Death Penalty Activist Ruben “Hurricane” Carter is Dead

Ruben "Hurricane" Carter dead at 76

Toronto, Canada— He was one of seven siblings raised in poverty.   Ruben “Hurricane” Carter had a troubled youth filled with police, jail, courts and prison.  He somehow found salvation and money as a champion boxer until his new life came crashing down.

Carter’s troubled past kept him on the police radar as a “usual suspect” and he was arrested and twice convicted for a New Jersey triple murder.  Finally in 1985 after some 20 years in prison Carter finally won his freedom from the wrongful conviction.

Carter left the nation that failed him in seeking justice for Canada.  He spent the rest of his life speaking, advocating and investigating on behalf of Death Row inmates.  Carter created and chaired a foundation for the wrongly convicted. 

Carter and Willoughby courtesy New Times

I met and chatted extensively with Carter in Phoenix when he came there on behalf of former Death Row inmate 
Dan Willoughby during his second trial.   Willoughby asked me to do his defense investigation but the court appointed rotation list did not allow for that to happen.  He had insufficient resources to hire me.  Instead I covered the case for TV news.  

Carter was a friendly and determined fellow.  Just like the actor that played him in the movie Hurricane, Denzel Washington, Carter was a very sharp dresser.    

Dan Willoughby

Dan Willoughby had a somewhat sordid adulterous affair with a Mexican transsexual named Yesenia Patino.  In 1991, Patino murdered Willoughby’s then wife Trish in Rocky Point, Mexico. 

Arizona authorities felt that Willoughby was involved in a murder conspiracy that began there and claimed jurisdiction of the murder that was committed in a foreign land.

Patino said she beat Trish Willoughby’s head in with a medieval mace and stabbed her with two knives and strangled her with a rope.  Patino was sent to a Mexican prison for 35 years but was brought to Arizona twice to testify against Willoughby.   Patino first claimed that Willoughby was present and participated in the murder. 

After the first trial Patino recanted, saying she carried out the murder alone and that led to the second trial.   

Even thought the crime occurred in Mexico where there is no death penalty Willoughby wound up on Arizona’s Death Row.  The resources and expertise of Mexican police to examine the crime scene was nothing less than what we’d call today, a CSI nightmare.

Getting an Arizona jury to believe Willoughby considering his peculiar adultery paramour and issues surrounding his dead wife’s wealth and a $1 million life insurance policy proved impossible. 

The jury viewed Willoughby as being a philandering, gold digging, perverted and unsympathetic character.  He was convicted again at his second trial.  This time Willoughby was spared the death penalty and re-sentenced to life in Prison.  

Carter passed away at age 76 in Toronto.  His funeral arrangements are pending.

Camera Armed Quadcopters, Public Safety and Privacy Examination.

Los Angeles, CA—When the topics of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles or drones are brought up so are the issues of fear, loathing and regulation.  Ignorance of the unknown is always a source of difficulty.  However take a look at the issues with an open mind. 

Aerial photography is not new, but until now it was just expensive.  We’ve co-existed with fixed wing airplanes and helicopters, all of our lives.  It’s settled law that we have no reasonable expiation of privacy outside of our homes and the other shelters we inhabit.

For nearly two decades we’ve been under observation from high-resolution cameras mounted on satellites.  We’ve all seen those incredible Google Earth views.  All of those privacy issues have been addressed and settled in the courts redundantly.

Suddenly we have great diminutive cameras and UAV’s to take them to the skies.  The privacy laws remain exactly the same.

There are huge advantages for these new UAV’s such as search and rescue, looking for lost pets, newsgathering video and filmmaking.   Safety inspection of roofs, transformers, power lines and elevated structures can be accomplished now with ease and without risk of injury.  

Additionally UAV’s have proven to help both sales people and buyers of real estate see a better view of those properties.

Aside from all of this, there is a long established hobby involved with remote controlled aircraft.  Millions of teens and adults have been enjoying this great hobby.

We’ve all seen videos and pictures of catastrophic helicopter crashes in our cities.  Death, destruction and horrible injuries occur when these things happen.  Those terrible accidents are somewhat rare but by no means isolated.  I lost two friends over the years in news helicopter crashes.

Now we have the small, light UAV’s and they're a game changer for the better.  Mishaps are not uncommon with the new UAV’s mostly due to pilot error.  The difference here is the UAV’s almost always escape damage!  Injuries are beyond rare and very minor if they happen at all.  UAV damage is proving to be somewhat less than that what would be caused by a thrown common tennis ball.

