Julian Assange Exists because of Government’s Lies and Damn Lies

London, UK—This sad saga began when a non-mainstream journalist, Julian Assange obtained a huge amount of undeniable government records and simply published them.  They pertain to the conduct of governments we expect to he honorable, forthright and free. 

Primarily the UK and the U.S. lied to their citizens and the world about the issues that led to two wars and thousands of American lives.  We all know that it’s our politicians that send our children off to fight their adventures.  Politicians must rely on public support and to gain that support time and time again through history they use lies and propaganda to achieve their means.  

Politicians are serial liars by their very nature.  We all have the liars we prefer but we never demand they tell the truth. 

A nation like Switzerland need not fear disclosure of their efforts because that nation is not ever involved with policing the world with their ideals. 

Unfortunately the United States is run by a bunch of politicians that always gain personal profit for their misconduct.  War is always profitable for our politicians even when they can’t win. 

The role of a journalist is not to protect governments, but to tell the world just what their governments are doing.  Famed writer, George Orwell that I quoted above also said, “"Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed; everything else is public relations."

Julian Assange has taken great personal risk to do his job.  He’s embarrassed politicians worldwide and now they want to make him pay simply because he did his job.  There is an incredibly huge paradox, the nations screaming the loudest are the ones that claim they have freedom of the press.

I feel uncomfortable joining the ranks of Michael Moore, Danny Glover and assorted Left Wing radicals that have come out in support to Julian Assange.  I dare to say that the founding fathers of this great nation would have supported him too.

We must demand truthfulness, transparency and accountability of our government no matter what political animal or party is in charge.

It’s a total farce that the UK has placed a ring of 40 cops around the Ecuadorean embassy 24/7 to nab Assange if he tries to leave.  Ecuador has done the right thing here and I salute them in the name of freedom.  

California’s Socialist Politicians have all but Destroyed Their Filmmakers

Los Angeles, CA—There are very few TV series and movies being made in California or in greater Los Angeles.   Perhaps they have finally murdered their Golden Goose through excessive taxation.  That’s a strange paradox since liberal Hollywood film industry movers send avalanches of cash to the politicians that demand the most taxes.

They call it Runaway Production when production companies escape heavy taxes and permit fees.  Canada has offered every kind of tax break and incentive to lure filmmakers for decades.

I was absolutely shocked to lean last year that Germany will grant filmmakers nearly $9 million bucks to make at least 25% of a film there!  It is apparently cost effective because movies and TV series provide jobs for productive German taxpayers.

California politicians must schmooze their film industry or lose it.  There are many places in America and foreign nations that welcome the movie industry with tax breaks, perks and major cooperation.  For California's politicians it may already be too late. 

Chicago nickel and dimes filmmakers to death as they over-regulate them.  However any politically Conservative states like Arizona are right to work states and that creates problems for the many unions that represent workers such as the Screen Actors Guild. 

It’s pathetic when production companies find it’s cheaper and easier to pay massive transportation costs to move their talent, writers, and producers sometimes thousands of miles away to save money. 

As a writer, producer and actor I’m personally smitten with the idea of spending months in Europe working on films.  For me that’s already happened twice in recent years. 

The German government paid half of the entire budget for my all time favorite film, Paul Verhoeven’s, Black Book!  I guess some in government have learned filmmakers are great for local economies.

The great German film director, Werner Herzog tell aspiring filmmakers to forge rather than pay local government film permits.  I think he’s on to something!

There are big changes in store for filmmakers.  The equipment is better than ever and far less expensive to make films.  Movie theaters are about to become extinct as the average family now has their own big screen home theaters. 

Chicago’s Failed Gun Politics Just cost Taxpayers Well over $1 Million bucks!

BREAKING NEWS

Chicago, IL—As feeble-minded politicians responded to the U.S. Supreme Court,  McDonald vs City of Chicago ruling striking down gun bans by enacting a new one the taxpayers got raped yet again!

The NRA quickly filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of their members against the City of Chicago and Village of Oak Park.  After very expensive litigation the court ruled that the local government politicians were again violating the gun rights of law-abiding citizens.  The loser has to pay the legal fees of the winner. That amounted to $1,326,588.00. 

That’s only half the damage because the taxpayers were forced to pay for the legal fees incurred by the politicians.  The City claims they can't pay for cops to patrol the streets but that have lots of your money to waste violating your rights.

Today Federal Judge Milton I Shadur ordered Chicago and Oak Park to pay up!

Minute Order Resolving Fees NRA

RE: Drew Peterson, "He’s going to Kill Me, I just know it!"

Drew Peterso   Photo by Paul Huebl

Joliet, IL—The murder trial of Drew Peterson is not about physical evidence but a relationship gone bad, through the subjective mouths of people that hate the accused.

Was Kathleen Savio a victim of an accident or murder?  That is the first question that needs to be answered and we can only take a wild guess as to the answer.  We really don’t know because nobody saw what happened and there is no reliable way to reconstruct whatever happened in that bathtub.  Grandstanding experts are not clairvoyant and neither is prosecutor James Glasgow.

If we want to insist it was in fact a murder than we have to determine who was responsible.  There are really two potential suspects we know about.  Drew Peterson who conveniently was in a divorce/property contest with Savio seems logical.  What about Savio’s new boy toy?   We know Savio and her new lover had an argument at the time of her death. We also know she did not want to let him sleep over that fateful night. 

As much as anyone that hates Drew Peterson must admit is that the cause of death is pure speculation.  If indeed it was a murder speculation comes into play once again.  This is compounded by the undisputed fact that Peterson did not have the key to the house involved in this inquiry.

As for the morbid statements of fear, despair and horror some people attribute to Savio I’ve heard them well over a thousand times.   You see as a private investigator I served perhaps three or four thousand court Orders of Protection.  I’ve heard the petitioners first hand making allegations of every kind.

Most are not old enough to remember what it was like for divorce litigants before the “no fault” days of matrimonial law.  Up until the 1970’s every divorce petition contained wild accusations of assault with deadly weapons.  These had to be verified under oath!   Without such a statement no divorce was granted.  Any divorce lawyer from that sad time can verify this.

To get an Order of Protection today the petitioner must swear under oath that they were threatened, assaulted or had their property damaged by their former spouse or live in companion.  The allegations fly like huge flocks or migratory birds escaping the cold.

