending. Stun guns require that an officer get way too close to a knife-wielding attacker. Beanbags and use of shotguns to fire them have all kinds of public safety drawbacks. Perhaps someday some inventor will get really rich solving this problem.

As for today’s dead “teenager” he’s 18 years old and charged cops with a 9-inch pair of scissors. We can expect to see his eighth grade graduation photos get released to the press. The cops will be criticized for not shooting the scissors out of his hand. Mom and dad will cry and whine in lots of public displays while building their civil case against the cops so they may get rich off their troubled and now dead son. There’s got to be a better way.

Is It Time To Reinstate The Draft?

Our military is spread too thin to cope with yet another theatre of combat. We have an all-volunteer Army. That sounds good but history has taught us that draftees make the best soldiers. My own experience as a draftee during the Viet Nam War showed the draftees with a higher educational level and intelligence testing scores. On the average they were older, more mature and far less likely to end up in the stockade.

Having a strong military is a deterrent to aggression for countries like Iran and North Korea. Imaging the fix we’d be in if both of these countries took advantage of our adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan and began aggression. America would be caught with its pants down.

The draft is always healthy for America because loads of eligible candidates arrange to be full time students to avoid the draft and returning veterans use the GI Bill to educating themselves all to meet the demands of our employers.

At the time in 1968 I hated getting drafted but in retrospect would not trade that experience away. My service time was rewarding. Being a medical corpsman in Germany gave me some of the best enjoyment of my life. I earned no medals other than the one they gave me for simply showing up. I saw no combat but I am as proud of that service as anyone could possibly be. I never felt a need to embellish my military career.

The draft is good for our economy, most young soldiers and the national defense.

My All Time Favorite Music Video

This made me a Meat Loaf fan.

ANYTHING FOR LOVE (Meat Loaf)

Video Code provided by VideoCodeZone.Com

TV Newscasters In Crisis Video

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