January 2, 2013 at 12:56 P.M. Kudos to Vice President Joseph Biden in the negotiations to avert the so-called "fiscal cliff." Not much of a positive nature has been achieved, but catastrophe has been avoided -- or adjourned for a few months -- as the 1% must live in abject terror of slightly higher taxes. What will happen in the House of Representatives is anyone's guess.
December 31, 2012 at 11:34 A.M. Computer #3, Inwood branch of NYPL was rebooted in order for me to use it. I cannot say whether obstacles and more computer crime will prevent me from writing further at these blogs. I will attempt to continue writing in 2013.
All copyright notices remain in effect at this and every other blog of mine in 2013 and beyond.
Mary Williams Walsh, "New Jersey's Pension Plan Is Said to Still Be in Trouble," in The New York Times, December 14, 2012, at p. A34.
"Perfidious Prosecutors," (Editorial) in The New York Times, December 5, 2012, at p. A28. ( " ... two federal prosecutors surreptitiously posted hostile comments on a public news site about defendants in cases the office was supervising and then lied about it." Mr. McGill, were you involved in posting hostile comments about me on-line and/or at "The Philosophy Cafe," at any time, ostensibly in violation of legal ethics rules? Cover-up, Mr. Rabner? "Have You No Shame, Mr. Rabner?" and "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
Scott Shane, "Portrayal of C.I.A. Torture in Bin Laden Film Reopens a Debate," in The New York Times, December 13, 2012, at p. A1. (Delight in the gruesome depiction of pain and fear, now recommended for the innocent as well as the guilty, so long as it yields "information," by -- or for -- U.S. intelligence agencies. OAE? "Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "America's Torture Doctors.")
Kate Zernike, "Promise vs. Reality in Newark on Mayor's Watch," in The New York Times, December 14, 2012, at p. A1. (In a criticism obviously aimed at Mr. Obama, Mr. Booker is depicted, unfairly, as all style and little substance. This G.O.P.-generated piece was designed to forestall a challenge to Christie by Mayor Booker, who has indicated that his goal is the Senate. "Ms. Zernike" is a name used by Kim Guardagno, at times, as well as other Republicans in New Jersey and elsewhere, allegedly. Is this article an example of America's "independent" media at its best?)
"New Jersey's financial problems are so severe that even Governor Chris Christie's signature pension overhaul, in which he cut back benefits and union members marched and booed, might not be enough to pull the state out of its hole, a panel of fiscal experts said on Thursday."
For years, FRAUDULENT [lies?] figures were listed as "deposited" in the Garden State's pension accounts -- often conflicting numbers in separate sworn attorneys' federal filings pertaining to the state's pension funds appeared -- even as these accounts became known as the "mafia's Christmas Club." ("Mafia Influence in New Jersey's Courts and Politics" and "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State" then, again, "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
Is this an example of New Jersey's "ethics," Mr. Rabner? Have any of your friends at Lowenstein, Sandler, Esqs. been involved in pension fund matters, Mr. Rabner? ("Herbert Klitzner, Esq.'s Greed and New Jersey's Hypocrisy" and "No More Cover-Ups and Lies, Chief Justice Rabner!")
" ... officials in both parties [especially Democrats!] had shortchanged the pension coffers for so many years" -- possibly pocketing millions or billions of dollars that "disappeared"! -- "before Mr. Christie's initiative[,] that it will prove extremely difficult to catch up now without deviating money from other essential state programs."
The current shortfall in the system, thanks to Christie, has been made less severe than it might have been, but is still expected to show a "30% shortfall, [revealing] a gap of $26 BILLION from about $37 BILLION. But the system remains in precarious condition." ("Is Menendez For Sale?" and "New Jersey Pension Funds $54 Billion Short.")
To continue to lie to New Jersey's beleaguered and robbed taxpayers, who are contributing to a pension system which may be insolvent when many New Jerseyeans seek to retire, is (seemingly) fine with the Democrat-mafia machine in Trenton. ("New Jersey is the Home of the Living Dead.")
Senator Stephen Sweeney, alleged McGreevey crony, is alleged to have said -- and we should believe him -- "I don't know nothing about no pension funds!"
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Thursday, December 27, 2012
How to go over a fiscal cliff.
December 27, 2012 at 12:45 P.M. I experienced difficulties when I logged-on at computer #3, NYPL, Morningside Heights. I can never be certain of writing from one day to the next. I will do my best to log-on from some public computer, every day. I am often prevented from revising or editing my texts at Philosopher's Quest and Critical Vision.
I will continue to attempt to make revisions and correct inserted "errors." I will not be intimidated in expressing my opinions. I will focus on corruption in New Jersey law and politics.
As Americans recover from their holiday festivities, the looming crisis in Washington, D.C. has finally begun to attract attention and commentary.
We ordinary folks find the childish spectacle of ego-conflicts and status-competitions among politicians dismaying and sad. The national interest requires a resolution of this difficult economic predicament.
The reason why no progress -- let alone an actual solution -- seems to be in the works is because neither side, neither Republicans nor Democrats, wishes to be perceived as giving an inch to the other.
Your children's future (and their own children's fates) seem less important to politicians than being "dominant" by setting a trend for the president's second term.
I guess it's all a matter of "showing them who's boss." Evidently, some powerful forces in Washington wish the president to serve as a mere figurehead while the real power is reserved for the perpetual behind-the-scenes "bosses" in the respective parties.
I doubt that such a deflationary role is acceptable to Mr. Obama. Mr. Christie is also not interested in being a mere figurehead or frontperson for Richard J. Codey or "others" in Trenton's smoke-filled rooms.
Mr. Obama won the election. Democrats and Mr. Obama have a mandate to ensure that even the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. Given the crunch in the numbers, it defies logic that anyone today suggests that persons earning more than one million dollars per year should be exempted from paying higher taxes as rates rise for everyone else.
No coherent argument has yet been formulated by Mr. Boehner to support this unfair proposition. In fact, this was the crucial issue in the presidential election. Americans rejected the argument that taxes should not rise for the rich.
Ending the war(s), restoring funding to crucial programs aimed at strengthening American industry and academia, necessary spending on military forces, caring for the sick and elderly -- all of these fundamental tasks of government must await the resolution of the current impasse and (presumably) a stroking of the right egos.
It is absurd that the nation is held hostage to such squabbling. Voters' disgust and impatience with both parties is understandable, if not unanimous.
YOU -- America's politicians -- must do better than this.
Mr. Obama has no alternative but to take the fight to the people, not to yield to threats or intimidation efforts, while making it clear what are the consequences of going over the so-called "fiscal cliff." Worse, America's default on its debt would send shock waves throughout the world economy that would make the European economic crisis seem like a proverbial pic-nic.
We must all prepare ourselves for the unpleasant events that are to come. I am afraid that this is especially true of New Jersey. Frankenstorm "Sandy" may have been only a foretaste of the economic and legal catastrophe that is hovering on the edge of the horizon in Trenton. Stay tuned to this channel for the latest developments:
"Just before the Christmas break, negotiations on the so-called fiscal cliff ended on an absurdist note. House Republicans not only rejected President Obama's overly generous budget deal, including his offer to lift the income threshold for higher tax rates to $400,000 a year from $250,000, they also rejected their own leadership's response to raise the threshold for higher taxes to $1 MILLION and to reserve tax breaks for the heirs of multimillion dollar estates."
"Fiscal Endgame: If Congressional Republicans Would Only Act Sensibly, a Sensible Deal Could be Reached," (Editorial) in The New York Times, December 27, 2012, at p. A26 (emphasis added).
I will continue to attempt to make revisions and correct inserted "errors." I will not be intimidated in expressing my opinions. I will focus on corruption in New Jersey law and politics.
As Americans recover from their holiday festivities, the looming crisis in Washington, D.C. has finally begun to attract attention and commentary.
We ordinary folks find the childish spectacle of ego-conflicts and status-competitions among politicians dismaying and sad. The national interest requires a resolution of this difficult economic predicament.
The reason why no progress -- let alone an actual solution -- seems to be in the works is because neither side, neither Republicans nor Democrats, wishes to be perceived as giving an inch to the other.
Your children's future (and their own children's fates) seem less important to politicians than being "dominant" by setting a trend for the president's second term.
I guess it's all a matter of "showing them who's boss." Evidently, some powerful forces in Washington wish the president to serve as a mere figurehead while the real power is reserved for the perpetual behind-the-scenes "bosses" in the respective parties.
I doubt that such a deflationary role is acceptable to Mr. Obama. Mr. Christie is also not interested in being a mere figurehead or frontperson for Richard J. Codey or "others" in Trenton's smoke-filled rooms.
Mr. Obama won the election. Democrats and Mr. Obama have a mandate to ensure that even the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes. Given the crunch in the numbers, it defies logic that anyone today suggests that persons earning more than one million dollars per year should be exempted from paying higher taxes as rates rise for everyone else.
No coherent argument has yet been formulated by Mr. Boehner to support this unfair proposition. In fact, this was the crucial issue in the presidential election. Americans rejected the argument that taxes should not rise for the rich.
Ending the war(s), restoring funding to crucial programs aimed at strengthening American industry and academia, necessary spending on military forces, caring for the sick and elderly -- all of these fundamental tasks of government must await the resolution of the current impasse and (presumably) a stroking of the right egos.
It is absurd that the nation is held hostage to such squabbling. Voters' disgust and impatience with both parties is understandable, if not unanimous.
YOU -- America's politicians -- must do better than this.
Mr. Obama has no alternative but to take the fight to the people, not to yield to threats or intimidation efforts, while making it clear what are the consequences of going over the so-called "fiscal cliff." Worse, America's default on its debt would send shock waves throughout the world economy that would make the European economic crisis seem like a proverbial pic-nic.
We must all prepare ourselves for the unpleasant events that are to come. I am afraid that this is especially true of New Jersey. Frankenstorm "Sandy" may have been only a foretaste of the economic and legal catastrophe that is hovering on the edge of the horizon in Trenton. Stay tuned to this channel for the latest developments:
"Just before the Christmas break, negotiations on the so-called fiscal cliff ended on an absurdist note. House Republicans not only rejected President Obama's overly generous budget deal, including his offer to lift the income threshold for higher tax rates to $400,000 a year from $250,000, they also rejected their own leadership's response to raise the threshold for higher taxes to $1 MILLION and to reserve tax breaks for the heirs of multimillion dollar estates."
"Fiscal Endgame: If Congressional Republicans Would Only Act Sensibly, a Sensible Deal Could be Reached," (Editorial) in The New York Times, December 27, 2012, at p. A26 (emphasis added).
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
"Luther": A Review of the BBC America Series.
December 24, 2012 at 1:05 P.M. Several attempts to revise and edit my work at "Philosopher's Quest" have been obstructed by hackers. The usual harassments and threats that are part of the "psychological torture" protocol for the holidays have inspired me to write further about New Jersey's continuing disintegration. Fraud and (potential) insolvency in the state's pension funds will be next. Happy holidays, New Jersey! ("New Jersey's Feces-Covered Supreme Court" and "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
December 20, 2012 at 2:12 P.M. A notice has appeared on my draft, within my blog's dashboard, that states:
"MENTION PEOPLE IN YOUR POST WITH GOOGLE+
New! Now you can call out a Google+ profile or page from your blog to help them notice your post. Connect your blog to Google+ to get started. Learn more."
I do not believe that this message comes from Google or that there is a "Google+."
I can never know from one day to the next whether I will be able to return to these posts in order to continue my work. I am prevented from printing today from the public library's printer.
December 18, 2012 at 1:51 P.M. I am forced to retype this essay in its entirety because I am prevented from editing or revising the previously posted version of the work.
This review first appeared on November 9, 2011. I will retain a copy of that essay showing the date on which I first posted it.
I am told that efforts have been made to plagiarize this work. The harassments and obstructions of editing efforts are part of the cybercrime and censorship that I struggle against, every day.
I continue to receive phone calls from 214-283-1316. The caller is identified as "MARKETING" and/or "MARTIZ RESEARCH" at 636-203-7123. Both calls may originate from the same source, probably this is also true of calls from "Jazmin" at Time/Warner. ("Manhola Dargis Strikes Again!")
November 10, 2011 at 1:16 P.M. The computer (Number 5) at my local library branch was obstructed when I signed-in, so that it had to be restarted twice before I could make use of it. This was after a Latino gentleman left it just before my arrival. Funny, this man had a Miami accent.
Since anyone using this computer today must have signed-in using a public library card -- or daily guest pass -- this person (who shut off the computer) should be easy to identify.
A number of computers and printers at NYPL locations have been destroyed, mysteriously, by Miami persons just before I am scheduled to make use of them. ("How censorship works in America.")
Mr. Menendez, I am not the only person using New York Public Library computers and printers. Please give my regards to Mr. Bigica and Dr. Melgen. ("Illegal Payments to Bob Menendez" and "Menendez Consorts With Underage Prostitutes.")
British drama is still the best quality television available to Americans.
With few exceptions most U.S. television shows do not come close to the UK standard of excellence. "Copper" was a rare miss on BBC America. I hope to review "The Hour," also on BBC America.
As someone who has been plagiarized by persons who have not done well (because they have not understood) my ideas -- beyond making money with my work! -- I think one problem in U.S. television programming may be aiming for the lowest common denominator. Those who have stolen from me, successfully, tend to be more ambitious if somewhat less adept. ("What is it like to be plagiarized?" and "'Brideshead Revisited': A Movie Review" then see "God is Texting Me!" and the CBS series "A Gifted Man.")
The "average" American television viewer (a person whom Iliana Ros Leghtinen would describe as "The Average Joe") has a 6th grade reading level, according to experts, as do many of the Congresswoman's most fervent supporters. ("Manhola Dargis"?)
I suppose that it makes sense to have shows written by mental twelve year-olds for an audience sharing a limited vocabulary -- persons like Stuart Rabner, perhaps. ("Whatever!" then "Nihilists in Disneyworld" and "What did you know, Mr. Rabner, and when did you know it?")
Why not help to educate the audience and elevate tastes by exposing young people to fine drama in a non-threatening way? Downton Abbey?
"That's elitism!" Diana Lisa Riccioli -- my favorite evil Jersey "chic" -- likes to say.
I do not believe a concern with excellence is sexism or inappropriate elitism. David? ("David Stove and the Intellectual Capacity of Women.")
Narrowness of focus allows the rest of the world to disappear in a cloud of ignorant stereotypes and disdainful dismissals. ("An Open Letter to My Torturers in New Jersey, Terry Tuchin and Diana Lisa Riccioli.")
Recently, our British cousins have taught several lessons to upstart Americans -- like me.
"John Luther" on BBC America, for example, is a reinvention of the police serial that focuses on the complex psychology of the eponymous hero whose life unfolds as a struggle against evil.
I will leave for another day my comments about the exquisite David Hare drama, "Page 8." (See my review of the film from Mr. Hare's script, "The Reader.")
"Restless" on Sundance is another example of fine drama based on the novel by William Boyd whose Ordinary Thunderstorms is keeping me up at the moment. This two-part drama exported to "the colonies and dominions of the empire" features outstanding performances by Michael Gambon and Charlotte Rampling as well as Hayley Atwell. The film may still be available "On Demand."
Living under life-or-death pressure for sustained periods of time does strange things to the mind as does the certainty that there are resourceful, well-financed, government-protected persons determined to kill you in one way or another.
Such a realization that one is hated can be enervating and deeply flattering. It is nice to know that you care New Jersey. Mazeltov.
There is also something about the experience of an abyss of evil in persons who are usually fascinated by their opposite numbers -- flawed human beings, like Luther -- fascinated by good persons who could never be evil and whose struggle against malice amounts to being dipped in the acid of hatred. ("Drawing Room Comedy: A Philosophical Essay in the Form of a Film Script.")
Absolute evil -- yes, there is such a thing -- baffles the understanding by undermining all the potentialities of human reason. When we come upon undiluted evil -- someone like Herman Goering -- rationality is simply stymied and helpless. "Motiveless malignity" makes no sense. ("Umberto Eco and the Semiotics of Power.")
Luther is seemingly seduced by evil -- for which he displays an amazing intuition -- while never succumbing to corruption. This "dance macabre" with sin is Luther's flirtation with the darkest possibilities of his nature that are always defeated in the end by an indestructible moral center. Luther is also "Alice Morgan." ("'The Prisoner': A Review of the AMC Television Series" and "'Alice': A Review of the Sci-Fi Television Series.")
Knowing the sexual pleasure derived by very sick individuals in causing pain or anxiety, controlling or dominating a helpless victim -- whose agony is somehow validating for the criminal -- makes one feel the full weight of conscience.
Whatever happens in my life I doubt that I could ever be evil or a criminal. I must admit that I am often tempted to try to be evil when thinking of New Jersey persons.
Luckily, I have great self-control.
Realizing such a truth about oneself is liberating. It is a necessary burden even to struggle to be a moral person in an age of cruelty. It helps to be certain that the effort is worthwhile. ("John Finnis and Ethical Cognitivism" and "Why I am not an ethical relativist.")
For others the opposite realization -- not only that evil deeds are committable but, worse, that there may be no such thing as "evil" -- may be equally liberating: "What is most liberating," Luther's "Alice Morgan" reminds us in a Nietzschean moment, "is to be unmitigatingly evil." Alice admits to difficulties with impulse control. ("The Wanderer and His Shadow" and "Friedrich Nietzsche On Self-Realization.")
Kenneth Tynan said that when he first saw the young Richard Burton in Hamlet, it was "immediately apparent that a great actor had stepped on to the English stage."
Idris Elba as "John Luther" is a young actor whose screen presence is magnetic and powerful. The last time I said something similar about a young actor, her name was (still is?) "Kate Winslet." I wonder what happened to her? Joelle Carter on "Justified" has this kind of incandescent talent. ("'Justified': A Review of the FX Television Series.")