Many allegations connected with the petitions are made only to curry favor with property, child custody and financial support issues.  Often the allegations were designed to insure that the petitioner obtains or maintains exclusive use of the residence involved.   The sad truth is a substantial percentage of these petitions are based on simple perjury. 

Revenge by jilted spouses and lovers is also a serious factor in those kinds of legal proceedings.  Again the accusations fly.

Many divorce litigants want to involve their close friends and relatives as witnesses to reinforce their tales or woe in court.  They dramatize everything that can to that end.

I don’t want to suggest that the petitioners are always lying.  Over the years I have had one client murdered by her husband and another shot while working in a Scottsdale dental office as an assistant.  Many times there are valid claims made.  

That statistic comes out to two in several thousand cases.  Allegations made during divorce cases are just not very compelling or credible.  I’m glad to report that thousands of women who personally told me they would be killed are still alive today. 

I don’t want to not suggest that spouses don’t make threats of violence because they do.  The good news here is that only a tiny percentage of these threats ever amount to more than hurtful words.

The hearsay testimony being offered the Drew Peterson case has no real value to determine what may have happened to Kathleen Savio.   Remember Savio has never been placed under oath before her alleged statements were made.  Unfortunately taking an oath does little to prevent people from telling tales.

The guilt or innocence of Drew Peterson should be based on reliable physical evidence or eyewitness testimony.  In the State of Illinois vs. Drew Peterson there is neither.   

Why Carice Van Houten Should be Your Favorite Actress

Carice Van Houten

Amsterdam, NL—One evening nearly three years ago I discovered Carice Van Houten.  I was looking for something to watch on cable TV and flipping my remote control.  The Encore Channel was just beginning what became my favorite film of all times, Black Book.

I watched this film that involves three languages, Dutch, German and English with English subtitles. I speak German but unfortunately no Dutch.   The film recounted actual historical events in Nazi occupied Holland during the war. 

The Dutch Underground forces fought the Nazi’s courageously through sabotage and their protection of Jews from forced deportation, to what we now know were extermination camps.

Carice Van Houten played a Jewish cabaret singer, Rachael Stein who was hiding from the Nazis.  She has an austere life with a Dutch family that tried to convert her to their Christian faith.  She was waiting out the war that was turning against Hitler’s forces. 

Stein finds herself homeless and vulnerable and as luck would have it actively working within the Dutch Underground.  The film is a thriller in every aspect. The cast and crew are as good as it gets and the writing and direction by Paul Verhoeven, (Basic Instinct, Robo-Cop and Showgirls) truly made a film masterpiece.

The period costumes, vehicles and props all were amazing.  The terrific Black Book musical soundtrack is on my IPhone, IPad and MacBook.   

The bulk of this film was made at Filmstudio Babelsberg near Berlin because a generous German government film grant made for nearly half of the project’s budget.

Van Houten displayed incredible talent and range of abilities in Black Book.  In the film she swims, sings, dances, speaks three languages and plays every possible emotion.  Van Houten’s character was that of an unlikely but magnificent hero.  Don’t dare let me forget to mention, Van Houten may be the sexiest woman ever to grace the silver screen!

As an actress Van Houten is truly fearless in that she does whatever it takes to thrill her audience and make her character credible.   

Van Houten played Nina Von Stauffenberg in Valkyrie with Tom Cruise in her American film debut.  That part was too small for anyone to notice Van Houten’s significant talent and charms. 

Van Houten’s Los Angeles agent is the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and they have apparently been sleeping rather than utilizing the gifts of this superstar.  We have to wake them up so they can begin to appreciate their hidden box office moneymaker.

Van Houten has a minimal but delightful accent that might be preventing Hollywood from embracing her.  Have they forgotten two legendary actresses with much more pronounced accents like Greta Garbo or Marlene Dietrich?

Van Houten can be seen today in a small but meaty role in HBO’s Game of Thrones series filmed in the UK.  She has been in films far beneath her abilities like Repo Men and Intruders.

The time to bring Van Houten into American theaters with a strong role is long overdue.   Van Houten is exactly what the Best Actress prize of the Academy Awards is all about.  I’d love nothing more than to see another Verhoeven film made for an American audience with this gifted leading lady.

By all means order your copy of Black Book on Blu-Ray from Amazon.com, you'll be glad you did!

Watch the trailer below!

If I Could Only Redesign and Rebuild CNN

Atlanta, GA—CNN joined Cable TV with a bang, but today it whines and whimpers.   Today CNN is on a death march to Hell because they have traded news reporting for public relations for the Democratic Party and the Obama Administration.

We must face the fact that every broadcaster wants to turn their news organization into a bully pulpit with a political agenda.  No matter how subtle they try to make it, the agenda glares right through, sending half of the audience scrambling to their remote controls.  The way to keep 100% of the audience is by avoiding politicization of the news.

CNN is personality driven chatter disguised as news.  To survive, CNN needs to simply try raw news for a change.   Real news reporting requires being first on the scene of every breaking story broadcasting video with interviews of newsmakers. 

I’d ditch the personalities and replace them with a team of sharp assignment desk jockeys that can introduce each story they’re working on to the viewers.  No opinions, no chitchat, just field reporting with video of news and newsmakers interviews.  Field reporting beats mindless anchor babble anytime.  

CNN needs to recruit a force of trustworthy and capable freelance reporters around the world that have sufficient camera and editing skills they can assign to gather the news and quickly report it.   Today everything needed to report live news is inexpensive and can easily fit into the smallest of cars or even motorcycles. 

The video journalist or what’s been called a one-man band is the model.  Many freelancers can grab a friend or family member to help with lights and such. 

The freelance reporters should be able to call in and pitch their own assignments to the assignment desk.  When the assignment desk learns of breaking news he or she needs to get a team or at least someone competent out to handle the story.  

Overpriced but pretty newsreaders sitting sometimes more than a 1000 miles away hearing the material most often third hand are the least qualified to comment on breaking news.

The importance is to get the information out quickly rather than have a pretty face redundantly tell us how sad, shocking, funny or troubling the story is that’s being reported. 

Of course there are stories we call packages that don’t have the urgency of live news.  They can be assigned and brought in to fill between breaking stories.