We all know about the large, heavy military UAV drones usually armed with weapons that governments use.  They cost as much or more than conventional aircraft and are simply not part of this discussion. 

The proliferation of these new small UAV drones like the one involved in the photo above and the video below will save millions of dollars for news organizations, businesses and government agencies as they reduce tragic accidents.

The video below shows what happens when a pilot loses control of a UAV in a populated area.  This should not have happened and it resulted from simple inexperience.  However you will see first hand the worst-case scenario of my own UAV mishap.  No damage or injuries whatsoever. 

My UAV was lost for nearly three months. The UAV and its little GoPro camera survived without single a scratch! They are both back in service today.  Nobody was injured nor was there even a hint of property damage. 

Should the battery die in an airborne UAV, they automatically go into a lower power mode and gently float to the ground. 

Watch the disappearance and crash landing of my UAV over the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles last January.  The little 64 Gigabyte SD ram card onboard saved and objectively documented the entire event.  

The Netherlands by a camera Armed Drone---Wow!

'Okay I'm hooked on Drones for newsgathering, filmmaking and just plain fun.  I love Germany and the Netherlands and hope to retire there someday.  Here is some great video from yet another high-end offering into this new technology explosion!

Cloudshots.NL | videoshowreel jan. 2014 from Cloudshots.NL on Vimeo.

Cloudshots.NL | bevrijdingsfestival overijssel 2013 from Cloudshots.NL on Vimeo.

http://www.aerialtronics.com/

Michael Bloomberg is Spending $50 Million to Help Gun Owners!

New York, NY—Billionaire and former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg announced he’s investing $50 million of his own money to castigate firearms owners and the NRA. 

Apparently Bloomberg has failed to notice that the more discussion about firearms to more popular gun rights becomes.  Each political push after mass shootings has backfired greater than the last!  These days each poll on gun control is better than the last! 

Nearly every public relations experts understands what the late, P.T. Barnum said, “I don't care what they say about me, just make sure they spell my name right!”  Even bad publicity can be good! 

With each discussion of gun control comes research and lots of thought.  In the end the lies, half-truths and deception about guns fails.  What people discover is guns can save lives, especially their own! 

Bloomberg couldn’t help gun owners any better even if he gave the cash to the NRA! 

Bloomberg’s planned mission is as defective as his entire thought process on guns.  In the end I expect we will have much better educated population when it guns and gun rights.  Thanks Mike!

Famed Film Director Bryan Singer Named in Lawsuit for Child Sexual Assault.

Film Director Bryan Singer

Los Angeles, CA—The civil complaint filed yesterday in the U.S. District Court of Hawaii  alleges that director Bryan Singer sexually assaulted Michael F. Eagan, III when he was only 14 or 15 on numerous occasions.  

Bryan Singer is a well-established A-List director and screen writer behind such projects as X-Men, Valkyrie, The Usual Suspects and Superman Returns. 

Alleged drug, alcohol fueled Gay sex parties between teens and adults are salaciously and vividly detailed in the civil court complaint.  The complaint also describes threats involving firearms and locking the young Egan inside of a gun safe.

Eagan is described as an aspiring male model and actor in the complaint. 

The complaint alleges numerous acts of mutual oral copulation and anal sex attacks by Singer on Eagan.  These deeds were to have taken place in California at the sprawling mansion owned by known child molester, registered sex offender, Digital Entertainment Network Founder and Chairman, Marc Collins-Rector and also at the mansion of famed hair products mogul Paul Mitchell in Kailua, Hawaii.

It is obvious from the complaint that Eagan never reported the crimes to any police agencies.  A search of the Internet Movie Database did not list a single film of TV project in Eagan’s name.  The only thing we know for sure are numerous criminal convictions against Marc Collins-Rector and some of the nefarious goings on at his mansion.

This complaint against Singer is about money first and foremost.  It appears that the evidence will consist of a swearing contest between Eagan and Singer.  The standard of proof in a civil court is much lower than in a criminal court.  Winning such a case in court however is never a sure thing.

Will Eagan be viewed as a sympathetic victim and not as a well-paid male prostitute?  Will Singer be painted with the brush of a convicted pedophile business associate, Marc Collins Rector?  These questions and their answers will determine how this plays out in court.

Singer’s lawyer was unavailable for comment to me just yet.  

Singer will need an aggressive defense strategy or face what might be the end of a very brilliant career.  Being Gay in the Hollywood entertainment industry is no liability these days.  Being viewed as a child rapist is an entirely different matter.   