Mr. Elba is a born movie star. He is also a genuine actor whose anti-heroic qualities in this role are balanced by an unusual sensibility and tenderness not associated in our culture with hyper-masculine roles. Russell Crowe exhibits some similar qualities. These qualities are perfect traits for a vulnerable and tough cop by the name of "John Luther."
Why has this character not been brought to the big screen?
For Luther material "success" in life is less important than saving his world -- non-tourist areas of London or the city's mean streets -- as a police officer (" ... a copper").
One issue raised by the drama has to do with the nature of "success."
What is a life well-lived? How do we measure a man's or woman's "success"? (I "hope and expect," as David Cameron says, to read Howard Jacobson's The Making of Henry.)
Luther is the kind of man who does not wish to face -- or (better) to be delayed or distracted by losses and pain, much less self-analysis -- from the important task of achieving himself or "becoming the person he is" through healing those hurt by evil. Luther needs to capture the bad guys in order to make the world a better place for the helpless masses from which he comes.
Luther wants everyone to be O.K., safe, well-fed and comfortable in a "reality" that makes some kind of rational sense.
This desire or hope is the dream of every wounded child.
The world -- after the events of the twentieth century -- is no longer safe, logical, or comprehensible if it ever was any of those things. ("'Irrational Man': A Movie Review.")
At the conclusion of this drama, after the loss of his wife and career, with his shaky return to the job, beyond personal devastation, lonely and injured, Luther is still fighting, caring, helping a young woman to escape prostitution and drugs.
Luther continues to struggle to make his grimy and dismal Noir world a little better for everyone else. His own feelings seem to be an after-thought or irrelevant which mystifies Alice Morgan.
"It is by a wise economy of nature that those who suffer without change, and whom no one can help, become uninteresting." F.H. Bradley writes: "Yet so it may happen that those who need sympathy the most often attract it the least."
Aphorisms, No. #22 (1930).
Mr. Elba's compassion for Luther -- combined with his avoidance, ultimately, of Luther's self-destructive tendencies -- reveals his character's personal life as a mess that Luther ignores by concentrating on saving the lives of others.
Idris Elba may be the only person who cares deeply about John Luther's happiness.
We see a multi-dimensional human being emerge in this drama, a "character" not easily reduced to a stereotype or cartoon. Realistic details and psychological truth explain audience members' concern for Luther's fate. ("Shakespeare's Black Prince.")
Mr. Elba refuses to tell you what you should think of John Luther. This is Shakespeare's lesson to all of us. No one is a cartoon. No person is entirely good or the opposite.
Mr. Elba would make a fine Hamlet. The difficult task of judgment or interpretation belongs only to the audience member. That's you, the co-author of every text. ("Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Missing Author" and "Metaphor is Mystery.")
Idris Elba is simply the perfect successor to Daniel Craig as "James Bond." ("'Diamonds Are Forever': A Movie Review.")
Ruth Wilson is equally good as the sociopathic killer (I've known a few women like her in my life!) called "Alice," who takes us down the ultimate rabbit hole into the subconscious mind of a psychopathic killer.
Murder is one way to avoid terminal boredom; sex is another means to the same ends. The sexual tension between these two characters on-screen is palpable.
Any time Alice is with Luther there is an excitement that seems to transcend the scene. It is as if there were another presence added to the interaction between these characters that the camera "sees."
I hope to discover these two actors together again. An updated "Nick and Nora Charles" team in the criminal underworld of London, say, in the thirties black-and-white era would make a great miniseries on Masterpiece Mystery.
Mr. Elba may inject new life into the James Bond franchise after Skyfall and Spectre, as I have suggested, becoming the current generation's MI-6 hero in a sinister version of post-Blair Britain, embodying his society's archetype of heroic manhood until now inconceivable as anything other than an aristocratic white man while defending the British empire as an idea if no longer an empirical fact.
The acting challenge for Mr. Elba as 007 would be formidable and delicious.
I can't think of any young actor with greater charm and charisma (or a larger political role or significance as a "hero") to play James Bond than Mr. Elba whether he is "shaken" or "stirred."
To become the Sandhurst and Oxbridge-educated hero, who embodies British class privileges -- while retaining a capacity for ruthless violence -- would allow Mr. Elba to carry the message of a new and more complex notion of greatness for Britain to many more parts of the world as he comments on the significance of this archetype of the hero for today's audiences.
Among predecessors on-screen for Mr. Elba, I suggest Sean Connery and Michael Caine as well as Daniel Craig and, perhaps, Denzel Washington or Sidney Poitier.
Please think about a remake of the British Noir classic "Blue Ice."
Creator and writer of "Luther," Neil Cross ("John Lawton"?), is yet another annoyingly brilliant creative artist in Brit television and cinema.
If Mr. Cross writes mystery novels I have yet to find them. Mr. Cross claims to write under the name "Agatha Christie."
Wonderful supporting performances are offered by Warren Brown (Occupation, Shameless) as "Justin Ripley," a loyal detective who is Horatio to Luther's Hamlet. Justin is tortured by one of the most hateful villains I've seen in a long time. This is a tribute to the actor playing the part Mark North.
Detective "Martin Shenk" is played by Dermott Crowley, as a conventional boss cop who is a stickler for rules that Luther believes get in the way of catching the bad guys and gals allowing for the hero's usual conflicts with authority.
Newcomer Kierston Waering plays "Caroline Jones," who is more concerned with her career than with Luther's friendship, or capturing the culprits, usually with disastrous consequences for her.
With words that sum-up Luther's life and adventures, Raymond Chandler concludes his classic essay "The Simple Art of Murder":
"The story is this man's adventure in search of hidden truth, and it would be no adventure if it did not happen to a man fit for adventure. He has a range of awareness that startles you, but it belongs to him by right, because it belongs to the world he lives in. If there were enough like him, the world would be a safer place to live in ... without becoming too dull to be worth living in."
The Simple Art of Murder, (New York: Vintage, 1988), p. 18. ("Raymond Chandler and the Simple Art of Murder.")
December 20, 2012 at 2:12 P.M. A notice has appeared on my draft, within my blog's dashboard, that states:
"MENTION PEOPLE IN YOUR POST WITH GOOGLE+
New! Now you can call out a Google+ profile or page from your blog to help them notice your post. Connect your blog to Google+ to get started. Learn more."
I do not believe that this message comes from Google or that there is a "Google+."
I can never know from one day to the next whether I will be able to return to these posts in order to continue my work. I am prevented from printing today from the public library's printer.
December 18, 2012 at 1:51 P.M. I am forced to retype this essay in its entirety because I am prevented from editing or revising the previously posted version of the work.
This review first appeared on November 9, 2011. I will retain a copy of that essay showing the date on which I first posted it.
I am told that efforts have been made to plagiarize this work. The harassments and obstructions of editing efforts are part of the cybercrime and censorship that I struggle against, every day.
I continue to receive phone calls from 214-283-1316. The caller is identified as "MARKETING" and/or "MARTIZ RESEARCH" at 636-203-7123. Both calls may originate from the same source, probably this is also true of calls from "Jazmin" at Time/Warner. ("Manhola Dargis Strikes Again!")
November 10, 2011 at 1:16 P.M. The computer (Number 5) at my local library branch was obstructed when I signed-in, so that it had to be restarted twice before I could make use of it. This was after a Latino gentleman left it just before my arrival. Funny, this man had a Miami accent.
Since anyone using this computer today must have signed-in using a public library card -- or daily guest pass -- this person (who shut off the computer) should be easy to identify.
A number of computers and printers at NYPL locations have been destroyed, mysteriously, by Miami persons just before I am scheduled to make use of them. ("How censorship works in America.")
Mr. Menendez, I am not the only person using New York Public Library computers and printers. Please give my regards to Mr. Bigica and Dr. Melgen. ("Illegal Payments to Bob Menendez" and "Menendez Consorts With Underage Prostitutes.")
British drama is still the best quality television available to Americans.
With few exceptions most U.S. television shows do not come close to the UK standard of excellence. "Copper" was a rare miss on BBC America. I hope to review "The Hour," also on BBC America.
As someone who has been plagiarized by persons who have not done well (because they have not understood) my ideas -- beyond making money with my work! -- I think one problem in U.S. television programming may be aiming for the lowest common denominator. Those who have stolen from me, successfully, tend to be more ambitious if somewhat less adept. ("What is it like to be plagiarized?" and "'Brideshead Revisited': A Movie Review" then see "God is Texting Me!" and the CBS series "A Gifted Man.")
The "average" American television viewer (a person whom Iliana Ros Leghtinen would describe as "The Average Joe") has a 6th grade reading level, according to experts, as do many of the Congresswoman's most fervent supporters. ("Manhola Dargis"?)
I suppose that it makes sense to have shows written by mental twelve year-olds for an audience sharing a limited vocabulary -- persons like Stuart Rabner, perhaps. ("Whatever!" then "Nihilists in Disneyworld" and "What did you know, Mr. Rabner, and when did you know it?")
Why not help to educate the audience and elevate tastes by exposing young people to fine drama in a non-threatening way? Downton Abbey?
"That's elitism!" Diana Lisa Riccioli -- my favorite evil Jersey "chic" -- likes to say.
I do not believe a concern with excellence is sexism or inappropriate elitism. David? ("David Stove and the Intellectual Capacity of Women.")
Narrowness of focus allows the rest of the world to disappear in a cloud of ignorant stereotypes and disdainful dismissals. ("An Open Letter to My Torturers in New Jersey, Terry Tuchin and Diana Lisa Riccioli.")
Recently, our British cousins have taught several lessons to upstart Americans -- like me.
"John Luther" on BBC America, for example, is a reinvention of the police serial that focuses on the complex psychology of the eponymous hero whose life unfolds as a struggle against evil.
I will leave for another day my comments about the exquisite David Hare drama, "Page 8." (See my review of the film from Mr. Hare's script, "The Reader.")
"Restless" on Sundance is another example of fine drama based on the novel by William Boyd whose Ordinary Thunderstorms is keeping me up at the moment. This two-part drama exported to "the colonies and dominions of the empire" features outstanding performances by Michael Gambon and Charlotte Rampling as well as Hayley Atwell. The film may still be available "On Demand."
Living under life-or-death pressure for sustained periods of time does strange things to the mind as does the certainty that there are resourceful, well-financed, government-protected persons determined to kill you in one way or another.
Such a realization that one is hated can be enervating and deeply flattering. It is nice to know that you care New Jersey. Mazeltov.
There is also something about the experience of an abyss of evil in persons who are usually fascinated by their opposite numbers -- flawed human beings, like Luther -- fascinated by good persons who could never be evil and whose struggle against malice amounts to being dipped in the acid of hatred. ("Drawing Room Comedy: A Philosophical Essay in the Form of a Film Script.")
Absolute evil -- yes, there is such a thing -- baffles the understanding by undermining all the potentialities of human reason. When we come upon undiluted evil -- someone like Herman Goering -- rationality is simply stymied and helpless. "Motiveless malignity" makes no sense. ("Umberto Eco and the Semiotics of Power.")
Luther is seemingly seduced by evil -- for which he displays an amazing intuition -- while never succumbing to corruption. This "dance macabre" with sin is Luther's flirtation with the darkest possibilities of his nature that are always defeated in the end by an indestructible moral center. Luther is also "Alice Morgan." ("'The Prisoner': A Review of the AMC Television Series" and "'Alice': A Review of the Sci-Fi Television Series.")
Knowing the sexual pleasure derived by very sick individuals in causing pain or anxiety, controlling or dominating a helpless victim -- whose agony is somehow validating for the criminal -- makes one feel the full weight of conscience.
Whatever happens in my life I doubt that I could ever be evil or a criminal. I must admit that I am often tempted to try to be evil when thinking of New Jersey persons.
Luckily, I have great self-control.
Realizing such a truth about oneself is liberating. It is a necessary burden even to struggle to be a moral person in an age of cruelty. It helps to be certain that the effort is worthwhile. ("John Finnis and Ethical Cognitivism" and "Why I am not an ethical relativist.")
For others the opposite realization -- not only that evil deeds are committable but, worse, that there may be no such thing as "evil" -- may be equally liberating: "What is most liberating," Luther's "Alice Morgan" reminds us in a Nietzschean moment, "is to be unmitigatingly evil." Alice admits to difficulties with impulse control. ("The Wanderer and His Shadow" and "Friedrich Nietzsche On Self-Realization.")
Kenneth Tynan said that when he first saw the young Richard Burton in Hamlet, it was "immediately apparent that a great actor had stepped on to the English stage."
Idris Elba as "John Luther" is a young actor whose screen presence is magnetic and powerful. The last time I said something similar about a young actor, her name was (still is?) "Kate Winslet." I wonder what happened to her? Joelle Carter on "Justified" has this kind of incandescent talent. ("'Justified': A Review of the FX Television Series.")
Mr. Elba is a born movie star. He is also a genuine actor whose anti-heroic qualities in this role are balanced by an unusual sensibility and tenderness not associated in our culture with hyper-masculine roles. Russell Crowe exhibits some similar qualities. These qualities are perfect traits for a vulnerable and tough cop by the name of "John Luther."
Why has this character not been brought to the big screen?
For Luther material "success" in life is less important than saving his world -- non-tourist areas of London or the city's mean streets -- as a police officer (" ... a copper").
One issue raised by the drama has to do with the nature of "success."
What is a life well-lived? How do we measure a man's or woman's "success"? (I "hope and expect," as David Cameron says, to read Howard Jacobson's The Making of Henry.)
Luther is the kind of man who does not wish to face -- or (better) to be delayed or distracted by losses and pain, much less self-analysis -- from the important task of achieving himself or "becoming the person he is" through healing those hurt by evil. Luther needs to capture the bad guys in order to make the world a better place for the helpless masses from which he comes.
Luther wants everyone to be O.K., safe, well-fed and comfortable in a "reality" that makes some kind of rational sense.
This desire or hope is the dream of every wounded child.
The world -- after the events of the twentieth century -- is no longer safe, logical, or comprehensible if it ever was any of those things. ("'Irrational Man': A Movie Review.")
At the conclusion of this drama, after the loss of his wife and career, with his shaky return to the job, beyond personal devastation, lonely and injured, Luther is still fighting, caring, helping a young woman to escape prostitution and drugs.
Luther continues to struggle to make his grimy and dismal Noir world a little better for everyone else. His own feelings seem to be an after-thought or irrelevant which mystifies Alice Morgan.
"It is by a wise economy of nature that those who suffer without change, and whom no one can help, become uninteresting." F.H. Bradley writes: "Yet so it may happen that those who need sympathy the most often attract it the least."
Aphorisms, No. #22 (1930).
Mr. Elba's compassion for Luther -- combined with his avoidance, ultimately, of Luther's self-destructive tendencies -- reveals his character's personal life as a mess that Luther ignores by concentrating on saving the lives of others.
Idris Elba may be the only person who cares deeply about John Luther's happiness.
We see a multi-dimensional human being emerge in this drama, a "character" not easily reduced to a stereotype or cartoon. Realistic details and psychological truth explain audience members' concern for Luther's fate. ("Shakespeare's Black Prince.")
Mr. Elba refuses to tell you what you should think of John Luther. This is Shakespeare's lesson to all of us. No one is a cartoon. No person is entirely good or the opposite.
Mr. Elba would make a fine Hamlet. The difficult task of judgment or interpretation belongs only to the audience member. That's you, the co-author of every text. ("Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Missing Author" and "Metaphor is Mystery.")
Idris Elba is simply the perfect successor to Daniel Craig as "James Bond." ("'Diamonds Are Forever': A Movie Review.")
Ruth Wilson is equally good as the sociopathic killer (I've known a few women like her in my life!) called "Alice," who takes us down the ultimate rabbit hole into the subconscious mind of a psychopathic killer.
Murder is one way to avoid terminal boredom; sex is another means to the same ends. The sexual tension between these two characters on-screen is palpable.
Any time Alice is with Luther there is an excitement that seems to transcend the scene. It is as if there were another presence added to the interaction between these characters that the camera "sees."
I hope to discover these two actors together again. An updated "Nick and Nora Charles" team in the criminal underworld of London, say, in the thirties black-and-white era would make a great miniseries on Masterpiece Mystery.
Mr. Elba may inject new life into the James Bond franchise after Skyfall and Spectre, as I have suggested, becoming the current generation's MI-6 hero in a sinister version of post-Blair Britain, embodying his society's archetype of heroic manhood until now inconceivable as anything other than an aristocratic white man while defending the British empire as an idea if no longer an empirical fact.
The acting challenge for Mr. Elba as 007 would be formidable and delicious.
I can't think of any young actor with greater charm and charisma (or a larger political role or significance as a "hero") to play James Bond than Mr. Elba whether he is "shaken" or "stirred."
To become the Sandhurst and Oxbridge-educated hero, who embodies British class privileges -- while retaining a capacity for ruthless violence -- would allow Mr. Elba to carry the message of a new and more complex notion of greatness for Britain to many more parts of the world as he comments on the significance of this archetype of the hero for today's audiences.
Among predecessors on-screen for Mr. Elba, I suggest Sean Connery and Michael Caine as well as Daniel Craig and, perhaps, Denzel Washington or Sidney Poitier.
Please think about a remake of the British Noir classic "Blue Ice."
Creator and writer of "Luther," Neil Cross ("John Lawton"?), is yet another annoyingly brilliant creative artist in Brit television and cinema.
If Mr. Cross writes mystery novels I have yet to find them. Mr. Cross claims to write under the name "Agatha Christie."