There are loads of unemployed or underemployed journalists all over the globe because of all the layoffs. Giving them let’s say $2000.00 per story would insure they would want to cover the news.  They also need to keep their cameras and equipment up to reasonable state of the art standards. 

The live shots should consist of assignment desk jockeys asking questions to their reporters in the field. This may not seem pretty to some news director types but the grittiness of breaking news all the time would bring excitement and something worth watching to the viewers.

With respect to what we call special projects they can still be done but without the celebrity anchor royalty weighing down the stories.  Political gabfests can still happen when real news slows down such as on the weekends.  

Nasty weather always leads in importance and sometimes sports.  These are best left alone except that more live reports from storm chasers are needed. 

The assignment desk areas and reporters cubicles should replace the ridicules news sets and anchor thrones.   Perhaps the time has come for opening the editorial meetings to cameras.  The public would love to see what drives the news gathering efforts. 

Can anyone even imagine transparency of a news operation?  Aside from protecting news sources there should be no secrets.  Remember its journalists that always complain about the lack of transparency, lets put the shoe on the other foot for a change.

As for reporting high profile court trials they should be packaged and reported on four times per day with the exception of verdicts and important breaking news related to each trial.  All those trial pundits truly suck and need to be banished from the earth. 

The new approach to news is to take many more interesting local breaking news stories and making them national.  A supermarket shooting, a horrible highway accident, police chase, a nasty fire or the arrest of some con artist fleecing the elderly is always more interesting than watching mindless anchor babble.

Drew Peterson’s Prosecutors Claim Their Cops are Incompetent, but were they really?

Drew Peterson   Photo by Paul Huebl

Joliet, IL—Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow has painted himself in a legal corner.  He’s trapped in a no win case where his theory is the cops investigating the case were incompetent.  Glasgow is now trying to sell a jury his theory that some more of his cops say the first crew mistook a murder for an accident.   The physical evidence has not changed.  There is still no significant evidence that indicates Kathleen Savio was even murdered or who may have killed her. 

We all know that bathtubs are deadly because healthy people do slip and fall in them.  I think we’ve all had a close call or two.  The problem here is Savio had a head wound and those all bleed profusely.  There was no blood shed outside of the tub.  There were no signs of a struggle.  The wound could have been easily been caused by contact while falling with any hard surface.  

We have an angry and now dead woman Glasgow labeled as a victim who was fighting over marital assets in her divorce.   Savio hired a locksmith to change the locks on that home she had exclusive control over.   That made it nearly impossible for Drew Peterson to slip in and do any harm to Savio.  

We also have a group of relatives of Savio that have sued Peterson in hope of gaining control over his property and other assets.  They have made themselves witnesses to alleged hearsay statements.  If they can frame Peterson and get him convicted, they win the gold!

Then there is Fox News, Geraldo Rivera and a well paid, grandstanding forensic pathologist, Michael Badden.  Years later, Badden performs a third autopsy on Savio's decayed remains and now guesses her death to be a murder.   There are numerous holes in Badden’s finding but he got tons of free publicity.

The exact cause and manner of Savio’s death is at best still undetermined.  It does look like an accident in every respect. 

What we don’t have is a single shred of physical evidence, a witness to the event under review or a confession from the suspect.

We have an audience of true crime story harpies that scream that Peterson’s 30 years in law enforcement made him an expert at getting away with murder.  These folks need to get a life. 

Peterson had a habit of dumping wives once they got, fat, old or crabby.  He replaced the old ones with very young women.  Some say he looked for his new wives at local high school proms. That behavior is offensive to a large segment of the population and Peterson may well deserve scorn for that failing.

Prosecutors routinely put their strongest witnesses on first and then hope their secondary witnesses can fill whatever gaps are left.  We’ve had five days of the state’s case and we’re still patiently waiting for anything at all compelling. 

The state has made two deliberate attempts to cause a Mistrial because it’s obvious that they know they can’t make even a weak showing.   They want to blame their failure on the judge rather than to accept responsibility.

We are still in America where we have fought war after war to preserve our Bill of Rights.  We cannot let Glasgow and an army of true crime harpies frame anyone for murder.   Peterson has been locked up without a trial for nearly four years.  It’s time to let him go since there is no real evidence.   

If we can destroy Drew Peterson with a bogus prosecution than any one of us can be next.     

Milwaukee and National Media Failed on their Reporting of the Sikh Temple Shooting.

Milwaukee, WI—I guess the reporters in this town were all off enjoying their Sunday at Home.  A mass shooting at a Sikh Temple is apparently not worthy of any meaningful attempt at reporting.  Other than a few video and photojournalists that captured some material the media had nothing.  The reporting was limited interviews of a few on scene Sikh worshipers with more questions of their own than answers. 

This important news story was totally produced and reported by police spokesmen!  There were simply weak rewrites of what officials reported rather than anything resembling enterprising efforts to explain this important story. 

The media failed to notice the suspect’s vehicle that’s surely been towed by police.  That would have been an important thing to do. Getting the owner’s name and examining various court record and government databases was an overlooked must. 

The police quickly raided a residence in nearby Cudahy and the media could have gotten names of residents to investigate.  They could have found plenty of people to help them build a profile of the dead suspect. 

Local law enforcement quickly labeled the incident as “Domestic Terrorism” but weren’t pressed for any information or details that would justify that moniker. 

The American media has forgotten how to do their jobs.  I guess we must wait for the obligatory ABC News, Brian Ross report to tell us that the Tea Party was behind the killings.

Have journalists been muzzled by government and intimidated into not reporting news?   This is a sad reflection of the death of journalism in America.

Indian Sikhs Murdered by American Ignorance, Misplaced Hate and Bad Laws.

Oak Creek,WI—I’m beyond sickened to hear about the carnage at the Sikh temple in this Milwaukee suburb.  Let me dare to presume the motive and cause behind this senseless tragedy.

I’m convinced that the killer was deranged and mistakenly assumed his targets were somehow radical Muslims bent on the destruction of Americans.   I’m sure he believed that the Whitehouse and many of our politicians have abandoned their duty to protect Americans from the very real radical Muslim threat.  The killer simply decided to murder his perceived demons. 