Frankly, I learned long ago that if the details of a false allegation are widely published people that know the truth are more likely to cooperate with defense investigators.  I can only hope the gifted writer and director is not ruined by false allegations. 

The actual court complaint reads like a really bad X-Rated Gay film script but I posted it below.   

So You Want to Learn How to use an Unmanned Aircraft, Helicopter, or Quadcopter in Los Angeles? Sergio of Pirofilprc in Van Nuys Will Help You!

Sergio Marachilian

Los Angeles, CA—a close friend that is a long time pilot for American Airlines and before that TWA turned me on to this new hobby.  I have always loved photography and photographers always want to get the best view and angle. 

Arial photography was nearly always out of the question because of the high costs involved.   There are other issues such as; helicopters can’t always get into tight spaces.  Helicopter crashes can be catastrophic but a mishap with the new generation quadcopters almost never causes injury or property damage.  These new drones seem to escape any significant damage should they crash into something! 

Modern brushless electric motors and advanced batteries have radically changed the remote control world.  A whole new Galaxy of model planes, boats, cars helicopters and quadcopters is here.  They once were toys really; they seemed to have little value beyond frivolous entertainment. Not anymore at least for people like me. 

Quadcopters are relatively easy to pilot.  This like the entire never-ending onslaught of new technology provides a learning curve and challenges that is always easier to overcome if you have the right kind of help.

A new generation of tiny Unmanned Arial Vehicles have arrived!  At almost at the same time great video and digital cameras have been made incredibly small and weigh little.  It was a marriage made in heaven!  Quadcopters and little cameras work so well together!  

I could not help myself; I just had to get one!  I went online and got mine fro B&H Photo in New York. They are a reputable outfit but helping you learn about the Blade 350 quadcopter is not one of their better qualities. 

Reading instruction manuals written by engineers with language issues along with the fact they are not nor have they ever been writers sometimes fails.  There are lots of instructional videos on YouTube.  Some of them are very good and others are not.   It can be a tough jungle to navigate alone.  I was suddenly in possession of a Blade 350 Quadcopter and a GoPro Hero3+ camera and I was chomping at the bit to get it in the air.

The day came in just after Christmas for the maiden flight of my little Blade 350 quadcopter. I found out there is a remote flying field in Van Nuys.  It’s a great place because of the wide-open space but also there are lots of people that share this hobby.  They help each other with technical problems and field repairs.  My airline pilot friend was with me but he has a different brand quadcopter and it powered up differently than mine.

Getting my little quadcopter in the air was a little tricky.  Most of the people around me were hesitant to hand out advice because of timing there were not that many Blade 350’s out on the street yet.  At the flying field someone pointed out a fellow to me and said, “That’s Sergio over there and he can help you! He owns a hobby shop!”

I went over to this gentleman and had to wait my turn to meet him.  He was something of a celebrity and most of the people either knew him or about him.  Sergio it turned out was the real deal.

I introduced my self to, Sergio Marachilian, the owner of Pirofilprc located at 16205 Victory Blvd, Van Nuys, CA.  His shop is just a few blocks from the flying field.  I told Sergio I needed help and he responded by helping me and quickly got my gizmo in the air handing the radio transmitter over to me.  I was suddenly flying!  Sergio was helping a total stranger that he knew bought his quadcopter from somebody else!  That was indeed very kind and generous!

I have visited Sergio’s shop now several times and no matter how busy he is, he’s incredibly helpful.  He takes his time with those customers that are beginners like me.  He is a born teacher.  Sergio has won me over as a customer in a big way.  This fellow has great people skills and is a savvy businessman.  Sergio knows that guys like me won’t be stealing all his time because they will become proficient in this technology.   They will continue patronize his shop for all their future needs. Additionally Sergio builds and rebuilds all manner of remote controlled devices.

If this hobby is for you and you’re in Van Nuys pay a visit to Sergio’s shop.  He’s also on the web at:  www.pirofilprc.com

Some Important Tactical Lessons were Learned About Combatting Government Tyranny at the Bundy Ranch

Bundy Ranch, Nevada—About 80 miles Northeast of Las Vegas the scene was a cattle ranch and the sprawling rangeland around it.   On one side were BLM Rangers with battle gear and dogs.  Men and women trying to convince the rangers to leave them, the cattle and the ranch in peace occupied the other side.  Tensions were high as the rangers threatened to shoot the civilians.

Because the area is rural sources for water, prepared meals, ammunition was greatly limited.  The two sides had gathered ready for a very violent conflict. .