Wonderful supporting performances are offered by Warren Brown (Occupation, Shameless) as "Justin Ripley," a loyal detective who is Horatio to Luther's Hamlet. Justin is tortured by one of the most hateful villains I've seen in a long time. This is a tribute to the actor playing the part Mark North.
Detective "Martin Shenk" is played by Dermott Crowley, as a conventional boss cop who is a stickler for rules that Luther believes get in the way of catching the bad guys and gals allowing for the hero's usual conflicts with authority.
Newcomer Kierston Waering plays "Caroline Jones," who is more concerned with her career than with Luther's friendship, or capturing the culprits, usually with disastrous consequences for her.
With words that sum-up Luther's life and adventures, Raymond Chandler concludes his classic essay "The Simple Art of Murder":
"The story is this man's adventure in search of hidden truth, and it would be no adventure if it did not happen to a man fit for adventure. He has a range of awareness that startles you, but it belongs to him by right, because it belongs to the world he lives in. If there were enough like him, the world would be a safer place to live in ... without becoming too dull to be worth living in."
The Simple Art of Murder, (New York: Vintage, 1988), p. 18. ("Raymond Chandler and the Simple Art of Murder.")
Monday, December 17, 2012
Crooked Broker Paid Off Menendez!
Peter J. Sampson, "Broker Gets 5 Years For Fraud, Tax Evasion: Illegally Contributed to Menendez Coffers," in The Record, December 12, 2012, at p. A-1.
"Declaring that 'greed and vanity' motivated his crimes, a federal judge Tuesday sentenced a Bergen County insurance broker to five years in prison for using straw donors [buffers?] to make nearly $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions to U.S. Senator Bob Menendez while evading more than $2 million in personal income tax." (emphasis added!)
Senator Bob's spokesperson and buffer -- Mr. Scarinsky, probably -- will surely explain that Bob Menendez was "victimized" because Mr. Bigica gave him -- Menendez -- lots of money that Menendez felt compelled to accept and deposit.
Perhaps, the deposit was made by Menendez in a private account in the Cayman islands. If so, this was, no doubt, on the advice of Mr. Romney. ("Illegal Payments to Bob Menendez" and "Does Senator Menendez have mafia friends?")
"Bigica, a deep-pockets" -- "successful"? -- "Democrat contributor who won millions of dollars in NO-BID government contracts across North Jersey [quid pro cuo?] was ordered to wear an electronic bracelet until [surrendering on Monday.] ..."
I am surprised that Mr. Bigica, unlike Ken Zisa, was denied bail after sentencing.
I am sure that it will be said with a straight face that the millions of dollars in public money that went to Mr. Bigica had nothing to do with his political contributions to Bob Menendez -- and others.
I am also sure that there were no "kickbacks" by Bigica or contractors receiving those public funds, probably in cash and under the table, to Bob Menendez and Big Nicky Sacco, or the Zisa family, in order to ensure additional future public no-bid contracts being awarded to these fine "gentlemen" in New Jersey. ("Senator Bob, the Babe, and the Big Bucks" and "Mafia Influence in New Jersey Courts and Politics" then "Senator Bob Loves Xanadu!")
"In handing down the sentence, the [federal] judge said Bigica's crimes were fueled by a desire to maintain a lavish lifestyle that included Lamborghini and Ferrari cars, a lifeshare residence in the U.S. virgin [sic.] islands and an apartment for a girlfriend. His deceptions appeared to be ongoing, she said, noting he made $800,000 to $900,000 last year, yet claimed a net worth of $13,000."
Mr. Menendez stated through a spokesperson (which allows the senator, if necessary, to call the statement a "mischaracterization") that he will donate a portion of the Bigica donation to charity. ("More Problems For Menendez -- Tapes!")
How much will be donated to charity from the funds received? When will this donation take place, if it ever does, remains unclear. ("Menendez Gets Over On the Feds.")
Bigica used bogus independent contributors to avoid election laws in order to give Menendez "bribes," allegedly, of $98,600 between 2005 and 2009.
It is unlikely that these payments were made to Menendez because Mr. Bigica shares the senator's passion for immigration law reform. Clearly, for Bigica, this payment was a matter of business expense.
How much more -- if anything -- was paid in cash to Menendez for services rendered is not known at this time. ("Is Menendez For Sale?" and "New Jersey's Child Sex Industry.")
Mr. Menendez is an "ethical" member of the New Jersey Bar Association. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "Is Senator Bob For Human Rights?")
Sources:
New York & the World:
Joseph Goldstein, "New York Sees Errors on DNA In Rape Cases," in The New York Times, January 11, 2013, at p. A1. (How many innocent persons languish in American prisons? Do appellate courts care at all about this reality of false convictions?)
Declan Walsh, "Blasts in Pakistan Kill Scores and Stir Fears On Elections," in The New York Times, January 11, 2013, at p. A12. (Please see "A Commencement Address by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham-Clinton.")
Jennifer Dachal, "Don't Close Guantanamo," (Op-Ed) in The New York Times, January 11, 2013, at p. A33. ("We don't want those people here." So let's torture them in Cuba?)
Jessica Silver-Greenberg & Susanne Craig, "Madoff Aside, Financial Fraud Defies Policing," in The New York Times, January 7, 2013, at p. A1. (I wonder why it is so difficult to prosecute, mostly, white middle class offenders?)
Dan Forsch, "Suit Claims Officer Faked D.U.I. Cases: Fired Utah Trooper Accused of Arresting Dozens of Sober Drivers," in The New York Times, January 3, 2013, at p. A13. (Falsifying evidence, obstructing justice -- sounds like the OAE. "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
Adam Liptak, "Secrecy of Memo on Drone Killing is Upheld," in The New York Times, Jaunary 3, 2013, at p. A17. (The absurd or "Alice in Wonderland" quality of allowing for secret legal opinions in this matter was admitted by the District Court judge who, nevertheless, felt bound to decide in accordance with an illogical and unconstitutional law. The purpose of legal opinions is public scrutiny and debate of the reasoning justifying a legal conclusion in order to determine whether an error requiring revisions in judgment has been made. I believe it was Justice Brandeis who said: "Secrecy is the enemy of freedom and democracy." Secret legal opinions are self-contradictory. The essence of due process of law is notice and an opportunity for the accused to respond in public legal proceedings before state action is taken.)
Colin Moynahan, "Cleared in One '95 Killing, 3 Seek Reversal in Another," in The New York Times, January 3, 2013, at p. A21. ("Justice For Mumia Abu-Jamal" and "Freedom For Mumia Abu-Jamal.")
"When Justice Grinds Slow," (Editorial) in The New York Times, January 3, 2013, at p. A24. (Finally, Gov. Bev. Perdue of North Carolina granted a full pardon to the Wilmington 10. It is never too late to do justice. Only after justice is done can we all move on.)
Peter Baker, "On the Left, Seeing Obama Giving Away Too Much," in The New York Times, January 2, 2013, at p. A12. (I concur to the extent that, so far, the Obama second term is shaping up as a disappointment. Keep hoping for better. Let us have more women in positions of authority, Mr. President.)
Sharon Otterman, "Abuse Verdict Topples a Hasidic Wall of Secrecy," in The New York Times, December 11, 2013, at p. A1. (Lifting the veil on systematic abuse of children in the orthodox Jewish community. "Believe the children!")
New Jersey's Bizarre Incompetence.
"A Full Court's Nominees Deserve a Fair Hearing," (Editorial) in The Record, December 11, 2012, at p. A-10. (Good luck.)
"Hannan Adeley & Michael Copley, "2 Officers Acquitted of Misconduct: Were Charged With Aiding Zisa Cover-Up," in The Record, December 11, 2012, at p. L-1. (A federal civil rights suit and criminal action may be brought against these former officers. "Zisa's Crew Gets Sprung!")
Kim Lueddekke, "Tribute to Teen One Year After Shooting: Family, Friends Still Seek Answers," in The Record, December 11, 2012, at p. L-2. (Was the young man wearing a hoody? I am still seeking answers to atrocities committed against me over decades.)
Peter J. Sampson, "Broker Gets Five Years for Donor Fraud: Illegally Contributed to Menendez Coffers," in The Record, December 12, 2012, at p. A-1. (Bigica made at least $100,000 in payments to Menendez, possibly doubling this amount in under-the-table cash payments to many politicians, allegedly. Were other Democrats "taken-care-of," Mr. Bigica?)
Abbott-Koloff, "Man Hit, Touched Girl,10, Cops Say: Arrest in Fairview Follows An Assault in a Sexual Manner," in The Record, December 12, 2012, at p. L-3. (A Fairview man, Jose Suarez-Soca, 48, alleged Menendez supporter, is charged with sexual assault of a minor.)
Herb Jackson, "Menendez Says Illegal Intern Deceived His Office: Revelation Could Affect Immigration Debate," in The Record, December 13, 2012, at p. A-1. (Menendez was "duped" by illegal intern exactly as he was "deceived" by Mr. Bigica. This "intern" was recommended, allegedly, by a big donor to Senator Menendez who may also have "deceived" Senator Menendez into accepting cash payments.)
Justo Bautista, "A Disbarred Attorney Arrested in Loan Scheme: Accused in Role in Mortgage Fraud," in The Record, January 8, 2013, at p. L-1. (Former alleged member of ethics committee of N.J. bar association has a problem. Ray Gonzales? Gilberto Garcia? Is Michael Rumore, 54, a former associate and colleague of Herbert Klitzner, Esq.? "Herbert Klitzner, Esq.'s Greed and New Jersey's Hypocrisy.")
Ryan Hutchins, "Codey is Urged to Run for Governor," in The Record, January 7, 2013, at p. A-3. (I would rather see Codey challenge Menendez for the Senate.)
"Numbers Don't Lie: Revenue Projections Don't Look Too Rosy," (Editorial) in The Record, January 7, 2013, at p. A-9. (What to do about years of theft and incompetence leading to insolvency? Projecting numbers that will not be there is hardly a solution.)
Peter J. Sampson, "Selection of Bergrin Jury Set to Begin: Lawyer Faces Murder, Racketeering Charges," in The Record, January 7, 2013, at p. L-1. (Stuart Rabner's former colleague at the U.S. Attorney's office, Paul Bergrin, is facing a second trial. "Is Paul M. Bergrin, Esq. an Ethical New Jersey Attorney?")
Kibret Marcos, "Parents Sue Drug Dealer in Son's Death," in The Record, January 8, 2013, at p. L-1. (Proximate cause, duty of care, foreseeability and other issues in Tort and criminal law will be tested. Thank goodness, legal genius, Stuart Rabner, will eventually review these issues.)
"Declaring that 'greed and vanity' motivated his crimes, a federal judge Tuesday sentenced a Bergen County insurance broker to five years in prison for using straw donors [buffers?] to make nearly $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions to U.S. Senator Bob Menendez while evading more than $2 million in personal income tax." (emphasis added!)
Senator Bob's spokesperson and buffer -- Mr. Scarinsky, probably -- will surely explain that Bob Menendez was "victimized" because Mr. Bigica gave him -- Menendez -- lots of money that Menendez felt compelled to accept and deposit.
Perhaps, the deposit was made by Menendez in a private account in the Cayman islands. If so, this was, no doubt, on the advice of Mr. Romney. ("Illegal Payments to Bob Menendez" and "Does Senator Menendez have mafia friends?")
"Bigica, a deep-pockets" -- "successful"? -- "Democrat contributor who won millions of dollars in NO-BID government contracts across North Jersey [quid pro cuo?] was ordered to wear an electronic bracelet until [surrendering on Monday.] ..."
I am surprised that Mr. Bigica, unlike Ken Zisa, was denied bail after sentencing.
I am sure that it will be said with a straight face that the millions of dollars in public money that went to Mr. Bigica had nothing to do with his political contributions to Bob Menendez -- and others.
I am also sure that there were no "kickbacks" by Bigica or contractors receiving those public funds, probably in cash and under the table, to Bob Menendez and Big Nicky Sacco, or the Zisa family, in order to ensure additional future public no-bid contracts being awarded to these fine "gentlemen" in New Jersey. ("Senator Bob, the Babe, and the Big Bucks" and "Mafia Influence in New Jersey Courts and Politics" then "Senator Bob Loves Xanadu!")
"In handing down the sentence, the [federal] judge said Bigica's crimes were fueled by a desire to maintain a lavish lifestyle that included Lamborghini and Ferrari cars, a lifeshare residence in the U.S. virgin [sic.] islands and an apartment for a girlfriend. His deceptions appeared to be ongoing, she said, noting he made $800,000 to $900,000 last year, yet claimed a net worth of $13,000."
Mr. Menendez stated through a spokesperson (which allows the senator, if necessary, to call the statement a "mischaracterization") that he will donate a portion of the Bigica donation to charity. ("More Problems For Menendez -- Tapes!")
How much will be donated to charity from the funds received? When will this donation take place, if it ever does, remains unclear. ("Menendez Gets Over On the Feds.")
Bigica used bogus independent contributors to avoid election laws in order to give Menendez "bribes," allegedly, of $98,600 between 2005 and 2009.
It is unlikely that these payments were made to Menendez because Mr. Bigica shares the senator's passion for immigration law reform. Clearly, for Bigica, this payment was a matter of business expense.
How much more -- if anything -- was paid in cash to Menendez for services rendered is not known at this time. ("Is Menendez For Sale?" and "New Jersey's Child Sex Industry.")
Mr. Menendez is an "ethical" member of the New Jersey Bar Association. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "Is Senator Bob For Human Rights?")
Sources:
New York & the World:
Joseph Goldstein, "New York Sees Errors on DNA In Rape Cases," in The New York Times, January 11, 2013, at p. A1. (How many innocent persons languish in American prisons? Do appellate courts care at all about this reality of false convictions?)
Declan Walsh, "Blasts in Pakistan Kill Scores and Stir Fears On Elections," in The New York Times, January 11, 2013, at p. A12. (Please see "A Commencement Address by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham-Clinton.")
Jennifer Dachal, "Don't Close Guantanamo," (Op-Ed) in The New York Times, January 11, 2013, at p. A33. ("We don't want those people here." So let's torture them in Cuba?)
Jessica Silver-Greenberg & Susanne Craig, "Madoff Aside, Financial Fraud Defies Policing," in The New York Times, January 7, 2013, at p. A1. (I wonder why it is so difficult to prosecute, mostly, white middle class offenders?)
Dan Forsch, "Suit Claims Officer Faked D.U.I. Cases: Fired Utah Trooper Accused of Arresting Dozens of Sober Drivers," in The New York Times, January 3, 2013, at p. A13. (Falsifying evidence, obstructing justice -- sounds like the OAE. "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
Adam Liptak, "Secrecy of Memo on Drone Killing is Upheld," in The New York Times, Jaunary 3, 2013, at p. A17. (The absurd or "Alice in Wonderland" quality of allowing for secret legal opinions in this matter was admitted by the District Court judge who, nevertheless, felt bound to decide in accordance with an illogical and unconstitutional law. The purpose of legal opinions is public scrutiny and debate of the reasoning justifying a legal conclusion in order to determine whether an error requiring revisions in judgment has been made. I believe it was Justice Brandeis who said: "Secrecy is the enemy of freedom and democracy." Secret legal opinions are self-contradictory. The essence of due process of law is notice and an opportunity for the accused to respond in public legal proceedings before state action is taken.)
Colin Moynahan, "Cleared in One '95 Killing, 3 Seek Reversal in Another," in The New York Times, January 3, 2013, at p. A21. ("Justice For Mumia Abu-Jamal" and "Freedom For Mumia Abu-Jamal.")
"When Justice Grinds Slow," (Editorial) in The New York Times, January 3, 2013, at p. A24. (Finally, Gov. Bev. Perdue of North Carolina granted a full pardon to the Wilmington 10. It is never too late to do justice. Only after justice is done can we all move on.)
Peter Baker, "On the Left, Seeing Obama Giving Away Too Much," in The New York Times, January 2, 2013, at p. A12. (I concur to the extent that, so far, the Obama second term is shaping up as a disappointment. Keep hoping for better. Let us have more women in positions of authority, Mr. President.)
Sharon Otterman, "Abuse Verdict Topples a Hasidic Wall of Secrecy," in The New York Times, December 11, 2013, at p. A1. (Lifting the veil on systematic abuse of children in the orthodox Jewish community. "Believe the children!")
New Jersey's Bizarre Incompetence.
"A Full Court's Nominees Deserve a Fair Hearing," (Editorial) in The Record, December 11, 2012, at p. A-10. (Good luck.)
"Hannan Adeley & Michael Copley, "2 Officers Acquitted of Misconduct: Were Charged With Aiding Zisa Cover-Up," in The Record, December 11, 2012, at p. L-1. (A federal civil rights suit and criminal action may be brought against these former officers. "Zisa's Crew Gets Sprung!")
Kim Lueddekke, "Tribute to Teen One Year After Shooting: Family, Friends Still Seek Answers," in The Record, December 11, 2012, at p. L-2. (Was the young man wearing a hoody? I am still seeking answers to atrocities committed against me over decades.)
Peter J. Sampson, "Broker Gets Five Years for Donor Fraud: Illegally Contributed to Menendez Coffers," in The Record, December 12, 2012, at p. A-1. (Bigica made at least $100,000 in payments to Menendez, possibly doubling this amount in under-the-table cash payments to many politicians, allegedly. Were other Democrats "taken-care-of," Mr. Bigica?)
Abbott-Koloff, "Man Hit, Touched Girl,10, Cops Say: Arrest in Fairview Follows An Assault in a Sexual Manner," in The Record, December 12, 2012, at p. L-3. (A Fairview man, Jose Suarez-Soca, 48, alleged Menendez supporter, is charged with sexual assault of a minor.)