Sikhism is a somewhat new religion barely more than 500 years old.   It began in the Punjob region, as a bold movement by Indian Hindus that dared to separate from and renounced that religion. 

Sikhs believe in a supreme creator and have teachers called gurus that are life mentors.  Sikhs live by the Christian style, Golden Rule in every aspect of their life.   They are a kind and gentle lot that are incredibly generous to everyone they meet.  Unlike Muslims, Sikhs accept and embrace all other religions and people.

You also need to know that radical Muslims have committed Genocide and every conceivable atrocity against them and have persecuted Sikhs throughout their existence. 

Sikh men are not supposed to shave or cut their hair and are required to wear an identifiable turban along with a dagger called a kirpan.   The kirpan came as a result of a religious commandment given by Guru Gobind Singh. 

It was Guru Granth Sahib who taught that a Sikh must also have the courage to defend the rights of all who are wrongfully oppressed or persecuted irrespective of their color, caste or creed.

Sikhs have managed to distinguish themselves on the right side of every major world war or conflict.  I served with a fine Sikh Medical Corpsman in the U.S. Army in Germany who was drafted just like me.  Yes, he wore his beard an kirpan with the uniform!

Unfortunately Sikhs in America have all but abandoned their kirpans capitulating to our un-Constitutional laws banning the bearing of arms.  They rely on police for protection and sadly have relinquished much of their religious duty to defend themselves and others.  Too many Sikhs living here listen to our misguided politicians instead of their gurus in that regard. 

Let me be the first to encourage Sikhs living in America to again relearn the teachings of Gurus Gobind Singh and Granth Sahib.  These gurus were and are correct in their teachings.  The Sikhs that have chosen to live in America have the absolute right to keep and bear arms under our Constitution.  They still have all of their their religious and moral duty.

Let me tell you about the first known post 9/11 senseless murder of a Sikh in America.

In Mesa Arizona there was a fine Sikh family that settled here to persue the American dream.  It was the Singh Sodhi family.  Balbir Singh Sodhi owned a gas station and mini-mart and employed Both Americans and Mexican Americans.  Balbir wore his turban as he proudly and honorably served the people in his neighborhood.

Balbir was as horrified and indeed saddened as any American by the attacks by radical Muslims on September 11, 2001.  It was just a few days latter when a deranged lunatic, Frank Roque gunned down Balbir as he was working. 

Roque somehow believed he was heroic and wonderful for murdering what he thought was one of the Arab terrorists.  Roque was arrested tried and sentenced to death.  Later, the Arizona Supreme Court reduced that sentence to life without parole.  Balbir Singh Sodhi was yet another victim of the 9/11 attack

It was Balbir’s brother, Rena Singh Sodhi that told me about this crime through his tears just days later.  I met Rena as he was purchasing supplies for his restaurant at a Phoenix Costco store. 

Let me say I’m very close to a Sikh Family and have been for more than 40 years.  I have met many of their friends and have attended weddings and many other family functions with them.   I’m routinely their guest at the family estate in India and have toured the nation with them.  India is a safe and beautiful country where I’m always treated like visiting royalty. 

I have learned one thing about the Sikhs.  They may seem shy but if you need help anywhere in the world I will guarantee you that Sikh with the turban will do whatever he can to help and or protect you.  

I want to inform my blog visitors that they have a duty to protect Sikhs too.  As for my readers that are firearm trainers and such to please reach out to any Sikhs and take them to your local gun ranges.  You will be glad that you did.   

Killer, Jared Lee Loughner’s Plea Deal Spares his Death and Taxpayers Millions

Jared Lee Loughner

Tucson, AZ—It was on a warm January day in the “Old Pueblo” when Blue Dog, Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was gravely wounded and five others including a child were killed during a public, meet and greet event. 

A young and very troubled mental patient, Jared Lee Loughner was allowed to roam around in public by his not so watchful keepers.   That lapse was very deadly. 

Insanity as a defense in criminal law is very real.  The courts and juries rarely excuse the insane for criminal acts but in very rare cases.  Of course we will never know or understand what real demons drive people like Loughner to do the unspeakable. I can’t help but believe that Loughner was robbed of whatever ability he had to control his despicable actions. 

Loughner was and is a long term threat to his fellow beings and must be segregated from society.  Is it right to kill a deranged lunatic just because he’s dangerous assuming he’s safely behind bars?  I say no way!

Loughner is set to plead guilty and waive all appeals in exchange for a life sentence in federal prison.  I don’t think it’s realistic to think he will ever see freedom until perhaps he’s a helpless old man in need of full time nursing care.  Feeding, housing, supervising and providing medical care for Loughner’s next 50 years will be expensive. 

However the protracted cost of court battles and appeals in this case would be massive.  It could prove the costliest death penalty case in American history.  Many people seem to forget that the taxpayers are responsible for both the prosecution cost as as well s for the defense.

The plea agreement will serve justice, public safety and the taxpayers. 

As for Loughner, I don’t think anyone expects to see him to ever experience a normal life because of whatever medical curse he was afflicted with. 

Killing Loughner will never undo the horrific carnage of that warm January day in one of America’s more livable cities.  The plea agreement is a good idea. 

Drew Peterson’s late Wife, Kathleen Savio Was Taking The Drug, Zoloft

Kathleen Savio Death Scene

Joliet, IL—Retired Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson is on trial for his life.  He was in the middle of a protracted and difficult divorce from Kathleen Savio.   Their marriage was problematic perhaps because of Savio’s mental illness and state of emotional turmoil.

We have to first get past the difficult hurdle of proving Savio’s death was not just a tragic accident that happened while she was locked in the safety of her own home.   Savio changed the locks specifically to keep Drew Peterson out. 

Savio was prescribed the controversial drug, Zoloft to help her function under the circumstances.  The drug is commonly used to treat Bi-Polar disorder and other mental disorders. 

The prosecution wants to use hearsay evidence of what others are now claiming Savio said.  Since Savio was an emotional mess and was going through a stressful divorce it’s only common sense that she said some outlandish things.  When you add her mental condition and the effects of Zoloft everything seems to suggest whatever she may have said was far too unreliable to accept as truth. 

When you add that the people providing the alleged hearsay will benefit financially if Peterson is convicted it makes the hearsay incredibly unreliable. 