The Barack Obama worshiping network media did not want the nation seeing the heavy hand of their Messiah crushing a longtime cattle rancher and his supporters.  That would damage the carefully crafted image they created for him.  They will always avoid humiliating Obama at all cost.   However Social Media and some news organizations covered the resistance movement really well.

Because of Social Media, thousand of civilians understood that a rogue government was waging a terror and harassment campaign against a family under color of law.  Some of them traveled many miles at their own expense and personal risk to protect a targeted fellow American. 

For now the tyranny was halted.  I’m sure that Obama and his henchmen are fuming because of their humiliating failure.   The Second Amendment was exercised effectively and successfully. 

Both sides of the conflict understood that there was absolute resolve by the assembled resistance to begin bloody combat and that threated government agents.  I also suspect that those agents began questioning and perhaps balking at orders from the Whitehouse.  That too may have made a difference that, for now that ended the confrontation. 

Were the defenders of freedom properly prepared?  In this tactical exercise we could see how the raw power of government can quickly take steps against the population.  During this siege the government exercised their ability to quickly shut down cell-phone towers disrupting the civilian communications. 

The Whitehouse also ordered the FAA to declare a No Fly Zone so news agencies could not observe or report on the government siege with helicopters.  Government officials did not want murders civilians to be seen by the rest of the nation live on television.   This FAA No Fly Zone order certainly had nothing to do with public safety!  Entering restricted air space could easily result in a military response including the shooting down of aircraft.   It’s not some idle threat.  

The steps government thugs followed the current tactical blueprint of how they are prepared to deal with civilian resistance to the Obama Junta.  Our rogue government played their hand showing us those things we must expect.  We need not guess anymore what they might do.

We learned that Just having sufficient numbers makes the most important difference.  If you have the numbers pragmatism by the tyrants can rule your side.   

For the most part the government is generally able to control the immediate shipment of food, fuel and medical supplies to any area.  They can control most of but not all the electricity, natural gas, cell-phone communications and Internet. 
The need for water, water filtering material, solar power and generators for communication devices lights are a must.  Wilderness survival skills are second nature to most military veteran and hunters. 

To combat the communications cut off everyone needs to have inexpensive family service walkie-talkie radios available ant any Target, WalMart, Best Buy or Amazon.com for a secondary communication source.  They work for miles and that beats nothing.  There are also citizen’s band (CB) radios and Ham radios and the later can communicate globally.  There are also satellite telephones used mostly by sailors on the high seas were cell phone towers don’t exist. 

Getting overhead video of such scenes inside an FAA no fly zone is a snap these days with those new camera-drones no larger than a small pizza.  They are so small that they are very difficult to spot in the sky or take out by gunfire.  They can observe with HD video and report things that our rogue politicians want kept secret.   The drones are easy to fly and there are cheap versions coming in at less than $1,000.00. 

The use of American military and police against neighbors and relatives has a built-in fail-safe mechanism.  Those people all swear an oath the Constitution and not to any politician.   If they are real Americans they will be able to recognize unlawful orders and must disobey them.  

Unfortunately our government has thousands of armed contractors that function as well-paid mercenaries that take no oath.  The contractors know they will be able to rob, rape and murder unfettered during civil unrest.  We must demand laws be enacted that contractors are never permitted to perform military or police operations within American borders.

Today with Internet capability broadcasting live streaming video reports on the Internet direct from the scene of combat operations is relatively simple.  Of course the opposition will be monitoring the reports too.

The skinny on combat rifles is that the most common and popular combat rifles are ineffective for government resistance.  The .30X39 AK-47 round and the 5.56 MM M-4 platform rounds are carryover from close in jungle warfare in Viet Nam where no real armor was involved. 
Today’s modern military and police armor both for vehicles and body is rated to stop the 5.56 MM and .30X39.  However that armor is very vulnerable to penetration by common WWII rifle rounds such as the .30-06 and the .308.  Most American hunting rifles use the same or even larger rounds and can defeat the light armor, but those guns are greatly underrated these days because don’t look as mean.  I’ll take a 75 year old M-1 Garand over a M-16 anytime.  The FNFAL and M-14 are far superior to most of what our police and military uses.  

Political tyrants are in fact are always the ones pulling the triggers even more so than their thugs.  Whenever possible they should be tracked down and captured.  It’s impossible for them to order any military action if they are missing. 

The most important need is for absolute determination, resolve and courage to preserve our hard won liberty and freedom.