Herb Jackson, "Menendez Says Illegal Intern Deceived His Office: Revelation Could Affect Immigration Debate," in The Record, December 13, 2012, at p. A-1. (Menendez was "duped" by illegal intern exactly as he was "deceived" by Mr. Bigica. This "intern" was recommended, allegedly, by a big donor to Senator Menendez who may also have "deceived" Senator Menendez into accepting cash payments.)
Justo Bautista, "A Disbarred Attorney Arrested in Loan Scheme: Accused in Role in Mortgage Fraud," in The Record, January 8, 2013, at p. L-1. (Former alleged member of ethics committee of N.J. bar association has a problem. Ray Gonzales? Gilberto Garcia? Is Michael Rumore, 54, a former associate and colleague of Herbert Klitzner, Esq.? "Herbert Klitzner, Esq.'s Greed and New Jersey's Hypocrisy.")
Ryan Hutchins, "Codey is Urged to Run for Governor," in The Record, January 7, 2013, at p. A-3. (I would rather see Codey challenge Menendez for the Senate.)
"Numbers Don't Lie: Revenue Projections Don't Look Too Rosy," (Editorial) in The Record, January 7, 2013, at p. A-9. (What to do about years of theft and incompetence leading to insolvency? Projecting numbers that will not be there is hardly a solution.)
Peter J. Sampson, "Selection of Bergrin Jury Set to Begin: Lawyer Faces Murder, Racketeering Charges," in The Record, January 7, 2013, at p. L-1. (Stuart Rabner's former colleague at the U.S. Attorney's office, Paul Bergrin, is facing a second trial. "Is Paul M. Bergrin, Esq. an Ethical New Jersey Attorney?")
Kibret Marcos, "Parents Sue Drug Dealer in Son's Death," in The Record, January 8, 2013, at p. L-1. (Proximate cause, duty of care, foreseeability and other issues in Tort and criminal law will be tested. Thank goodness, legal genius, Stuart Rabner, will eventually review these issues.)
Friday, December 14, 2012
Christie's Supreme Court Nominees.
January 10, 2013 at 11:55 A.M. NYPL, Morningside Heights, #10. Graphics have been altered, size makes writing difficult, but I will do my best to make necessary revisions on this essay.
January 9, 2013 at 12:00 P.M. I am at NYPL, Inwood, #6. It was necessary to reboot this computer immediately before I was able to use it. I cannot say whether this will affect my use of the computer or my ability to sign-in at this or any other computer in the future. I will do my best to continue writing from some library computer, every day.
Anthony Campisi & Melissa Hayes, "Christie Aims for 'Balance': Dems Reserve Judgment On Court Nominees," in The Record, December 11, 2012, at p. A-1.
Governor Christie has made an overture to Stephen M. Sweeney, Esq. and Richard J. Codey, Esq. in an effort to move forward the appointment process for candidates to the New Jersey Supreme Court.
This "overture" (Christie hopes) will obviate the necessity for "Shadow Governor," Stuart Rabner, to appoint another person named "Stern" (or "Rodriguez"?) to the fill a vacancy on the court.
Curiously, many of these appointees are "controllable" by the N.J. Chief Justice. I wonder why that is? ("No More Cover-Ups and Lies, Chief Justice Rabner!")
The political struggle over the Supreme Court in Trenton is about Democrats in the Garden State ("care for a Jersey tomato?") holding on to control of the judiciary despite the Republican chief executive's efforts to create a "balanced and diverse" judiciary that just happens to be filled with white middle-aged males. ("New Jersey's Legal System is a Whore House!")
The trouble for "Boss Stuart" is not that appointees are insufficiently "diverse," but that they must be controllable by him. Stuart seeks to walk the line between the Democrat machine and Republican money, while remaining obliged to the "bosses" he must please at all times. ("New Jersey's Feces-Covered Supreme Court" and "New Jersey Supreme Court's Implosion" then "New Jersey's Disgraced Judiciary.")
New Jersey's Bar Association has its own hierarchy and rituals lovingly performed and submitted to by persons who have kissed a number of posteriors in order to get into a position to be nominated for the top spots. ("Mafia Influence in New Jersey Courts and Politics.")
Christie is bypassing the "old boy and girl network." This is not pleasing to the legal powers that be in New Jersey. Dozens of comfortable and well-fed lawyers have discovered that, with the election of a Republican governor, they have spent decades kissing the posteriors of the wrong people. Worse, they have made donations to the out-of-office corrupt politicians as opposed to the in-office corrupt politicians. ("Law and Ethics in the Soprano State.")
Democrats have struggled to take away in the Trenton Senate Chamber what the people of New Jersey granted in the ballot box: the governor's EXCLUSIVE power to appoint judges. ("Christie Attacks New Jersey's Corrupt Judges.")
New Jersey's courts are among the most corrupt in the nation or even in the world. It has been alleged by academics and journalists that New Jersey's judiciary is controlled by organized crime and the shady machine politics of the county bosses and behind-the scenes players that have made New Jersey, "The Soprano State."
The latest warm bodies to be submitted for N.J. Senate confirmation are DAVID BAUMAN, an undistinguished judge from Monmouth County, and ROBERT M. HANA, a Christie crony from the U.S. Attorney's Office and equally undistinguished lawyer.
Rabner was just as undistinguished, come to think of it, Poritz was way below their level of mediocrity. In fact, these are the persons who give mediocrity a bad name. No wonder the judiciary has become a disgrace in New Jersey. ("New Jersey's Unethical Judiciary" and "New Jersey's Politically Connected Lawyers On the Tit" then "Corrupt Law Firms, Senator Bob, and New Jersey Ethics.")
Sadly, Ariel Rodriguez and Jose Fuentes are not in the running for the high court. As regards my matters, both men have said: "They don't know from nothing." Nevertheless, there is a fear that, at least one of those two, may be controlled by Senator Bob. I doubt it.
It cannot be confirmed, at this time, that Judges Fuentes and Rodriguez will be changing their names to "Stern" and "Cohen," respectively.
Mr. Rabner may be seeking instructions from Jerusalem. Bob Menendez is seeking instructions from Miami. Mr. Christie is seeking instructions -- and this is very odd! -- from Mr. Obama. ("What did you know, Mr. Rabner, and when did you know it?" and "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
The breaking Bigica scandal with implications for Bob Menendez and others will be examined in a future post. ("Illegal Payments to Bob Menendez.")
A list of sources detailing the usual revolting corruption, incompetence, theft, and perjury as well as general unsightly spectacle of New Jersey's failed legal system will be attached to this essay in the days ahead.
Sources:
New York & the World:
David Enrlich & Jean Englesham, "UBS in Talks Over $1 BILLION Penalty," in The Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2012, at p. A1. (Best coverage of financial scandal, surprisingly, is found in The Wall Street Journal. HSBC faces $1.9 BILLION in criminal fines, and another $200 MILLION for various civil assessments concerning credit "irregularities." Barclays, Credit Suisse, as well as others -- Morgan Stanley -- are also facing hefty penalties, but no one is going to prison. How strange? "So Black and So Blue in Prison.")
Damien Cave, "American Held in Cuba Takes Aim at Impasse," in The New York Times, November 29, 2012, at p. A6. (Please release ALAN GROSS and allow him to return to his family.)
Sharon Otterman, "Photos of Accuser on Stand Disrupt Sexual Abuse Trial," in The New York Times, November 30, 2012, at p. A29. (Trial of "ultra-Orthodox Jewish counsellor," NECHEMYA WEBERMAN, accused of repeatedly molesting a girl, divides a community.)
Ben Peters & Mark Scott, "UBS is Reported to be Near a Deal on Rate-Rigging," in The New York Times, December 3, 2012, at p. A1. (Disclosures of more banks engaging in a common scheme of "rate-fixing." Criminal conspiracy enhances penalties. Still, no executives are going to prison. "Foucault, Rose, Davis and the Meanings of Prison.")
Susanne Craig, "Trader at Morgan Stanley Faces Inquiry on Possible Manipulation," in The New York Times, December 3, 2012, at p. A1. (Glen Hadden of Morgan Stanley gets to meet the feds. Mr. Hadden will probably not go to prison. "Richard A. Posner and Voluntary Actions and Criminal Responsibility.")
Charlie Savage, "Senate Votes to Limit Detentions Without Trial," in The New York Times, December 2, 2012, at p. A16. (U.S. citizens and green card holders may not be held indefinitely without trial. I thought the Constitution already provides for confrontation and due process of law. Is this vote superfluous? "America's Torture Lawyers.")
Sharon Otterman, "Hasidic Man Denies Abuse Of a Young Girl He Counselled," in The New York Times, December 6, 2012, at p. A29. (Continuing probe into counselling practices in Hasidic community.)
"A Check On Bad Eyewitness Identifications," (Editorial) in The New York Times, December 6, 2012, at p. A34. (Finally, a shifting of the burden to prosecutors in recollection and identification cases.)
Jessica Silver-Greenberg, "Mortgage Crisis Presents Banks a New Reckoning," in The New York Times, December 10, 2012, at p. A1. ($300 BILLION and counting in civil lawsuits against banks in the credit crisis, so far. No culprit is going to prison. "Justice For Mumia Abu-Jamal.")
Ariel Kamner, "Where Theory and Research Meet to Jam About the Mind," in The New York Times, December 10, 2012, at p. A20. (Philosophers and neuroscientists communicate at yearly music festival, but are they fully conscious?)
New Jersey's "Forget-About-It-Situation":
Adrian Saenz, "Teachers Part of Test-Taking Fraud," in The Record, November 26, 2012, at p. A-4. (Ethics?)
Rebecca D. O'Brien, "Judge Dismisses Suit Tied to Forgery Case: Tangled Legal Battle Involves Bergen Democratic Figures," in The Record, November 26, 2012, at p. L-6. (Mayor Tim Durkall of Bergenfield and Sen. Loretta Weinberg accused of using their authority and legal proceedings to target an enemy, secretly, by using fraud charges. Democrat judge tosses the lawsuit, may go to federal court now.)
Justo Bautista, "Man Charged With Sex Assault," in The Record, November 27, 2012, at p. L-2. (Franklin Ponce -- "Ponce" is "pimp" in the UK -- is charged with sexual assault. $250,000 bail. Check on authenticity of this name and non-US priors with Interpol, Mr. Molinelli.)
Shawn Boburg, "$300 MILLION to Repair PATH," in The Record, November 28, 2012, at p. A-1. ($200 MILLION to actually fix the trains; $100 MILLION for the mafia to allow you to do the work in New Jersey. "New Jersey is the Home of the Living Dead" and "Cement is Gold!")
Richard Cowen, "Subpoena Issued in Use of Generators North Haledon Mayor May face Charges," in The Record, November 28, 2012, at p. L-2. (Mayor Randy George may have a problem.)
Melissa Hayes & Herb Jackson, "N.J.'s Storm Bill $37 BILLION: Christie Names Rebuilding Chief," in The Record, November 29, 2012, at p. A-1. (How much will actually reach those who need help, if anything? Will Speaker Boehner make Christie pay a price for his "embrace" of President Obama during the election?)
Peter J. Sampson, "Two North Jersey Union Leaders Deny Embezzling $350,000; Charged in Scheme to Benefit a Spouse," in The Record, November 29, 2012, at p. L-1. (Richard "Buzzy" Dressel and John M. Debouter say they will support Christie for reelection if all charges are dropped. Christie says: "No dice!")
Anthony Campisi, "In Making Tally Official, New Jersey Reports 67% Voted," in The Record, December 10, 2012, at p. A-3. (About 5% of that number voted from beyond the grave, often more than once.)
Richard Cowen, "Prostitution Sweep Nets 14: 'Quality of Life' Campaign in Passaic County," in The Record, December 10, 2012, at p. L-2. (Names of customers and/or police or politicians who allowed this organization to flourish for so long are not disclosed. I wonder why? "So Black and So Blue in Prison" and "America's Holocaust.")
Abbott-Koloff, "Traffic Stop Nets Heroin Suspects: Police Uncover $80,000 in Drugs," in The Record, December 14, 2012, at p. L-1. (TONS of CDS -- i.e., "Controlled Dangerous Substances" -- comes across the GW bridge, every day, into New York city. Fort Lee and other local communities cannot handle the problem and may be hampered by intractable corruption as well as incompetence in efforts to limit the volume of material -- including illegal guns -- crossing the bridge in both directions. This bridge must become a federal responsibility.)
January 9, 2013 at 12:00 P.M. I am at NYPL, Inwood, #6. It was necessary to reboot this computer immediately before I was able to use it. I cannot say whether this will affect my use of the computer or my ability to sign-in at this or any other computer in the future. I will do my best to continue writing from some library computer, every day.
Anthony Campisi & Melissa Hayes, "Christie Aims for 'Balance': Dems Reserve Judgment On Court Nominees," in The Record, December 11, 2012, at p. A-1.
Governor Christie has made an overture to Stephen M. Sweeney, Esq. and Richard J. Codey, Esq. in an effort to move forward the appointment process for candidates to the New Jersey Supreme Court.
This "overture" (Christie hopes) will obviate the necessity for "Shadow Governor," Stuart Rabner, to appoint another person named "Stern" (or "Rodriguez"?) to the fill a vacancy on the court.
Curiously, many of these appointees are "controllable" by the N.J. Chief Justice. I wonder why that is? ("No More Cover-Ups and Lies, Chief Justice Rabner!")
The political struggle over the Supreme Court in Trenton is about Democrats in the Garden State ("care for a Jersey tomato?") holding on to control of the judiciary despite the Republican chief executive's efforts to create a "balanced and diverse" judiciary that just happens to be filled with white middle-aged males. ("New Jersey's Legal System is a Whore House!")
The trouble for "Boss Stuart" is not that appointees are insufficiently "diverse," but that they must be controllable by him. Stuart seeks to walk the line between the Democrat machine and Republican money, while remaining obliged to the "bosses" he must please at all times. ("New Jersey's Feces-Covered Supreme Court" and "New Jersey Supreme Court's Implosion" then "New Jersey's Disgraced Judiciary.")
New Jersey's Bar Association has its own hierarchy and rituals lovingly performed and submitted to by persons who have kissed a number of posteriors in order to get into a position to be nominated for the top spots. ("Mafia Influence in New Jersey Courts and Politics.")
Christie is bypassing the "old boy and girl network." This is not pleasing to the legal powers that be in New Jersey. Dozens of comfortable and well-fed lawyers have discovered that, with the election of a Republican governor, they have spent decades kissing the posteriors of the wrong people. Worse, they have made donations to the out-of-office corrupt politicians as opposed to the in-office corrupt politicians. ("Law and Ethics in the Soprano State.")
Democrats have struggled to take away in the Trenton Senate Chamber what the people of New Jersey granted in the ballot box: the governor's EXCLUSIVE power to appoint judges. ("Christie Attacks New Jersey's Corrupt Judges.")
New Jersey's courts are among the most corrupt in the nation or even in the world. It has been alleged by academics and journalists that New Jersey's judiciary is controlled by organized crime and the shady machine politics of the county bosses and behind-the scenes players that have made New Jersey, "The Soprano State."
The latest warm bodies to be submitted for N.J. Senate confirmation are DAVID BAUMAN, an undistinguished judge from Monmouth County, and ROBERT M. HANA, a Christie crony from the U.S. Attorney's Office and equally undistinguished lawyer.
Rabner was just as undistinguished, come to think of it, Poritz was way below their level of mediocrity. In fact, these are the persons who give mediocrity a bad name. No wonder the judiciary has become a disgrace in New Jersey. ("New Jersey's Unethical Judiciary" and "New Jersey's Politically Connected Lawyers On the Tit" then "Corrupt Law Firms, Senator Bob, and New Jersey Ethics.")
Sadly, Ariel Rodriguez and Jose Fuentes are not in the running for the high court. As regards my matters, both men have said: "They don't know from nothing." Nevertheless, there is a fear that, at least one of those two, may be controlled by Senator Bob. I doubt it.
It cannot be confirmed, at this time, that Judges Fuentes and Rodriguez will be changing their names to "Stern" and "Cohen," respectively.
Mr. Rabner may be seeking instructions from Jerusalem. Bob Menendez is seeking instructions from Miami. Mr. Christie is seeking instructions -- and this is very odd! -- from Mr. Obama. ("What did you know, Mr. Rabner, and when did you know it?" and "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
The breaking Bigica scandal with implications for Bob Menendez and others will be examined in a future post. ("Illegal Payments to Bob Menendez.")
A list of sources detailing the usual revolting corruption, incompetence, theft, and perjury as well as general unsightly spectacle of New Jersey's failed legal system will be attached to this essay in the days ahead.
Sources:
New York & the World:
David Enrlich & Jean Englesham, "UBS in Talks Over $1 BILLION Penalty," in The Wall Street Journal, December 14, 2012, at p. A1. (Best coverage of financial scandal, surprisingly, is found in The Wall Street Journal. HSBC faces $1.9 BILLION in criminal fines, and another $200 MILLION for various civil assessments concerning credit "irregularities." Barclays, Credit Suisse, as well as others -- Morgan Stanley -- are also facing hefty penalties, but no one is going to prison. How strange? "So Black and So Blue in Prison.")
Damien Cave, "American Held in Cuba Takes Aim at Impasse," in The New York Times, November 29, 2012, at p. A6. (Please release ALAN GROSS and allow him to return to his family.)
Sharon Otterman, "Photos of Accuser on Stand Disrupt Sexual Abuse Trial," in The New York Times, November 30, 2012, at p. A29. (Trial of "ultra-Orthodox Jewish counsellor," NECHEMYA WEBERMAN, accused of repeatedly molesting a girl, divides a community.)