Hearsay does not belong in American courtrooms.  This attempt to bring the emotional outbursts of a sick woman taking Zoloft as evidence is something out of the Salem Witch Trials in a sad chapter of American history.

Read the standard warning that comes with Zoloft:

A small number of children, teenagers, and young adults (up to 24 years of age) who took antidepressants ('mood elevators') such as sertraline during clinical studies became suicidal (thinking about harming or killing oneself or planning or trying to do so). Children, teenagers, and young adults who take antidepressants to treat depression or other mental illnesses may be more likely to become suicidal than children, teenagers, and young adults who do not take antidepressants to treat these conditions. However, experts are not sure about how great this risk is and how much it should be considered in deciding whether a child or teenager should take an antidepressant.

You should know that your mental health may change in unexpected ways when you take sertraline or other antidepressants even if you are an adult over 24 years of age. You may become suicidal, especially at the beginning of your treatment and any time that your dose is increased or decreased. You, your family, or your caregiver should call your doctor right away if you experience any of the following symptoms: new or worsening depression; thinking about harming or killing yourself, or planning or trying to do so; extreme worry; agitation; panic attacks; difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep; aggressive behavior; irritability; acting without thinking; severe restlessness; and frenzied abnormal excitement. Be sure that your family or caregiver knows which symptoms may be serious so they can call the doctor if you are unable to seek treatment on your own.

Your healthcare provider will want to see you often while you are taking sertraline, especially at the beginning of your treatment. Be sure to keep all appointments for office visits with your doctor.

The doctor or pharmacist will give you the manufacturer's patient information sheet (Medication Guide) when you begin treatment with sertraline. Read the information carefully and ask your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions. You also can obtain the Medication Guide from the FDA website: http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/InformationbyDrugClass/UCM096273.

No matter what your age, before you take an antidepressant, you, your parent, or your caregiver should talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of treating your condition with an antidepressant or with other treatments. You should also talk about the risks and benefits of not treating your condition. You should know that having depression or another mental illness greatly increases the risk that you will become suicidal. This risk is higher if you or anyone in your family has or has ever had bipolar disorder (mood that changes from depressed to abnormally excited) or mania (frenzied, abnormally excited mood) or has thought about or attempted suicide. Talk to your doctor about your condition, symptoms, and personal and family medical history. You and your doctor will decide what type of treatment is right for you.

Why the Drew Peterson Mistrial Motion Denial is a Win for the Defense

Drew Peterson       Photo by Paul Huebl

Joliet, IL—Judge Edward Burmila angrily chastised the prosecution for their “low blow” making it clear that their conduct was deliberate and designed to deny the retired Bolingbrook IL police sergeant a fair trial.  

The judge denied the defense request for a Mistrial and now double jeopardy is firmly attached if for no other reason on the judge’s comments to the jury alone.

Burmila tried to resolve the issue with an inappropriate compromise solution to strike the entire testimony of a witness.  The Peterson defense team turned that down simply because this was an all or noting proposition. 

Burmila apparently struck a portion of the testimony from the record but that action was a woefully inadequate remedy for this intentional prosecutorial misconduct.   

The Peterson trial is in such a shambles now, that no appeals court could ever affirm Judge Burmila’s denial of the mistrial.   I doubt that they’d ever allow for another trial under the circumstances. 

It’s so obvious to the legal community that the state instigated a mistrial because they are unable to proceed.  For Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow, it is the easiest and cheapest way to fold his cards and somehow save face. 

In two days there were two egregious violations by the prosecution that were unforgivable.   Will County prosecutors have forever tainted the jury. 

I know that prosecutors are dealing with witnesses that have blabbed numerous conflicting and ever more embellished versions of their stories to anyone who would listen.   It will take a bus to transport potential impeachment witnesses in to testify once the defense begins. The prosecution witnesses have enjoyed their attachment to this celebrity driven case to the chagrin of prosecutors that now must try and rehabilitate them. It will prove impossible.

Too many of the state’s witnesses are unreliable, drug dependent convicted criminals but it’s likely that this critical information will be withheld from the jury. 

Additionally several of the state’s witnesses will gain financially only if Peterson is convicted.  We all know how money corrupts.   Might some of the near-do-well, heavily tattooed and pierced relatives of Kathleen Savio  be on the road to perjure their way to wealth? 

Stay tuned because there are more fireworks to come!

   

Peterson Prosecution Misconduct is an Obvious Effort to Delay Trial

DREW PETERSON        Photo by Paul Huebl 

 Joliet, IL—Retired Bolingbrook police sergeant Drew Peterson has waited nearly four years to clear himself before a jury.   The outrageous delay was all on the part of prosecutors appealing court rulings that precluded evidence normally barred from American courtrooms.

Prosecutor James Glasgow has engaged in every stunt he could to save himself the embarrassment of watching his high-profile case evaporate ending his career.   

In just two days the prosecution has knowingly and intentionally exposed the jury to evidence precluded by the judges evidentiary rulings.  Both events prompted vigorous defense motions for a Mistrial. 

If a Mistrial is granted it would give Glasgow more time to somehow try and solve massive problems he has with his own witnesses that can’t keep their stories straight.  It would require a new jury panel be assembled and delay the proceeding another 60-90 days at a minimum.   In any event Glasgow can count on watching a slew of impeachment witnesses destroy the state’s strongest witnesses. 

The extraordinary delays have been a defense investigator’s dream.   Each and every witness has had time to blab to every friend and stranger they’ve encountered over the years.  It is the work of defense investigators to locate and interview the impeachment witnesses.  The fun part is the names of the impeachment witnesses need not be disclosed to the prosecution by the defense. 

It will be the friends, ex-friends and acquaintances that will recall the, rest of the story told by Glasgow’s witnesses.   I can’t wait to hear some of the braggadocio and hateful quotes attributed to these folks repeated in court for impeachment purposes.

Glasgow has enjoyed unparalleled negative pre-trial publicity to taint the case his way.  Every single piece of inadmissible evidence has and will continue to be published, broadcast and posted on the Internet.  No un-sequestered jury can be immune from the tidal wave of information that is well beyond sensational fiction. 

It will be impossible for natural curiosity to not overwhelm jurors into finding out what’s happing each time the judge kicks them out of the courtroom.  They will find out not only the information but, the outrageous embellishments added by the anti-Peterson media forces.