Ben Peters & Mark Scott, "UBS is Reported to be Near a Deal on Rate-Rigging," in The New York Times, December 3, 2012, at p. A1. (Disclosures of more banks engaging in a common scheme of "rate-fixing." Criminal conspiracy enhances penalties. Still, no executives are going to prison. "Foucault, Rose, Davis and the Meanings of Prison.")
Susanne Craig, "Trader at Morgan Stanley Faces Inquiry on Possible Manipulation," in The New York Times, December 3, 2012, at p. A1. (Glen Hadden of Morgan Stanley gets to meet the feds. Mr. Hadden will probably not go to prison. "Richard A. Posner and Voluntary Actions and Criminal Responsibility.")
Charlie Savage, "Senate Votes to Limit Detentions Without Trial," in The New York Times, December 2, 2012, at p. A16. (U.S. citizens and green card holders may not be held indefinitely without trial. I thought the Constitution already provides for confrontation and due process of law. Is this vote superfluous? "America's Torture Lawyers.")
Sharon Otterman, "Hasidic Man Denies Abuse Of a Young Girl He Counselled," in The New York Times, December 6, 2012, at p. A29. (Continuing probe into counselling practices in Hasidic community.)
"A Check On Bad Eyewitness Identifications," (Editorial) in The New York Times, December 6, 2012, at p. A34. (Finally, a shifting of the burden to prosecutors in recollection and identification cases.)
Jessica Silver-Greenberg, "Mortgage Crisis Presents Banks a New Reckoning," in The New York Times, December 10, 2012, at p. A1. ($300 BILLION and counting in civil lawsuits against banks in the credit crisis, so far. No culprit is going to prison. "Justice For Mumia Abu-Jamal.")
Ariel Kamner, "Where Theory and Research Meet to Jam About the Mind," in The New York Times, December 10, 2012, at p. A20. (Philosophers and neuroscientists communicate at yearly music festival, but are they fully conscious?)
New Jersey's "Forget-About-It-Situation":
Adrian Saenz, "Teachers Part of Test-Taking Fraud," in The Record, November 26, 2012, at p. A-4. (Ethics?)
Rebecca D. O'Brien, "Judge Dismisses Suit Tied to Forgery Case: Tangled Legal Battle Involves Bergen Democratic Figures," in The Record, November 26, 2012, at p. L-6. (Mayor Tim Durkall of Bergenfield and Sen. Loretta Weinberg accused of using their authority and legal proceedings to target an enemy, secretly, by using fraud charges. Democrat judge tosses the lawsuit, may go to federal court now.)
Justo Bautista, "Man Charged With Sex Assault," in The Record, November 27, 2012, at p. L-2. (Franklin Ponce -- "Ponce" is "pimp" in the UK -- is charged with sexual assault. $250,000 bail. Check on authenticity of this name and non-US priors with Interpol, Mr. Molinelli.)
Shawn Boburg, "$300 MILLION to Repair PATH," in The Record, November 28, 2012, at p. A-1. ($200 MILLION to actually fix the trains; $100 MILLION for the mafia to allow you to do the work in New Jersey. "New Jersey is the Home of the Living Dead" and "Cement is Gold!")
Richard Cowen, "Subpoena Issued in Use of Generators North Haledon Mayor May face Charges," in The Record, November 28, 2012, at p. L-2. (Mayor Randy George may have a problem.)
Melissa Hayes & Herb Jackson, "N.J.'s Storm Bill $37 BILLION: Christie Names Rebuilding Chief," in The Record, November 29, 2012, at p. A-1. (How much will actually reach those who need help, if anything? Will Speaker Boehner make Christie pay a price for his "embrace" of President Obama during the election?)
Peter J. Sampson, "Two North Jersey Union Leaders Deny Embezzling $350,000; Charged in Scheme to Benefit a Spouse," in The Record, November 29, 2012, at p. L-1. (Richard "Buzzy" Dressel and John M. Debouter say they will support Christie for reelection if all charges are dropped. Christie says: "No dice!")
Anthony Campisi, "In Making Tally Official, New Jersey Reports 67% Voted," in The Record, December 10, 2012, at p. A-3. (About 5% of that number voted from beyond the grave, often more than once.)
Richard Cowen, "Prostitution Sweep Nets 14: 'Quality of Life' Campaign in Passaic County," in The Record, December 10, 2012, at p. L-2. (Names of customers and/or police or politicians who allowed this organization to flourish for so long are not disclosed. I wonder why? "So Black and So Blue in Prison" and "America's Holocaust.")
Abbott-Koloff, "Traffic Stop Nets Heroin Suspects: Police Uncover $80,000 in Drugs," in The Record, December 14, 2012, at p. L-1. (TONS of CDS -- i.e., "Controlled Dangerous Substances" -- comes across the GW bridge, every day, into New York city. Fort Lee and other local communities cannot handle the problem and may be hampered by intractable corruption as well as incompetence in efforts to limit the volume of material -- including illegal guns -- crossing the bridge in both directions. This bridge must become a federal responsibility.)
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Zisa's Crew Gets Sprung!
December 13, 2012 at 1:49 P.M. Yesterday, I was prevented from writing or accessing my texts at Philosopher's Quest. An obstruction, allegedly from Google, forced me to abandon my efforts at NYPL computers. I am often obstructed in efforts to reach my blog posts and prevented from writing by the following warning:
"We're sorry, but we're unable to complete your request. When reporting this error to Blogger Support or the Blogger Support Group, please: Describe what you were doing when you got this error. Provide the following error code: BX-c4ybj. This information will help us to trace down your specific problem and fix it. We apologize for the inconvenience."
I doubt that this "warning" -- which I have copied -- comes from Google or Blogger.
Hannan Adely & Michael Copley, "2 Officers Acquitted of Misconduct: Were Charged With Aiding Zisa Cover-Up," in The Record, December 11, 2012, at p. L-1.
New Jersey is governed by persons duly elected by the people and appointed judges apply the law fairly to all litigants.
New Jersey is also governed by organized crime operating through public officials and judges controlled by various bosses. ("Zisa is Up to His Old Tricks" and "Albert Florence and New Jersey's Racism.")
Mr. Zisa -- despite being convicted and sentenced to prison -- is sitting at home awaiting the outcome of an appeal by prosecutors of the trial judge's decision to dismiss several of the counts on which a jury convicted Mr. Zisa.
Zisa may receive a shorter prison sentence, eventually, but this has no bearing on the (at least) three years that he should be serving now. Granting bail to Mr. Zisa, after his sentencing, is without a basis in law.
The judge's decision is inconsistent with the same judge's determination that the original indictment provided an adequate basis from which a reasonable jury might well convict Mr. Zisa if evidence supporting the allegations were presented at trial -- and the adequacy of the trial evidence is for the jury alone to decide. ("So Black and So Blue in Prison" and "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State.")
The shadow government in New Jersey means that "connected" insiders get their friends to do favors, legal and illegal -- like altering public records, falsifying statements, manufacturing evidence or making evidence "disappear," as needed -- in order to help or harm particular individuals based on their "loyalty" to the organization. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical" Legal System" and "Corrupt Law Firms, Senator Bob, and New Jersey Ethics.")
On a day when HSBC bank directors have ADMITTED money laundering that makes them the tacit partners of international drug cartels ($9 BILLION-plus involved, fine is $1 BILLION) and they will not go to prison, dirty cops in Hackensack working for Zisa and "family" were given a free pass for allegations of altering police reports and other public records. ("Is America's Legal Ethics a Lie?" and "New Jersey's Politically-Connected Lawyers On the Tit.")
"HACKENSACK -- Two city police officers were found not guilty of official misconduct" -- John McGill, Esq.? -- "and conspiracy for allegedly helping the former police chief cover-up a robbery and assault investigation."
Mr. Zisa and his crew continue to deny mafia affiliations.
My old friend Judge Donald R.Venezia, a good singer and former Broadway performer, is the right guy to keep things tightly shut inside the Bergen County "clubhouse."
Federal attention is needed here, perhaps an action under federal civil rights laws will produce a just result. ("Driving While Black [DWB] in New Jersey.")
A list of examples of more disgusting disparities in outcome (often aligned with race in New Jersey), mafia influence in courtrooms, corruption and incompetence will be added to this essay in the days ahead.
Members of the African-American community have been heard to say: "Let's get tough on crime!"
Sources:
New York & the World:
Louis Michael Seidman, "Let's Give Up On the Constitution," in The New York Times, December 31, 2012, at p. A19. (Amazingly, an alleged Georgetown University Constitutional Law Professor argues that we should "move beyond" the Constitution. Good luck on the bar exam students of Professor Seidman.)
Jonathan Weisman, "Tentative Accord Reached to Raise Taxes on Wealthy," in The New York Times, January 1, 2013, at p. A1. ("Congress fails to meet the deadline to avert broad increases and budget evils." Your tax dollars at work.)
Adam Liptak, "Chief Justice Prods Congress to Resolve Budget Talks and Control National Debt," in The New York Times, January 1, 2013, at p. A12. (Chief Justice Roberts seems to be delving into partisan politics -- on the Republican side -- in taking a PUBLIC position on these controversial issues. Will this not preclude an impartial decision should these issues arrive before the Supreme Court for resolution? What about the Canons of Judicial Ethics, Mr. Roberts?)
Ethan Bonner, "Lawyers, Saying DNA Cleared Inmate, Pursue Access to Data," in The New York Times, January 4, 2013, at p. A1. (Turn over the torture and rape files, Mr. Rabner. Have you no sense of decency, sir? "No More Cover-Ups and Lies, Chief Justice Rabner!")
Peter Applebone, "The Children Of A Tragedy Are Returned to School Life," in The New York Times, January 4, 2013, at p. A17. (Survivors of horrible incidents of gun violence return to school. These children have been damaged for life.)
Ravi Somaiya & Wendy Ruderman, "3 Officers Are Wounded in 2 Shootings; A Gunman is Killed," in The New York Times, January 4, 2013, at p. A17. (More persons injured and killed throughout the country in gun violence. "America's Love of Violence.")
Matt Flegenheimer, "A Mother, A Gun Enthusiast[,] and the First Victim," in The New York Times, December 16, 2012, at p. A1. (Adam Lanza, 20, crazed gun-wielding assailant, was able to purchase fire arms on-line, including assault weapons.)
Dylan McClain, "Highest-Ever Ranking Is Milestone For Carlsen," in The New York Times, December 16, 2012, at p. A25. (Magnus Carlsen, 22, achieves highest grandmaster rating in history and is not yet world champion. Focus on middle game virtuosity, chess enthusiasts. Can Mr. Carlsen drive legally?)
Erica Goode, "Rifle Used in Killings, America's Most Popular, Highlights Regulation Debate," in The New York Times, December 17, 2012, at p. A25. (A high-powered weapon has appeared in many recent shootings. Hunting?)
David Barnston, et als., "The Bribery Aisle: How Wal-Mart Used Pay-Offs to Get Its Way in Mexico," in The New York Times, December 18, 2012, at p. A1. (New Jersey? U.S. businesses now routinely violate anti-corruption laws from the eighties. Whatever!)
New Jersey's Nightmare Before, During, and After Christmas:
Alfred P. Doblin, "Christie's Spoonfull of Barbara Walters," in The Record, December 17, 2012, at p. A-11. (Would Ms. Walters ask a woman whether she is "too fat" to be president? This question shows a lack of sensitivity to men's issues, Ms. Walters.One shouldnever comment on a man's appearance, not even to pay him a compliment.)
Lindy Washburn, "N.J. Autism Rate Soared in 4 Years; Study Offers No Explanation for Near Doubling," in The Record, December 18, 2012, at p. L-1. (Diana Lisa Riccioli, allegedly, is one of New Jersey's autism sufferers. This illness would explain a great deal.)
Richard Cowen, "Police Say Cop Went AWOL for Three Days After Sandy," in The Record, December 18, 2012, at p. L-1. (Did the cop leave a notice indicating where he was going and when he would be back? I always did that much when going on vacation.)
Peter J. Sampson, "4th North Bergen Official is Accused of CORRUPTION," in The Record, December 18, 2012, at p. L-2. (Timothy J. Grossi, 72, is only the latest North Bergen official to face indictment for corruption. Another investigation in January, 2013 -- allegedly -- is focusing on several North Bergen police officers. Others in Union City are also under suspicion.)
Melissa Hayes, "2 Bergen Judges Up For Reappointment," in The Record, December 18, 2012, at p. L-2. (Allegations of political favors by judges seeking reappointment to get pension benefits.)
Melissa Hayes, "Union Gives Christie a Big Hand," in The Record, December 19, 2012, at p. A-1. (Union with alleged organized crime credentials supports Christie. Politics makes for strange bedfellows.)
Monsy Alvarado, "Ridgefield Man is Indicted in Theft: Vet Accused of Taking $2,500 From Legion," in The Record, December 20, 2012, at p.L-1. (Local "connected" man may have been protected by police and politicians, initially. This is an old story in New Jersey.)
Chris Harris, "School Board Mum On Absent Superintendent," in The Record, December 20, 2012, at p. L-2. (Geoffrey Zeller "dispappeared" for a week and may have used public resources in his home. What the hell? OAE?)
Peter J. Sampson, "North Bergen Official Guilty of EXTORTION: Admits Receiving Cash Payments From Contractors' Workers," in The Record, December 21, 2012, at p. L-3. (John T. "Jack" Kennell, 49, pleaded guilty to corruption and theft, while denying mafia affiliations, as North Bergen's Housing Authority "boss.")
Abbott-Koloff, "Man Charged With Having Child Porn," in The Record, December 21, 2012, at p. L-3. (Justin Hertzberg charged with possession of child pornography in Passaic County. More such allegations throughout New Jersey are coming up! No wonder attempts to prevent me from posting this list of sources were made today. Is censorship "ethical," Mr. Rabner?)
"We're sorry, but we're unable to complete your request. When reporting this error to Blogger Support or the Blogger Support Group, please: Describe what you were doing when you got this error. Provide the following error code: BX-c4ybj. This information will help us to trace down your specific problem and fix it. We apologize for the inconvenience."
I doubt that this "warning" -- which I have copied -- comes from Google or Blogger.
Hannan Adely & Michael Copley, "2 Officers Acquitted of Misconduct: Were Charged With Aiding Zisa Cover-Up," in The Record, December 11, 2012, at p. L-1.
New Jersey is governed by persons duly elected by the people and appointed judges apply the law fairly to all litigants.
New Jersey is also governed by organized crime operating through public officials and judges controlled by various bosses. ("Zisa is Up to His Old Tricks" and "Albert Florence and New Jersey's Racism.")
Mr. Zisa -- despite being convicted and sentenced to prison -- is sitting at home awaiting the outcome of an appeal by prosecutors of the trial judge's decision to dismiss several of the counts on which a jury convicted Mr. Zisa.
Zisa may receive a shorter prison sentence, eventually, but this has no bearing on the (at least) three years that he should be serving now. Granting bail to Mr. Zisa, after his sentencing, is without a basis in law.
The judge's decision is inconsistent with the same judge's determination that the original indictment provided an adequate basis from which a reasonable jury might well convict Mr. Zisa if evidence supporting the allegations were presented at trial -- and the adequacy of the trial evidence is for the jury alone to decide. ("So Black and So Blue in Prison" and "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State.")
The shadow government in New Jersey means that "connected" insiders get their friends to do favors, legal and illegal -- like altering public records, falsifying statements, manufacturing evidence or making evidence "disappear," as needed -- in order to help or harm particular individuals based on their "loyalty" to the organization. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical" Legal System" and "Corrupt Law Firms, Senator Bob, and New Jersey Ethics.")
On a day when HSBC bank directors have ADMITTED money laundering that makes them the tacit partners of international drug cartels ($9 BILLION-plus involved, fine is $1 BILLION) and they will not go to prison, dirty cops in Hackensack working for Zisa and "family" were given a free pass for allegations of altering police reports and other public records. ("Is America's Legal Ethics a Lie?" and "New Jersey's Politically-Connected Lawyers On the Tit.")
"HACKENSACK -- Two city police officers were found not guilty of official misconduct" -- John McGill, Esq.? -- "and conspiracy for allegedly helping the former police chief cover-up a robbery and assault investigation."
Mr. Zisa and his crew continue to deny mafia affiliations.
My old friend Judge Donald R.Venezia, a good singer and former Broadway performer, is the right guy to keep things tightly shut inside the Bergen County "clubhouse."
Federal attention is needed here, perhaps an action under federal civil rights laws will produce a just result. ("Driving While Black [DWB] in New Jersey.")
A list of examples of more disgusting disparities in outcome (often aligned with race in New Jersey), mafia influence in courtrooms, corruption and incompetence will be added to this essay in the days ahead.
Members of the African-American community have been heard to say: "Let's get tough on crime!"
Sources:
New York & the World:
Louis Michael Seidman, "Let's Give Up On the Constitution," in The New York Times, December 31, 2012, at p. A19. (Amazingly, an alleged Georgetown University Constitutional Law Professor argues that we should "move beyond" the Constitution. Good luck on the bar exam students of Professor Seidman.)
Jonathan Weisman, "Tentative Accord Reached to Raise Taxes on Wealthy," in The New York Times, January 1, 2013, at p. A1. ("Congress fails to meet the deadline to avert broad increases and budget evils." Your tax dollars at work.)
Adam Liptak, "Chief Justice Prods Congress to Resolve Budget Talks and Control National Debt," in The New York Times, January 1, 2013, at p. A12. (Chief Justice Roberts seems to be delving into partisan politics -- on the Republican side -- in taking a PUBLIC position on these controversial issues. Will this not preclude an impartial decision should these issues arrive before the Supreme Court for resolution? What about the Canons of Judicial Ethics, Mr. Roberts?)
Ethan Bonner, "Lawyers, Saying DNA Cleared Inmate, Pursue Access to Data," in The New York Times, January 4, 2013, at p. A1. (Turn over the torture and rape files, Mr. Rabner. Have you no sense of decency, sir? "No More Cover-Ups and Lies, Chief Justice Rabner!")
Peter Applebone, "The Children Of A Tragedy Are Returned to School Life," in The New York Times, January 4, 2013, at p. A17. (Survivors of horrible incidents of gun violence return to school. These children have been damaged for life.)
Ravi Somaiya & Wendy Ruderman, "3 Officers Are Wounded in 2 Shootings; A Gunman is Killed," in The New York Times, January 4, 2013, at p. A17. (More persons injured and killed throughout the country in gun violence. "America's Love of Violence.")
Matt Flegenheimer, "A Mother, A Gun Enthusiast[,] and the First Victim," in The New York Times, December 16, 2012, at p. A1. (Adam Lanza, 20, crazed gun-wielding assailant, was able to purchase fire arms on-line, including assault weapons.)
Dylan McClain, "Highest-Ever Ranking Is Milestone For Carlsen," in The New York Times, December 16, 2012, at p. A25. (Magnus Carlsen, 22, achieves highest grandmaster rating in history and is not yet world champion. Focus on middle game virtuosity, chess enthusiasts. Can Mr. Carlsen drive legally?)
Erica Goode, "Rifle Used in Killings, America's Most Popular, Highlights Regulation Debate," in The New York Times, December 17, 2012, at p. A25. (A high-powered weapon has appeared in many recent shootings. Hunting?)
David Barnston, et als., "The Bribery Aisle: How Wal-Mart Used Pay-Offs to Get Its Way in Mexico," in The New York Times, December 18, 2012, at p. A1. (New Jersey? U.S. businesses now routinely violate anti-corruption laws from the eighties. Whatever!)
New Jersey's Nightmare Before, During, and After Christmas:
Alfred P. Doblin, "Christie's Spoonfull of Barbara Walters," in The Record, December 17, 2012, at p. A-11. (Would Ms. Walters ask a woman whether she is "too fat" to be president? This question shows a lack of sensitivity to men's issues, Ms. Walters.One shouldnever comment on a man's appearance, not even to pay him a compliment.)
Lindy Washburn, "N.J. Autism Rate Soared in 4 Years; Study Offers No Explanation for Near Doubling," in The Record, December 18, 2012, at p. L-1. (Diana Lisa Riccioli, allegedly, is one of New Jersey's autism sufferers. This illness would explain a great deal.)
Richard Cowen, "Police Say Cop Went AWOL for Three Days After Sandy," in The Record, December 18, 2012, at p. L-1. (Did the cop leave a notice indicating where he was going and when he would be back? I always did that much when going on vacation.)
Peter J. Sampson, "4th North Bergen Official is Accused of CORRUPTION," in The Record, December 18, 2012, at p. L-2. (Timothy J. Grossi, 72, is only the latest North Bergen official to face indictment for corruption. Another investigation in January, 2013 -- allegedly -- is focusing on several North Bergen police officers. Others in Union City are also under suspicion.)
Melissa Hayes, "2 Bergen Judges Up For Reappointment," in The Record, December 18, 2012, at p. L-2. (Allegations of political favors by judges seeking reappointment to get pension benefits.)
Melissa Hayes, "Union Gives Christie a Big Hand," in The Record, December 19, 2012, at p. A-1. (Union with alleged organized crime credentials supports Christie. Politics makes for strange bedfellows.)
Monsy Alvarado, "Ridgefield Man is Indicted in Theft: Vet Accused of Taking $2,500 From Legion," in The Record, December 20, 2012, at p.L-1. (Local "connected" man may have been protected by police and politicians, initially. This is an old story in New Jersey.)
Chris Harris, "School Board Mum On Absent Superintendent," in The Record, December 20, 2012, at p. L-2. (Geoffrey Zeller "dispappeared" for a week and may have used public resources in his home. What the hell? OAE?)
Peter J. Sampson, "North Bergen Official Guilty of EXTORTION: Admits Receiving Cash Payments From Contractors' Workers," in The Record, December 21, 2012, at p. L-3. (John T. "Jack" Kennell, 49, pleaded guilty to corruption and theft, while denying mafia affiliations, as North Bergen's Housing Authority "boss.")
Abbott-Koloff, "Man Charged With Having Child Porn," in The Record, December 21, 2012, at p. L-3. (Justin Hertzberg charged with possession of child pornography in Passaic County. More such allegations throughout New Jersey are coming up! No wonder attempts to prevent me from posting this list of sources were made today. Is censorship "ethical," Mr. Rabner?)
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
"We've seen through it all ..."
James Wolcott, "The Job That Failed," (Book Review) in The New Republic, November 8, 2012, at p. 42.
Will Self, "Martin Amis: The Misinformation," in Junk Mail (New York: Grove/Atlantic, 2006), p. 41.
Dwight Garner, "The Life of a Writer Reviewed," in The New York Times, December 5, 2012, at p. C1. Review of a biography of Martin Amis is marred by grammatical and logical errors: " ... Richard Bradford, with whom he cooperated (though [sic.] did not formally authorize), has achieved a book ..." Manohla?
Robert Verbruggen, "Grievance Class," in National Review, October 29, 2012, at p. 47. Writer who complains about the logic and grammar in the work of a student focusing on African-American issues says: "The problem with identity studies is not that gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity are not important." (emphasis added!) Double negative, Manohla? Cornel West's interest in "Prophetic Christianity" does not mean that Professor West claims to be a prophet.
Public criticisms of U.S. media have never been greater or more intense, nor (it must be said) so utterly ignored by journalists who are fond of scrutinizing the motives and parsing the words of others in public life.
Politicians are fair game for the media; deranged and fallen actresses and fashion models may be attacked; billionaires sporting orange hair pieces are worthy targets for condescension among trendy journalists -- whereas journalists themselves are beyond reproach in their own eyes.
Aside from the phone hacking scandal in Britain and the usual craven, soft-porn page 6 salivating indulged in by the Murdoch press, there is (usually) greater honesty in the UK about the gadfly function of what should be -- but often isn't -- a "free and independent" press in democratic societies.
Journalists, please feel free to go after the fat cats and powerful politicians, by all means, but not idealistic young activists struggling for a better world. Don't use serious works of literature as an excuse for indulging in political rhetoric, especially if you have not read the books you review.
American journalism has become paid political advertising, often for Republicans (TNR?) whose wealth purchases loyal servants among grovelling members of the media. Even monetary advantages -- Republicans' greater ability to provide "free stuff" to their loyalists (like Mr. O'Reilly?) -- did not help the unpleasant Mr. Romney. It is obvious to all of us in the audience that self-love is the name of the game in Fleet Street and Union Square, among media glitterati.
A sample of self-love is the well-written (credit where credit is due) diatribe by James Wolcott (James Wood?) doing a bad Martin Amis impersonation in The New Republic. I am aware of Alexander Wolcott (terrific!) and of Mr. James Wolcott's typical prose, but I doubt that this review was written entirely by James Wolcott.
In what purports to be a book review in The New Republic we are treated to a caricature of the "bad boy" Martin Amis of hallowed legend, as described in the gutter press of the seventies by ... well, "Martin Amis." ("Images and Death.")
Mr. Wolcott has seen through it all. He is weary of life, bored with English literature, politics, philosophy. He is "above" Western civilization; he is past William Shakespeare; and no doubt dismissive of what Richard Posner -- a Federal Circuit Court Judge -- has called, "the worship of the American Constitution." ("What is it like to be plagiarized?" and "'Brideshead Revisited': A Movie Review.")
Pass me the Perrier bottled water and an apricot. I detect Mr. Wolcott's Upper West Side drawl and nasal twang in his prose. I observe a man wearing a comfortable old sweater, holding his pipe in his left hand, in well-worn chinos, leather loafers (worn without socks), removing his tortoiseshell glasses and then shaking his head in sighing disapproval of Mr. Amis and other upstarts (like me) who dare to believe anything in a nihilistic age. ("Nihilists in Disneyworld" and "Whatever.")
Why care about the fate of the planet or that America -- certainly New Jersey -- is governed by child molesters? No reason. Quoting D.H. Lawrence, Mr. Wolcott dismisses all of British civilization in a paragraph:
" -- Curse the blasted, jelly-boned swines, the slimy, the belly-wriggling invertebrates, the miserable sodding rotters, the flaming sods, the sniveling, dribbling, dithering palsied pulse-less lot [David Cameron?] that make up England today --" (p. 42.)
The novel that has so offended Mr. Wolcott is Lionel Asbo: State of England (New York & London: Knopf, 2012). Mr. Wolcott's effusion will leave readers uninformed about whether this book is worth reading (yes, it is) or important (too soon to tell). The impression conveyed to the reader is that the reviewer could easily write a better novel any time he wishes.
This leads to the supposition that the reviewer's literary voice -- at least in this article -- is the creation of Martin Amis in a wicked and satirical mood that is intended to illustrate Mr. Amis' criticisms of literary journalists on both sides of the Atlantic. Shame on you, Martin, for your naughty ways:
"Amis was never the sort of cozy writer who could settle into a plummy mellow maturity -- as in Time's Arrow and The Information, his mature voice bears the mortal freight of history's horrors and of personal extinction -- and as he keeps sharp watch on the chipping away of body and mind by aging's cruel elves, going full curmudgeon isn't really an option." (p. 44.)
So Martin has gone in for "sportive tricks," eh? I also miss the Hitch, Martin. I worry about "Martin Amis." (Yes, he is a genius child.) I admire Hollinghurst, Byatt, Zadie Smith, Waters, Barnes, McEwan, Rushdie as well as that Irish imp, John Banville, who will never equal Benjamin Black. ("Playing Snookers With Martin Amis" and "Lord Malquist and Mr. Moon.")
I expect that residents of the British isles will continue to kick ass in literature. Few Americans will keep up with them. Keep your eyes on Jonathan Franzen. I will continue to read, Martin. I expect and hope that you will continue to write.
Try harder next time, Mr. Wolcott.
Will Self, "Martin Amis: The Misinformation," in Junk Mail (New York: Grove/Atlantic, 2006), p. 41.
Dwight Garner, "The Life of a Writer Reviewed," in The New York Times, December 5, 2012, at p. C1. Review of a biography of Martin Amis is marred by grammatical and logical errors: " ... Richard Bradford, with whom he cooperated (though [sic.] did not formally authorize), has achieved a book ..." Manohla?
Robert Verbruggen, "Grievance Class," in National Review, October 29, 2012, at p. 47. Writer who complains about the logic and grammar in the work of a student focusing on African-American issues says: "The problem with identity studies is not that gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity are not important." (emphasis added!) Double negative, Manohla? Cornel West's interest in "Prophetic Christianity" does not mean that Professor West claims to be a prophet.
Public criticisms of U.S. media have never been greater or more intense, nor (it must be said) so utterly ignored by journalists who are fond of scrutinizing the motives and parsing the words of others in public life.
Politicians are fair game for the media; deranged and fallen actresses and fashion models may be attacked; billionaires sporting orange hair pieces are worthy targets for condescension among trendy journalists -- whereas journalists themselves are beyond reproach in their own eyes.
Aside from the phone hacking scandal in Britain and the usual craven, soft-porn page 6 salivating indulged in by the Murdoch press, there is (usually) greater honesty in the UK about the gadfly function of what should be -- but often isn't -- a "free and independent" press in democratic societies.
Journalists, please feel free to go after the fat cats and powerful politicians, by all means, but not idealistic young activists struggling for a better world. Don't use serious works of literature as an excuse for indulging in political rhetoric, especially if you have not read the books you review.
American journalism has become paid political advertising, often for Republicans (TNR?) whose wealth purchases loyal servants among grovelling members of the media. Even monetary advantages -- Republicans' greater ability to provide "free stuff" to their loyalists (like Mr. O'Reilly?) -- did not help the unpleasant Mr. Romney. It is obvious to all of us in the audience that self-love is the name of the game in Fleet Street and Union Square, among media glitterati.
A sample of self-love is the well-written (credit where credit is due) diatribe by James Wolcott (James Wood?) doing a bad Martin Amis impersonation in The New Republic. I am aware of Alexander Wolcott (terrific!) and of Mr. James Wolcott's typical prose, but I doubt that this review was written entirely by James Wolcott.
In what purports to be a book review in The New Republic we are treated to a caricature of the "bad boy" Martin Amis of hallowed legend, as described in the gutter press of the seventies by ... well, "Martin Amis." ("Images and Death.")
Mr. Wolcott has seen through it all. He is weary of life, bored with English literature, politics, philosophy. He is "above" Western civilization; he is past William Shakespeare; and no doubt dismissive of what Richard Posner -- a Federal Circuit Court Judge -- has called, "the worship of the American Constitution." ("What is it like to be plagiarized?" and "'Brideshead Revisited': A Movie Review.")
Pass me the Perrier bottled water and an apricot. I detect Mr. Wolcott's Upper West Side drawl and nasal twang in his prose. I observe a man wearing a comfortable old sweater, holding his pipe in his left hand, in well-worn chinos, leather loafers (worn without socks), removing his tortoiseshell glasses and then shaking his head in sighing disapproval of Mr. Amis and other upstarts (like me) who dare to believe anything in a nihilistic age. ("Nihilists in Disneyworld" and "Whatever.")
Why care about the fate of the planet or that America -- certainly New Jersey -- is governed by child molesters? No reason. Quoting D.H. Lawrence, Mr. Wolcott dismisses all of British civilization in a paragraph:
" -- Curse the blasted, jelly-boned swines, the slimy, the belly-wriggling invertebrates, the miserable sodding rotters, the flaming sods, the sniveling, dribbling, dithering palsied pulse-less lot [David Cameron?] that make up England today --" (p. 42.)
The novel that has so offended Mr. Wolcott is Lionel Asbo: State of England (New York & London: Knopf, 2012). Mr. Wolcott's effusion will leave readers uninformed about whether this book is worth reading (yes, it is) or important (too soon to tell). The impression conveyed to the reader is that the reviewer could easily write a better novel any time he wishes.
This leads to the supposition that the reviewer's literary voice -- at least in this article -- is the creation of Martin Amis in a wicked and satirical mood that is intended to illustrate Mr. Amis' criticisms of literary journalists on both sides of the Atlantic. Shame on you, Martin, for your naughty ways:
"Amis was never the sort of cozy writer who could settle into a plummy mellow maturity -- as in Time's Arrow and The Information, his mature voice bears the mortal freight of history's horrors and of personal extinction -- and as he keeps sharp watch on the chipping away of body and mind by aging's cruel elves, going full curmudgeon isn't really an option." (p. 44.)
So Martin has gone in for "sportive tricks," eh? I also miss the Hitch, Martin. I worry about "Martin Amis." (Yes, he is a genius child.) I admire Hollinghurst, Byatt, Zadie Smith, Waters, Barnes, McEwan, Rushdie as well as that Irish imp, John Banville, who will never equal Benjamin Black. ("Playing Snookers With Martin Amis" and "Lord Malquist and Mr. Moon.")
I expect that residents of the British isles will continue to kick ass in literature. Few Americans will keep up with them. Keep your eyes on Jonathan Franzen. I will continue to read, Martin. I expect and hope that you will continue to write.
Try harder next time, Mr. Wolcott.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Projects.
December 3, 2012 at 1:51 P.M. A telephone call was received by me today at 11:28 A.M. from 305-368-8896. I wonder who may be calling me from Florida? The Cuban American National Foundation? Manohla Dargis? Marco Rubio?
December 1, 2012 at 2:25 P.M. Recent conversations and exchanges by way of press conferences in Washington, D.C. make it clear that we are facing a repetition of the gridlock that defined President Obama's first term in office.
The "angry white men" of all genders and races or ethnicities (Republicans) are opposed to attempts to require wealthy persons to pay their fair share of taxes. ("Republicans Unplugged" and "Presidential Debates.")
Mr. Obama cannot allow his middle class base to continue to get "shafted" (in Mr. Nixon's elegant phrase). Hence, we are at an impasse: 4 more years of paralysis will be disastrous for America.
Peter J. Sampson, "Oury Gets Probation in Corruption Case: Judge Labels Conduct 'Reprehensible'," in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. A-1. (Former member of the county ethics committee and distinguished member of the bar, allegedly, is convicted of corruption. Mr. Oury gets a walk.)
Gary Lupon & Daphna Thier, "Testifying Against Israel's Apartheid," in Socialist Worker, November, 2012, at p. 19. http://www.socialistworker.org/2012/10/10testifying-against-israeli-apartheid ("America's Gridlock and the Crisis in Gaza." Lectures sponsored by "Socialist Worker" are coming to your city.)
Will America go over the so-called "fiscal cliff"?
Perhaps some politicians feel that such a crisis would be "beneficial." Besides, there are many other cliffs over which we are certainly going over or falling right now: Global warming's threat to humanity is, mostly, being ignored by the U.S. because American corporations do not wish to pay more taxes or to lose profits by taking action to deal with the threat; Afghanistan is heating up with American casualties now at 2,143 and wounded at about 15,000 in addition to the 10,000 killed and 100,000 wounded in Iraq and continuing "related conflicts"; robot bombs are still falling in Pakistan even as bombs have stopped falling, temporarily, in Gaza.
N.J. has yet to respond to requests from me for the truth about my "experiences" of torture as they are required to do under federal and state laws. ("Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture.")
More New Jersey lawyers, judges, and politicians are facing ethics and criminal charges (Gilberto Garcia?), several of whom were members of the ethics committee or involved in efforts to target me from "behind the back." A number of such people now seek my advice. Good luck, ladies and gentlemen.