This weekend the Jury will be searching the Internet like prospectors looking for gold in absolute violations of the judge’s admonishments.

In any event the judge has the power to grant the Mistrial and even bar any further prosecution of Peterson on this murder charge.  Considering the continued conduct of the prosecution that would be a proper remedy.

Latest Update:  The Judge has not ruled on today's defense Motion for Mistrial with Prejudice.  The parties are ordered to return in the morning to resume arguments and present legal authorities.  The fireworks are sure to continue!

My take:
I don’t think prosecutors fear the judge having the raw courage to grant a Mistrial with Prejudice.  They really need to start over.  They need to find out whom their witnesses were blabbing to and what they were saying.  The also need to try and rehabilitate their witnesses so they don’t give yet another inconsistent version of their stories.   The prosecution in day two has landed in a quagmire of their own making.  I doubt seriously if they will make any kind of a graceful recovery. 

A mistrial is still likely because and the damage of what prosecutors allowed during testimony.  Tonight the media will be all over this and there’s no way to shield the jury.  

TSA Tyranny Has Cost More American Lives Than the 9/11 Attack!

Washington, DC—Make no mistake what American has unleashed upon itself is tyranny in its purest form.  Our reaction to the airplane hijacking of the 1970s and the massive property damage and lost lives of 9/11 has left our liberty and freedom in a shambles.

We once had a Fourth Amendment that guaranteed protection against unreasonable search and seizure.  They created a “voluntary” method of getting Americans to waive these rights.  They argue that you could choose not to travel or enter government buildings and avoid the indignity and privacy invasion.

Suggesting this waiver is somehow voluntary is beyond bogus.   Because of our absolute need for gainful employment many of us must fly or take trains.  We are forced to enter government buildings responding to tax audits, court subpoenas and other matters that the government demands.  There is no practical method to avoid the TSA except that shorter travel within our borders can be accomplished by driving. 

Now, here is the big rub.  We are learning that because of the TSA tyranny Americans have avoided spending billions on air travel and that has put nearly every airline in bankruptcy.   The hospitality and tourism business has suffered enormous losses significantly contributing to the general decline in our economy.

In addition to the huge cost to businesses, taxpayers have to support untold billions in TSA costs.   We pay big money to be insulted, abused and sexually groped by the creepiest people ever masquerading in law enforcement uniforms.  Our property is being stolen and our privacy is gets invaded daily by the TSA thugs.

Now the human lives being lost are finally coming to light.  Officials are now saying that there are about 500 additional highway deaths every year attributed to people avoiding air travel.  Of course for every death there are many more crippled for life in these TSA avoidance accidents.  We cannot ignore the massive property damage to the automobiles either.

At this rate we kill 3,000 Americans every six years.  That’s no different than having a 9/11 style attack twice per decade.

Had we simply trained and armed every pilot and taken steps to keep illegal aliens or people with passports from unfriendly nations off our planes we’d face very little in the way of threats to our air travel.  Instead we waged war on American travelers and made air and now train travel unnecessarily miserable.

We would be far better off to scrap the TSA entirely but for a force of armed air marshals.  American travelers are much more observant and absolutely every attempt to disrupt travel has been dealt with by fellow passengers without any TSA assistance.

We must stop the TSA from killing us.  It is abundantly clear now that the threat, death and destruction from the TSA exceed that of terrorism.

Why Gun Control Laws and Bans Always Fail

Washington, DC—I ‘m not sure what gun control zealots consume in their diets that motivates them to disregard their own duty to protect themselves and their families.  We call all thank our survival on the gift of fear and the instinct to survive.  I will never let any politician dictate that I submit to a criminal attack and neither should you!

I guess some people think that 911 and government is adequate at least for their needs.  We know that’s foolish because they cant stop deadly violence even in the most controlled setting of all, maximum security prisons.  Humans have proven to be the most dangerous animals on earth. 

Gun Registration:

This was thought to be a tool to give police a way to trace guns used in crimes to the owner/suspect.  They also thought that maybe police need to know if there is a gun behind the doors that they knock on answering calls for service.  The opponents of registration suggest that it’s a scheme to aid government in planned future confiscation efforts.

Criminals never leave their guns behind at the scene of crimes unless they are wounded or are killed there.   With the suspect dead or in custody the gun’s ownership has no value.  If the gun was stolen there will be a report on file and the owner can be notified and his property returned. 

Only law-abiding qualified owners can be required to register firearms.  If that does not sound fair or reasonable we need only to look at two US Supreme Court opinions that held that making felons and mental defectives register their guns violates their self-incrimination rights.  Registration requires they confess their crime of gun ownership. 

Any cop that fails to assume that there in not a dangerous felon with an gun behind every door they visit will not survive in our world.  Cops are trained treat every door as an equal hazard until proven otherwise.

The two most egregious factors of gun registration is the high cost to administer the programs that have zero value in crime reduction and the requirement that owners sacrifice basic privacy rights.

Owning a car and a gun are not similar.  Owning a car is not a constitutional right but a government granted privilege.  Owning a gun is constitutional protected activity.

Gun Bans:

These are by far the most ineffective laws.  Criminals by nature don’t give a rat’s ass about any laws.   In addition police cannot search criminals or their dwellings without probable cause and or warrants.  

Making quality firearms has never been easier or cheaper to do.  With today's computer aided CNC machines simple semi-automatic rifles like the AK-47 can be manufactured quickly with minimal skills.   Any CNC machine operator making thousands of other products can switch to guns in a heartbeat. Ammunition manufacturing is so simple millions of Americans do that at home every day.

As with drug bans the gun bans will create additional criminal cartels filling the needs of people willing to pay cash.

We’ve banned drugs and know only too well that our addicts in in no danger of being cut off from their supplies.

Mexico has had a long-standing total ban on firearms.  That’s not worked out too well for them or the families of the 50,000 murdered there last year by the banned firearms.

Chicago, Washington DC and New York have had nearly total bans in place for decades.  Of course they are by far the most dangerous cities in America simply because only criminals have guns.

Gun Free Zones:

The gun control zealots got the grand idea to create and mark Gun Free Zones where gun possession is not tolerated.  Any recent massacres in the last tor or three decades are in these Gun Free Zones where criminals are well protected by the government!

Gun Shows:

The gun control zealots have singled out gun shows as places to to vent their anger.  I challenge anyone to give a single example of a rape, robbery or murder at any gun show in American history.  Millions of guns on display at thousands of shows and not a single violent event! 

Relaxed Concealed Carry Laws and Violence:

State after state has relaxed laws and ban to the carrying of loaded guns by the law-abiding.  The gun control zealots told every state legislature that allowing the carrying of guns will lead to massive bloodshed. 

The experience of the states that allow concealed weapons has been the exact opposite of what the gun control zealots have predicted.  Families are safer because they have the right to meaningful self-defense.

Gun Accidents:

Gun accidents have never been a significant problem in America.  We have nearly one gun for every man woman and child in civilian possession right now.  Both our population and the number of guns have never been higher but gun accidents are at an all time low. 

Cops Hate Gun Control Laws:

Politicians love to claim that law enforcement supports gun bans and restrictions.  They are talking only for the chiefs and superintendents that they appoint, never the rank and file street cop.  Police chiefs are politically appointed and must share the views of their mayors.  Street cops all know better as their own lives are on the line every day.   

The Gun Control Debate

Every time gun control is discussed and debated in America logic wins with our population.  Politicians have learned that they will be punished at the polls for restricting American’s self-defense rights.  They have not forgotten the massive wrath of voters after they passed the now expired so-called Assault Weapons Ban in 1994.  The voters appear smarter then the people they elect.

The mainstream media has a curious policy of following Liberal politicians straight to Hell and their slant has been countered by the new media. 

Like I Said the Joker was Prohibited from Owning Firearms, The Government’s Brady Check System broke down, not the Law

Aurora, CO—The police chief here and the mainstream media redundantly reported what I suspected all along was pure baloney.  With authority and glee they all proclaimed that the firearms used in the Batman Massacre were all, “legally purchased”.  They all said that Holmes had no criminal record and bought the weapons within the law.  I knew that the dealers were careful but any failure was the government’s. 

The truth is that mass murder suspect, James Holmes lied on at least four known FFL# 4473 gun transfer applications.    Those forms are what the government uses to perform the Brady Background checks.   Each lie on a #4473 form is a separate felony crime that can net someone ten years in federal prison.

The truth had to surface sooner or later and now we know that Holmes was a patient of a University of Colorado psychiatrist, Dr. Lynn Fenton.  Dr. Fenton along with the University of Colorado Medical Center and their insurance carrier will have lots of explaining to do over the next several years as litigation both civil and criminal unfolds.

The normal doctor/patient privacy will collapse since the competency or mass murder suspect, James Holmes will undoubtedly be made very public.  We will all learn about his treatment, hospitalization and the drugs he was prescribed.  Trust me, there will be plenty of additional ghastly surprises!

Funding Big Cities Through a Reverse Tax—Incentives Can Make a Difference

Chicago, IL—All of America’s big cities are exclusively run by, Democrats.  They never met a tax they did not love and in fact they have strangled their local businesses to death.  Big city taxpayers and businesses flee by the droves or simply fall under the weight of taxation from every possible direction.

Big city taxes are job killers and that of course takes even more revenue from city treasuries.  Detroit is the poster child for a city that has taxed itself to death.  Cities in California are now filing bankruptcy one after another.  Inept and corrupt politicians are everywhere.

A reverse tax is needed to draw productivity and life back to the cities.  A reverse tax is simply payments or grants for businesses to create new life, business and jobs.

A simple revenue-generating program needs to begin for the motion picture business.  Perhaps it’s time to look at Europe, specifically Germany in this regard.  This is where I got the inspiration to write this article.  

I’m involved in the making of a feature film right now that should be and could be made in the USA.  However first I need investors or funds from every direction and I need a lot of them.  Films are considered risky investments.   I was able to find no less than $9 million in the form of a government cash grant; yes that’s a grant not a loan!  It’s coming from the German government! That’s about half of the total budget of what’s considered a low budget film!  Once I have half lined up it is so much easier to get the second half! 

The only requirement to get the money is that 25% of the filming must occur in Germany under the care of a German film producer.  More than 75% of the film I’m involved currently with can be made in Germany with ease!  Germany hands out the grants because they learned the grants generate badly needed jobs and revenue! 

Take Chicago and filmmaking.  Chicago invites filmmakers to the Windy City and proceeds to offer them all kinds of cooperation for a very hefty price.  Films are being made but not nearly enough.  State and local governments nickel and dime filmmakers to death from every form of permit fees and regressive taxation.  Making a film in Chicago is expensive and running off to film friendly Canada to fake Chicago is always an attractive alternative.

Germany on the other hand has done the math and found that these generous grants pay off well.   The returns on job generation, and money spent by filmmakers brings big returns to government coffers.

Chicago is in unique position to attract filmmakers because it’s a terrific film location. It has every kind of weather; massive parks, the lake, and huge vacant buildings that can be easily converted into sound stages.  If Germany can get the return on the investment, why can’t Chicago?

Mayor Emanuel’s brother, Ari Emanuel is probably the most powerful man in Hollywood right now.  He runs Endeavor, William Morris , the largest talent agency in the world.  The talent agencies, not the studios call the all the shots on American films. 

If the City of Chicago partnered with filmmakers it would be both lucrative and fun for everyone.   They need to somehow learn how to follow the German model. 

If the Emanuel brothers got serious with this window of opportunity they could bring billions to the Windy City and get great films and TV series made that would never otherwise see the light of day.  

By comparison California never figured out how to be film friendly and have lost hundreds of billions to Canada over the decades.   They call that phenomenon runaway production.  For example anything beyond making a home birthday party movie requires a minimum $1000.00 film permit in Los Angeles.   

No budget producers like me must resort to guerilla filmmaking.  Our crews have to keep a sharp eye out for the cops as we set up, shoot and scoot before they can stop us.  Perhaps lowering the fees and bureaucracy could be a good start.

The Great film director Werner Herzog learned long ago to not let government get in the way of his art.  Herzog goes so far as to suggest to his students that they forge film permits!  Perhaps local government paying the filmmakers instead of extorting from them might induce new life and business. 