I can neither confirm nor deny whether either Terry Tuchin and/or Diana Lisa Riccioli is still involved in interrogational hypnosis aimed mostly against African-American and Latino defendants. ("An Open Letter to My Torturers in New Jersey, Terry Tuchin and Diana Lisa Riccioli" and "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")
I also cannot supply information concerning Lourdes Santiago's current status nor as to John McGill, Nydia Hernandez, Mary Ann Kriko, or Sybil R. Moses. ("Trenton's Nasty Lesbian Love-Fest" and "Jennifer Velez is a Dyke Magnet!" then "Sybil R. Moses and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")
Is there a "connection" between Bob Yudin and Sybil R. Moses and/or Terry Tuchin? Debbie Poritz? ("No More Cover-Ups and Lies, Chief Justice Rabner!")
I will continue to struggle against censorship and cybercrime from New Jersey aimed at silencing me and denying you access to these writings.
At any time, protected cybercriminals from New Jersey may prevent me from editing or posting writings on-line. No images can be posted by me. No e-mails can be sent or received by me. All of this interference with my Internet writings and research is, and has been, illegal or even criminal. ("How censorship works in America.")
I am told that I will never be able to sign-in in order to write at this blog again. We will see. I will continue to struggle.
November 30, 2012 at 1:50 P.M. Calls were received yesterday from "TELEFUND, INC." 617-292-7701. "MARITZ RESEARCH"? Perhaps this is the same source as the calls ostensibly from "Jazmin" at Time/Warner. Attempts to make revisions and edit texts today (2:59 P.M.) at "Philosopher's Quest" were obstructed by cybercriminals from New Jersey. I will continue to attempt to access my writings and revise or edit my work, freely. ("How censorship works in America" and "Censorship and Cybercrime.")
November 29, 2012 at 1:55 P.M. Due to bizarre experiences this afternoon at my NYPL computer, I am concerned about future censorship or denials of access to the Internet for my 45 minutes per day.
I will continue to struggle to write every day.
Below are outlines of two works that I wish to post on-line, somehow and somewhere -- if I can find a way to do so. I have already finished the essay "On Memory."
My writings have been plagiarized and censored, suppressed and destroyed, often enough, even as American officials call for tolerance of dissent on-line. This level of cybercrime and censorship that I have experienced could not take place without government cooperation.
Writers in Cuba, China, the Middle East and elsewhere will have to decide on the seriousness of America's national commitment to freedom of speech and Internet debate. (Again: "How censorship works in America.")
Do we wish to encourage dissent and protect dissenters/dissidents everywhere in the world? Regardless of the views expressed by dissidents? Or are we concerned to protect dissidents exclusively when they agree with Republicans in Congress or mainstream U.S. views?
I am grateful for the support and encouragement of many friends in America and throughout the world. I am particularly encouraged by reports that Cubans are accessing these blogs. I hope that this is true. ("Time to End the Embargo Against Cuba.")
"How Big Is Infinity?"
Tony Gilroy, The Big Questions: Mathematics (New York: Metro, 2012), pp. 55-65, pp. 104-113. (See also "Can you lie to yourself?" in this blog.)
I. SET THEORY AND THE INFINITY REVOLUTION.
A. Distinguishing Infinity From Eternity.
B. Formulas Versus Equations.
C. The Puzzle of Time/Space -- "'In Time': A Movie Review."
D. "Imagination is a Wonderful Thing."
II. HILBERT'S HOTEL AND BECKETT'S BROWNSTONE.
A. Open-Ended Versus Closed-Systems.
B. "Anybody got a loop?"
C. Aesthetic Objects and Hermeneutic Theory: Realism Versus Intuitionism in the Philosophy of Mathematics.
III. CANTOR'S "CONTINUUM HYPOTHESIS" IN AESTHETICS AND MATHEMATICS.
A. Hans-Georg Gadamer's Hermeneutics.
B. Mathematical Recipes and the Formula for Everything.
C. Prigogine and the Formula for the Universe.
CONCLUSION.
A. Godel's Incompleteness as a "Hermeneutics of Freedom": Is Math About Beauty?
"On Memory."
G.E.M. Anscombe, "Memory and the Past," in Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Mind (Minn.: U. Minn. Press, 1981), pp. 103-133.
INTRODUCTION: ISSUES AND DEFINITIONS.
A. Psychoanalytic Issues.
B. Philosophical Issues.
I. PERSONAL HISTORY AS MEMORY: IS THE PAST "REAL"?
A. Representational Theories of Memory.
B. Realist Theories of Memory.
C. Critical-Realist Theories of Memory.
D. Ricoeur's "Time and Narrative": Hermeneutic Theories of Memory.
II. COLLECTIVE HISTORY AS MEMORY AND MIRAGE.
A. Who defines what we remember as real? ("'Total Recall': A Movie Review.")
B. History, Culture, Politics and Other "Fictions of Memory."
CONCLUSION.
A. The Struggle For Memory.
December 1, 2012 at 2:25 P.M. Recent conversations and exchanges by way of press conferences in Washington, D.C. make it clear that we are facing a repetition of the gridlock that defined President Obama's first term in office.
The "angry white men" of all genders and races or ethnicities (Republicans) are opposed to attempts to require wealthy persons to pay their fair share of taxes. ("Republicans Unplugged" and "Presidential Debates.")
Mr. Obama cannot allow his middle class base to continue to get "shafted" (in Mr. Nixon's elegant phrase). Hence, we are at an impasse: 4 more years of paralysis will be disastrous for America.
Peter J. Sampson, "Oury Gets Probation in Corruption Case: Judge Labels Conduct 'Reprehensible'," in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. A-1. (Former member of the county ethics committee and distinguished member of the bar, allegedly, is convicted of corruption. Mr. Oury gets a walk.)
Gary Lupon & Daphna Thier, "Testifying Against Israel's Apartheid," in Socialist Worker, November, 2012, at p. 19. http://www.socialistworker.org/2012/10/10testifying-against-israeli-apartheid ("America's Gridlock and the Crisis in Gaza." Lectures sponsored by "Socialist Worker" are coming to your city.)
Will America go over the so-called "fiscal cliff"?
Perhaps some politicians feel that such a crisis would be "beneficial." Besides, there are many other cliffs over which we are certainly going over or falling right now: Global warming's threat to humanity is, mostly, being ignored by the U.S. because American corporations do not wish to pay more taxes or to lose profits by taking action to deal with the threat; Afghanistan is heating up with American casualties now at 2,143 and wounded at about 15,000 in addition to the 10,000 killed and 100,000 wounded in Iraq and continuing "related conflicts"; robot bombs are still falling in Pakistan even as bombs have stopped falling, temporarily, in Gaza.
N.J. has yet to respond to requests from me for the truth about my "experiences" of torture as they are required to do under federal and state laws. ("Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture.")
More New Jersey lawyers, judges, and politicians are facing ethics and criminal charges (Gilberto Garcia?), several of whom were members of the ethics committee or involved in efforts to target me from "behind the back." A number of such people now seek my advice. Good luck, ladies and gentlemen.
I can neither confirm nor deny whether either Terry Tuchin and/or Diana Lisa Riccioli is still involved in interrogational hypnosis aimed mostly against African-American and Latino defendants. ("An Open Letter to My Torturers in New Jersey, Terry Tuchin and Diana Lisa Riccioli" and "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")
I also cannot supply information concerning Lourdes Santiago's current status nor as to John McGill, Nydia Hernandez, Mary Ann Kriko, or Sybil R. Moses. ("Trenton's Nasty Lesbian Love-Fest" and "Jennifer Velez is a Dyke Magnet!" then "Sybil R. Moses and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")
Is there a "connection" between Bob Yudin and Sybil R. Moses and/or Terry Tuchin? Debbie Poritz? ("No More Cover-Ups and Lies, Chief Justice Rabner!")
I will continue to struggle against censorship and cybercrime from New Jersey aimed at silencing me and denying you access to these writings.
At any time, protected cybercriminals from New Jersey may prevent me from editing or posting writings on-line. No images can be posted by me. No e-mails can be sent or received by me. All of this interference with my Internet writings and research is, and has been, illegal or even criminal. ("How censorship works in America.")
I am told that I will never be able to sign-in in order to write at this blog again. We will see. I will continue to struggle.
November 30, 2012 at 1:50 P.M. Calls were received yesterday from "TELEFUND, INC." 617-292-7701. "MARITZ RESEARCH"? Perhaps this is the same source as the calls ostensibly from "Jazmin" at Time/Warner. Attempts to make revisions and edit texts today (2:59 P.M.) at "Philosopher's Quest" were obstructed by cybercriminals from New Jersey. I will continue to attempt to access my writings and revise or edit my work, freely. ("How censorship works in America" and "Censorship and Cybercrime.")
November 29, 2012 at 1:55 P.M. Due to bizarre experiences this afternoon at my NYPL computer, I am concerned about future censorship or denials of access to the Internet for my 45 minutes per day.
I will continue to struggle to write every day.
Below are outlines of two works that I wish to post on-line, somehow and somewhere -- if I can find a way to do so. I have already finished the essay "On Memory."
My writings have been plagiarized and censored, suppressed and destroyed, often enough, even as American officials call for tolerance of dissent on-line. This level of cybercrime and censorship that I have experienced could not take place without government cooperation.
Writers in Cuba, China, the Middle East and elsewhere will have to decide on the seriousness of America's national commitment to freedom of speech and Internet debate. (Again: "How censorship works in America.")
Do we wish to encourage dissent and protect dissenters/dissidents everywhere in the world? Regardless of the views expressed by dissidents? Or are we concerned to protect dissidents exclusively when they agree with Republicans in Congress or mainstream U.S. views?
I am grateful for the support and encouragement of many friends in America and throughout the world. I am particularly encouraged by reports that Cubans are accessing these blogs. I hope that this is true. ("Time to End the Embargo Against Cuba.")
"How Big Is Infinity?"
Tony Gilroy, The Big Questions: Mathematics (New York: Metro, 2012), pp. 55-65, pp. 104-113. (See also "Can you lie to yourself?" in this blog.)
I. SET THEORY AND THE INFINITY REVOLUTION.
A. Distinguishing Infinity From Eternity.
B. Formulas Versus Equations.
C. The Puzzle of Time/Space -- "'In Time': A Movie Review."
D. "Imagination is a Wonderful Thing."
II. HILBERT'S HOTEL AND BECKETT'S BROWNSTONE.
A. Open-Ended Versus Closed-Systems.
B. "Anybody got a loop?"
C. Aesthetic Objects and Hermeneutic Theory: Realism Versus Intuitionism in the Philosophy of Mathematics.
III. CANTOR'S "CONTINUUM HYPOTHESIS" IN AESTHETICS AND MATHEMATICS.
A. Hans-Georg Gadamer's Hermeneutics.
B. Mathematical Recipes and the Formula for Everything.
C. Prigogine and the Formula for the Universe.
CONCLUSION.
A. Godel's Incompleteness as a "Hermeneutics of Freedom": Is Math About Beauty?
"On Memory."
G.E.M. Anscombe, "Memory and the Past," in Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Mind (Minn.: U. Minn. Press, 1981), pp. 103-133.
INTRODUCTION: ISSUES AND DEFINITIONS.
A. Psychoanalytic Issues.
B. Philosophical Issues.
I. PERSONAL HISTORY AS MEMORY: IS THE PAST "REAL"?
A. Representational Theories of Memory.
B. Realist Theories of Memory.
C. Critical-Realist Theories of Memory.
D. Ricoeur's "Time and Narrative": Hermeneutic Theories of Memory.
II. COLLECTIVE HISTORY AS MEMORY AND MIRAGE.
A. Who defines what we remember as real? ("'Total Recall': A Movie Review.")
B. History, Culture, Politics and Other "Fictions of Memory."
CONCLUSION.
A. The Struggle For Memory.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
The Betrayal of Law.
November 29, 2012 at 1:42 P.M. I was forced to sign-in at Yahoo (Spanish) when I logged on to computer number #4, Morningside Heights branch, NYPL. I can never know from one day to the next whether I will be able to write at these blogs. If more than two days pass without alteration of these writings it means that I am prevented from writing against my will. Hacking into NYPL computers is a violation of the law, Mr. Menendez. ("How censorship works in America.")
November 28, 2012 at 12:01 P.M. I received a call at my home from 1-347-502-2556. This is one of several calls from this cell phone number which, I am sure, is legitimate. Perhaps the call is from "Jazmin" at Time/Warner? Yahoo in Spanish?
Jimmy Carter, "A Cruel and Unusual Record," in The New York Times, June 25, 2012, at p. A19.
Lauren E. Bohn, "Carter Declares A 'Crisis Stage' For Israeli/Palestinian Relations," in The Star Ledger, October 23, 2012, at p. 8.
Mark Landler & Jeremy Peters, "Rice Concedes Error On Libya; G.O.P. Digs In," in The New York Times, November 28, 2012, at p. A1.
I have yet to read the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding -- at least in part -- the Obama Health Care Law. Efforts by Republicans to make this law an issue in the presidential election backfired on them, fortunately.
On the basis of news accounts, this seems like a sound judicial decision reflecting Chief Justice Roberts' recognition, I believe, that the Court must not be perceived as politically partisan on issues (which it often is) or motivated by a desire to assist one political party or the other (which is rarely true), together with his effort to balance the scales by granting an outcome to the liberal justices.
Justice Scalia is still, allegedly and reputedly, furious with the Chief for his vote in this controversial case.
The swing vote on the Court is usually Justice Kennedy's "concurrance." Perhaps, in the future, Chief Justice Roberts will more often side with the forces of goodness and light -- i.e., the liberals -- ensuring a greater place for himself in legal history. If Justice Holmes is remembered as "the Great Dissenter," then Justice Kennedy may be known to history as the "the Great Concurrer."
During a week (Summer, 2012) when the Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder, faced contempt charges for withholding discoverable material from Congress (Ms. Rice?), the national commitment to and understanding of the rule of law has become suspect and is subject to challenge. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State" then "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
The perception in the world is that U.S. talk of "legality" is often a hypocritical lie. ("Legality and Legal Ethics" and "New Jersey is the Home of the Living Dead" then "Is America's Legal Ethics a Lie?")
"Revelations that top officials are targeting people to be assassinated abroad, including American citizens, are only the most recent, disturbing proof of how far our nation's violations of human rights have extended."
These are the words of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter who is also a Nobel Prize winner (2005):
"Recent legislation has made legal the president's right to detain a person indefinitely on suspicion of affiliation with terrorist organizations. ..." (emphasis added!)
Americans are being targeted for assassination without judicial proceedings of any kind or (in the opinion of most legal experts) anything that can be called "due process of law" as required by the Constitution.
Mr. Holder, it is not due process of law to say: "We discussed this assassination among ourselves and decided there was no need to tell the victim or to explain our secret reasons for determining that an American citizen should be killed without having a chance to counter whatever accusations, if any, there may be against him or her, or to explain him- or herself."
No one seems to care much about this. The corporate media seems strangely docile.
What happened to the independent press in America? 9/11? Is there any independent press these days? Not that I can see. ("What is it like to be plagiarized?" and "'Brideshead Revisited': A Movie Review.")
Many of us who are dark-skinned or "ethnic" (Latinos) are also subject to "stop and frisk" detentions, sometimes for hours, monitored or censored and prevented from speaking based on our opinions, or worse -- like me -- also plagiarized, exposed to cybercrime, assaults, and more based on our controversial statements, or for any or no reason that is ever communicated to us.
"Yahoo in Spanish" should be taking notes: Are you people from Miami or Union City? ("Manohla Dargis Strikes Again" and "Cubanazos Pose a Threat to National Security.")
A recent documentary on the Central Park jogger case or the murder of Trayvon Martin makes it clear that we have a long way to go to achieve true racial justice.
Other persons in America may be stolen from with impunity, tortured or raped in prisons and jails. ("Albert Florence and American Racism" and "Psychological Torture in the American Legal System" then "Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "America's Holocaust" and "Foucault, Rose, Davis and the Meanings of Prison.")
Like the robot-bomb campaign, mindless "get tough" policies have been counterproductive, turning people against the U.S. by creating enemies where we should find friends -- as in Pakistan -- while fostering long-lasting hatreds.
Hostility to Americans is on the rise in many parts of the world, not just the Middle East. This hostility accounts for the attacks on the U.S. embassy in Libya and may well produce similar attacks in any of a dozen other embassies at any time. ("A Report Card For Barack Obama" and "Havana Nights and C.I.A. Tapes.")
As in New Jersey, where courts and the legal establishment have negated legal ethics and come to symbolize appalling corruption and America's so-called "decline" for many persons in the world, so the U.S. which, essentially, created the modern system of international law after World War Two, is now the embodiment of international illegality -- or even CRIMINALITY -- for millions (or billions) of people. President Carter closed his essay with an important caution:
"At a time when popular revolutions are sweeping the globe, the United States should be strengthening, not weakening, basic rules of law and principles of justice enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But instead of making the world safer, America's violation of international human rights abets our enemies and alienates our friends."
November 28, 2012 at 12:01 P.M. I received a call at my home from 1-347-502-2556. This is one of several calls from this cell phone number which, I am sure, is legitimate. Perhaps the call is from "Jazmin" at Time/Warner? Yahoo in Spanish?
Jimmy Carter, "A Cruel and Unusual Record," in The New York Times, June 25, 2012, at p. A19.
Lauren E. Bohn, "Carter Declares A 'Crisis Stage' For Israeli/Palestinian Relations," in The Star Ledger, October 23, 2012, at p. 8.
Mark Landler & Jeremy Peters, "Rice Concedes Error On Libya; G.O.P. Digs In," in The New York Times, November 28, 2012, at p. A1.