If this works for Chicago they can do the same for any industry they want to attract.  Imagine a city that pays productive people and their businesses to stay and produce!

Why are Some Arizona News Organizations Fighting in a Leftist Propaganda War?

Phoenix, AZ—Josef Goebbels said it well, “If you tell a lie often enough it becomes the truth.” This was one of several translated and paraphrased versions of the famous quote. It speaks volumes and reveals the propaganda expertise of a broadcasting genius employed specifically to handle public relations of the Nazi Regime of 1933-1945.

The truth is that although their power is rapidly waning too many broadcasters tell their audience what they want them to believe. To broadcast or publish commentary and opinion as they express a sacred First Amendment right is certainly reasonable and constitutionally protected. To bundle opinion inside of slanted news story shaping it for convincing others is not news but simply propaganda. Yes, that’s protected too.

Reporters and producers have immense power and Goebbels perfected its use to denounce Jews as criminals and parasites. They constantly warned the German population that the Jews were out to steal everything. That massive government, hate campaign made the confiscation of property and deportation Jews seem reasonable. No media organization anywhere ever exposed the carefully guarded Nazi secret of the Holocaust that they were engineering in Eastern Europe until it was discovered at the end of the war.

In America we had the closest political ally to another horrible despot, Josef Stalin using the radio for captive audiences for his Fireside Chats. That of course was Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the end only the war criminals of Japan and Germany faced justice. The Russian pigs murdered many millions and raped every woman or child they could find in Berlin for years during their occupation. The Russians escaped any and all justice for their massive war crimes altogether.

Okay we have to face the reality that the winners of wars never are prosecuted for their criminal acts and adding insult to injury, they get to write the history books too. Everything was branded by the broadcasters as good or evil depending on the opinion of the day. Heroes were turned into bums and bums were rebranded as heroes through the power of broadcast media and newspapers.

Currently in Arizona there is an epidemic of outrageous propaganda. Several news organizations have decided for the residents what public policy is right or wrong. Yes these news writers are on the extreme Left of the political spectrum. They have waged a propaganda war legitimizing criminal conduct and special harassment of anyone that disagrees. That’s the way it is at least as they see things. Americans have elected lawmakers that established immigration policy. Every nation has laws that restrict who can enter their borders. We have created a system and despite the fact there is insufficient support to repeal the laws many of our officials choose to criminally obstruct justice.

Some media organizations have gone so far as to take it upon themselves to legitimize the non-stop alien trespassing. To make matters worse they have waged a propaganda and harassment war on any officials that make any effort to do their sworn duty. The favorite targets of the propaganda wrath are Governor Jan Brewer, Sheriff Joe Arpiao and Former state Senate President Russell Pearce.

For over four years there has been an accusation floating around about Barack Obama lacking the Constitutional requirement of being a natural born American citizen. Obama never once was required to prove his eligibility for the nation’s highest office. Americans need to show a certified copy of a birth certificate for all manner of participation related to government services. Obama was never properly vetted and rather than settle the issue paid lawyer well over a million dollars to avoid answering questions or producing the document.

Finally one day a purported birth certificate appeared on the Whitehouse website. It did not look right for a multitude of reasons. Several document examiners who are court certified experts say that it’s a fake that was created perhaps from a genuine birth certificate belonging to someone else. It’s been forged to be what it is not, a valid birth certificate.

When Sheriff Arpiao announced the findings rather than the local news organizations question the evidence they simply attacked the messenger, Sheriff Arpiao. They dominated the news conference with questions about immigration enforcement, and efforts by other government officials seeking to unlawfully eliminate immigration enforcement. Certain Arizona media organizations are dedicated to destroying any and every politician that does not share their Leftist agenda.

These Leftist propaganda machines of Phoenix simply ended any effort to report legitimate news. They instead take flack for and defended the politician of their choice to that they prefer to lead this nation. They do this under the color of journalism I say it’s wonderful to see the democratization of news since the Internet gives anyone the ability to reach millions with text, audio, photos and video.

Americans are beginning to feel their might as the days of the propagandist’s stranglehold on broadcasting and publishing are coming to a rapid end. For now only the inhabitants of America that are caught on the wrong side of the digital divide are saturated with disinformation from the Left. The good news is that poor and ignorant are of little help to media sponsors.

The so-called mainstream media is quickly fading off to the sunset as their former advertisers are now spending their money on YouTube citizen journalists. The political Left and their propagandists are in the fight for their lives.

They lost control over radio and now the emerging Internet informs more Americans every day about their rights to Liberty. Frankly the taste of freedom trumps anything that the Left has to offer.

What the Left can’t win with ballots they have a rich history of winning with bullets. We need to error on the side of freedom and liberty or we will have none. Not if but when they try this, Americans will be shooting back.

In recent years, KPHO-TV news in Phoenix has shockingly taken a sharp turn to the Left. Meredith Corporation really should stop pretending that they are broadcasting news. I will cite the example of investigative reporter Morgan Lowe who appears to be on a campaign to destroy anyone who shows any inclination to support immigration law enforcement.

Lowe is a bright fellow who happens to also be a lawyer and solid First Amendment Zealot. The sad part is Lowe’s love for freedom begins and ends with Free Speech issues. Lowe has been using his media position as a propaganda agent for the far Left. Whatever Lowe is doing, it’s not simply reporting news, he’s trying to sway, mold and control public opinion.

I have no difficulties with Lowe for advocating for the Obama Administration and to simply repeal existing immigration laws. I am personally committed to pick up a sword to fight for his right to do that. However it’s just not ethical or honest to deceive the public with this news-reporting masquerade. KPHO and any other organization that wants to advocate politically should rebrand their products from news to opinion and commentary. The so-called fairness doctrine thankfully is long dead. I see the current media propaganda effort as the final effort of a once important sinking ship with no hope. Down the road we will see reruns of old popular TV offerings like the Three Stooges in the time slots formerly held by proud journalists that had the ability to report news rather than advocate the direction of public policy.

News reporting will probably never be free of slant or advocacy. The bloggers seem to have offered a somewhat refreshing product of diverse opinions. The bloggers for the most part are only now gaining funding and learning how to gather and break news to our world. When that happens what we used to call the mainstream media, as we knew it, will be dead.

Goebbels may be long dead but his spirit and influence methods live on.