I have yet to read the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding -- at least in part -- the Obama Health Care Law. Efforts by Republicans to make this law an issue in the presidential election backfired on them, fortunately.
On the basis of news accounts, this seems like a sound judicial decision reflecting Chief Justice Roberts' recognition, I believe, that the Court must not be perceived as politically partisan on issues (which it often is) or motivated by a desire to assist one political party or the other (which is rarely true), together with his effort to balance the scales by granting an outcome to the liberal justices.
Justice Scalia is still, allegedly and reputedly, furious with the Chief for his vote in this controversial case.
The swing vote on the Court is usually Justice Kennedy's "concurrance." Perhaps, in the future, Chief Justice Roberts will more often side with the forces of goodness and light -- i.e., the liberals -- ensuring a greater place for himself in legal history. If Justice Holmes is remembered as "the Great Dissenter," then Justice Kennedy may be known to history as the "the Great Concurrer."
During a week (Summer, 2012) when the Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder, faced contempt charges for withholding discoverable material from Congress (Ms. Rice?), the national commitment to and understanding of the rule of law has become suspect and is subject to challenge. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State" then "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
The perception in the world is that U.S. talk of "legality" is often a hypocritical lie. ("Legality and Legal Ethics" and "New Jersey is the Home of the Living Dead" then "Is America's Legal Ethics a Lie?")
"Revelations that top officials are targeting people to be assassinated abroad, including American citizens, are only the most recent, disturbing proof of how far our nation's violations of human rights have extended."
These are the words of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter who is also a Nobel Prize winner (2005):
"Recent legislation has made legal the president's right to detain a person indefinitely on suspicion of affiliation with terrorist organizations. ..." (emphasis added!)
Americans are being targeted for assassination without judicial proceedings of any kind or (in the opinion of most legal experts) anything that can be called "due process of law" as required by the Constitution.
Mr. Holder, it is not due process of law to say: "We discussed this assassination among ourselves and decided there was no need to tell the victim or to explain our secret reasons for determining that an American citizen should be killed without having a chance to counter whatever accusations, if any, there may be against him or her, or to explain him- or herself."
No one seems to care much about this. The corporate media seems strangely docile.
What happened to the independent press in America? 9/11? Is there any independent press these days? Not that I can see. ("What is it like to be plagiarized?" and "'Brideshead Revisited': A Movie Review.")
Many of us who are dark-skinned or "ethnic" (Latinos) are also subject to "stop and frisk" detentions, sometimes for hours, monitored or censored and prevented from speaking based on our opinions, or worse -- like me -- also plagiarized, exposed to cybercrime, assaults, and more based on our controversial statements, or for any or no reason that is ever communicated to us.
"Yahoo in Spanish" should be taking notes: Are you people from Miami or Union City? ("Manohla Dargis Strikes Again" and "Cubanazos Pose a Threat to National Security.")
A recent documentary on the Central Park jogger case or the murder of Trayvon Martin makes it clear that we have a long way to go to achieve true racial justice.
Other persons in America may be stolen from with impunity, tortured or raped in prisons and jails. ("Albert Florence and American Racism" and "Psychological Torture in the American Legal System" then "Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "America's Holocaust" and "Foucault, Rose, Davis and the Meanings of Prison.")
Like the robot-bomb campaign, mindless "get tough" policies have been counterproductive, turning people against the U.S. by creating enemies where we should find friends -- as in Pakistan -- while fostering long-lasting hatreds.
Hostility to Americans is on the rise in many parts of the world, not just the Middle East. This hostility accounts for the attacks on the U.S. embassy in Libya and may well produce similar attacks in any of a dozen other embassies at any time. ("A Report Card For Barack Obama" and "Havana Nights and C.I.A. Tapes.")
As in New Jersey, where courts and the legal establishment have negated legal ethics and come to symbolize appalling corruption and America's so-called "decline" for many persons in the world, so the U.S. which, essentially, created the modern system of international law after World War Two, is now the embodiment of international illegality -- or even CRIMINALITY -- for millions (or billions) of people. President Carter closed his essay with an important caution:
"At a time when popular revolutions are sweeping the globe, the United States should be strengthening, not weakening, basic rules of law and principles of justice enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But instead of making the world safer, America's violation of international human rights abets our enemies and alienates our friends."
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
President Obama's Unkept Promise.
"Close Guantanamo Prison: Mr. Obama's Promise to Shut Down the Nationwide Detention Facility Deserves High Priority," (Editorial) in The New York Times, November 26, 2012, at p. A26.
"On his second day in office in 2009, President Obama signed an executive Order that was a declaration of American renewal and decency hailed around the globe. It called for the closure, in no more than a year, of the detention camp at the United States naval facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- the grim emblem of President George W. Bush's lawless [emphasis added] policies of torture and detention. Accompanied by other executive orders signaling a break from the Bush era of justice delayed and denied, it was a bold beginning."
Guantanamo was not closed during the president's first term. Blaming the Congress is not convincing. The prison is a federal facility which the president should be able to close at the stroke of a pen.
This "concentration camp" -- for this is the term for the Guantanamo facility throughout the world -- has become a symbol of America's legal contradictions and hypocrisy.
Indeed, much the same is true of my situation, I believe, because I am involved in a daily struggle against cybercrime, censorship, and various slanders or psychological torture attempts.
I am involved in this struggle in a nation that lectures to the world about tolerance for dissent and free speech. There is no guarantee that I will be able to continue writing from one day to the next.
Incidentally, I am not a "bartender" nor do I drink alcohol. I cannot say what other falsehoods are disseminated about me. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")
Distractions and failed attempts to change the subject are mostly irrelevant to the critique offered in these blogs of what is clearly a serious problem in New Jersey.
Most of the men still held in Guantanamo (166 inmates remain at that prison) have never been charged with any offense nor tried for any reason.
No one now seriously disputes that most of these individuals -- far from being "the worst of the worst," as Mr. Rumsfeld suggested -- are not terrorists and have committed no crimes. We are stuck with these persons. Their torture and continued incarceration seems to satisfy some visceral and primal need for scapegoats after 9/11.
It is plausible to suppose that Mr. Obama wished to avoid being depicted as "soft on terrorism" by the people who will see him in such terms no matter what he does. (Mr. Netanyahu?)
The president has continued Bush era policies that violate fundamental human rights which America is committed to defending on the world stage.
Worse, Mr. Obama has encroached on Americans' civil rights in a manner that must delight Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan: execution of Americans without due process of law, robot bombs that have taken the lives of thousands of mostly innocent persons who are dismissed as "collateral damage," surveillance and monitoring of communications by individuals throughout the world, including within the nation's borders, and similar tactics are increasingly "routine."
Does any of this overreaching make us "safer" or more secure? I doubt it. I am sure that the robot bombs make us less secure and contribute to a more dangerous world situation.
Fundamentalist Islamic forces in Pakistan -- some allied with the Talliban -- are growing stronger and have recently engaged in a bombing campaign in reaction to U.S. actions in Pakistan.
A nation with a hundred nuclear weapons is in real danger of falling to fundamentalist forces friendly to the Talliban because of our failed policies in the region for which we can blame both American political parties.
New Jersey's dismal effort to conceal its own disintegration into the status of a failed jurisdiction by means of lies and attacks aimed at hurting and silencing me -- along with many others -- falls into the same category of heinousness and stupidity.
"The new administration decided to adopt the Bush era's extravagant claims of state secrets and executive power, blocking any accountability for the detention and brutalization of hundreds of men at Guantanamo and secret prisons, and denying torture victims their day in court."
These are great crimes still being committed by the nation that must embody the rule of international human rights laws. Ignoring such crimes has an acid-like effect on the moral character of our nation and fosters an international climate of hostility to basic principles of legality and political ethics on the global stage.
We have undone the work of generations of legal scholars and statespersons (Mrs. Roosevelt, Justice Robert Jackson, and others among them) in pursuit of torture and drone policies in order to accomplish nothing of value.
New Jersey's lies and crimes committed against me appear equally pointless and idiotic.
Do you speak to me of "ethics," Mr. Rabner?
Sources:
New York & the World:
Jodi Rudoren, "Ex-Foreign Minister Heads Party to Oppose Netanyahu," in The New York Times, November 28, 2012, at p. A8. (Gaza has cost Mr. Netanyahu even in Israeli domestic politics.)
Kareem Fahim, "Egypt Protesters Gather to Denounce Mori in Scenes Recalling Uprising," in The New York Times, November 28, 2012, at p. A12. (Developments in Egypt suggest Mr. Morsi was perceived as a "winner" in the Gaza matter, but not at home?)
"A Needless Charge for Prison Families," (Editorial) in The New York Times, November 28, 2012, at p. A33. (Exhorbitant fees for calls to families, usually collect, from inmates further exploits a vulnerable and often poor population group.)
John F. Burns & Alan Cowell, "British Lawmakers Warn Against Press Restrictions," in The New York Times, November 29, 2012, at p. A10. (Levenson report discussed during question time with the Prime Minister this week opted, essentially, for self-regulation by the UK media. It cannot be confirmed that someone hacked into Lord Levenson's phone.)
Adam Liptak, "Court Muses On Unicorns In Debating Sentencing," in The New York Times, November 29, 2012, at p. A18. (It is rare when oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court touch upon the metaphysics of essences, nominalism, "unicorns," and jurisprudence: "Robert Unger's Revolutionary Legal Theory" and "What is Law?")
Maria Eugenia Diaz & William Neuman, "Venezuelan Judge Who Angered Chavez Says She Was Raped While in Prison," in The New York Times, November 27, 2012, at p. A5. (The number of rapes in U.S. prisons exceeds the proportional rate in Venezuela.)
James Risen, "Suit Planned Over Death of Man C.I.A. Drugged," in The New York Times, November 27, 2012, at p. A21. (Man killed by CIA "mind control" experiments -- which have gone underground since the eighties -- whose family members are now suing the government.)
Sharon Otterman, "Sex Abuse Trial of Brooklyn Man Begins," in The New York Times, November 27, 2012, at p. A25. (Orthodox community in Brooklyn is divided over painful child abuse revelations and scandals.)
John Markoff, "Learning Curve: No Longer Just a Human Trait," in The New York Times, November 24, 2012, at p. A1. (Learning and self-inventing programs aimed at creating A.I. systems take the next step: "Mind and Machine" and "John Searle and David Chambers On Consciousness.")
"Their Problem With Elizabeth Warren," (Editorial) in The New York Times, November 24, 2012, at p. A20. (Republican opposition to the most qualified Democrat in the Senate to serve on the banking committee, Elizabeth Warren, must not prevent the junior senator from Mass. from serving on that committee.)
New Jersey's Continuing Farce:
"Christie Seeks $37 BILLION for Sandy Relief," (Editorial) in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. A-20. (How much of this money -- if received -- will be stolen? Conservative estimates suggest 40-50% will disappear in New Jersey. Perhaps Mayor Jones of Paterson will be entrusted with distribution of the funds.)
Allison Pries & Michael Copley, "Surgeon Arrested On Drug Charges: Accused of Improperly Filling Prescriptions," in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. L-1. (Physicians in New Jersey routinely assist with illegal drug distribution and the "questioning-torture" of victims in the legal system as well as with frauds aimed against the insurance industry. This includes, allegedly, MARY ANN BENIGNO, 52, of Saddle River, New Jersey where a recent "private network" of child porn enthusiasts has been uncovered.)
Monsy Alvarado & Allison Pries, "Pal Park Still Mum On Cops in Shooting: Chief Says Setbacks Stall Release of IDs," in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. L-1. (Inquiry beginning into fatal shooting of a man in Leonia, Bergen County, again.)
Hannan Adeley, "Zisa's Ex- May Join Pension Litigation: Possibly Entitled to Payments," in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. L-1. (Disgraced former Hackensack Police Chief, KEN ZISA, now awaiting the outcome of an appeal that will determine the length of his prison stay, may have an ex-wife -- as distinct from a former mistress with whom he conspired to defraud insurance companies -- entitled to half of one, or all, of his pensions even if Mr. Zisa is a convicted fellon. N.J. taxpayers don't mind, right?)
Peter J. Sampson, "Man Guilty in Mortgage Scam: Father, Son Bilked $4.4 MILLION From Lenders," in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. L-2. (Frederick "Freddie" Grippo, 32, of Old Bridge, admitted to bilking distressed homeowners of $4.4 MILLION with the assistance of several well-respected New Jersey law firms as well as his dad. "New Jersey's Politically-Connected Lawyers On the Tit" and "Corrupt Law Firms, Senator Bob, and New Jersey Ethics.")
Richard Cowen, "Town Begins New Inquiry On Generators: North Hudson to Investigate Officials' Use of Borough Gear," in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. L-3. (Mayor Randy George decided to "take care" of his own needs for power before worrying about town residents. This "shabbyness" and/or "shabbiness" is normal in New Jersey.)
Kibret Marcos, "Fair Lawn Man Convicted of Molesting Toddler: Jurors Had Deadlocked Last Year," in The Record, November 20, 2012, at p. L-3. (Latest in the epidemic of child abuse conspiracies, private networks, scandals in New Jersey. This one involving John Katsiagiannis, 30, from Fair Lawn, N.J., another Bergen County offender. Ms. Riccioli, friend of yours?)
Peter J. Sampson, "Wife of Union Leader Pleads Guilty of Theft: Husband Faces Charges of Embezzling $350,000," in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. L-3. (Richard "Buzzy" Dressel charged with scam to funnel $350,000 to his wife Kathleen Dressel, 54, of Montvale. Mafia connections to this labor union are denied, allegedly. Garcia & Kriko?)
Ed Beeson, "Trio Faces Insider Trading Charges High School Buddies Used Spy-Like Charges," in The Star Ledger, November 20, 2012, at p. 1. (Lawyers assist high school buddies in insider trading scam that -- even Stuart Rabner pal, Paul Fishman -- was forced to prosecute. Will Mr. Fishman protect Stuart Rabner, Debbie Poritz and other influential New Jersey legal figures from liability? Terry Tuchin?)
"On his second day in office in 2009, President Obama signed an executive Order that was a declaration of American renewal and decency hailed around the globe. It called for the closure, in no more than a year, of the detention camp at the United States naval facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba -- the grim emblem of President George W. Bush's lawless [emphasis added] policies of torture and detention. Accompanied by other executive orders signaling a break from the Bush era of justice delayed and denied, it was a bold beginning."
Guantanamo was not closed during the president's first term. Blaming the Congress is not convincing. The prison is a federal facility which the president should be able to close at the stroke of a pen.
This "concentration camp" -- for this is the term for the Guantanamo facility throughout the world -- has become a symbol of America's legal contradictions and hypocrisy.
Indeed, much the same is true of my situation, I believe, because I am involved in a daily struggle against cybercrime, censorship, and various slanders or psychological torture attempts.
I am involved in this struggle in a nation that lectures to the world about tolerance for dissent and free speech. There is no guarantee that I will be able to continue writing from one day to the next.
Incidentally, I am not a "bartender" nor do I drink alcohol. I cannot say what other falsehoods are disseminated about me. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")
Distractions and failed attempts to change the subject are mostly irrelevant to the critique offered in these blogs of what is clearly a serious problem in New Jersey.
Most of the men still held in Guantanamo (166 inmates remain at that prison) have never been charged with any offense nor tried for any reason.
No one now seriously disputes that most of these individuals -- far from being "the worst of the worst," as Mr. Rumsfeld suggested -- are not terrorists and have committed no crimes. We are stuck with these persons. Their torture and continued incarceration seems to satisfy some visceral and primal need for scapegoats after 9/11.
It is plausible to suppose that Mr. Obama wished to avoid being depicted as "soft on terrorism" by the people who will see him in such terms no matter what he does. (Mr. Netanyahu?)
The president has continued Bush era policies that violate fundamental human rights which America is committed to defending on the world stage.
Worse, Mr. Obama has encroached on Americans' civil rights in a manner that must delight Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan: execution of Americans without due process of law, robot bombs that have taken the lives of thousands of mostly innocent persons who are dismissed as "collateral damage," surveillance and monitoring of communications by individuals throughout the world, including within the nation's borders, and similar tactics are increasingly "routine."
Does any of this overreaching make us "safer" or more secure? I doubt it. I am sure that the robot bombs make us less secure and contribute to a more dangerous world situation.
Fundamentalist Islamic forces in Pakistan -- some allied with the Talliban -- are growing stronger and have recently engaged in a bombing campaign in reaction to U.S. actions in Pakistan.
A nation with a hundred nuclear weapons is in real danger of falling to fundamentalist forces friendly to the Talliban because of our failed policies in the region for which we can blame both American political parties.
New Jersey's dismal effort to conceal its own disintegration into the status of a failed jurisdiction by means of lies and attacks aimed at hurting and silencing me -- along with many others -- falls into the same category of heinousness and stupidity.
"The new administration decided to adopt the Bush era's extravagant claims of state secrets and executive power, blocking any accountability for the detention and brutalization of hundreds of men at Guantanamo and secret prisons, and denying torture victims their day in court."
These are great crimes still being committed by the nation that must embody the rule of international human rights laws. Ignoring such crimes has an acid-like effect on the moral character of our nation and fosters an international climate of hostility to basic principles of legality and political ethics on the global stage.
We have undone the work of generations of legal scholars and statespersons (Mrs. Roosevelt, Justice Robert Jackson, and others among them) in pursuit of torture and drone policies in order to accomplish nothing of value.
New Jersey's lies and crimes committed against me appear equally pointless and idiotic.
Do you speak to me of "ethics," Mr. Rabner?
Sources:
New York & the World:
Jodi Rudoren, "Ex-Foreign Minister Heads Party to Oppose Netanyahu," in The New York Times, November 28, 2012, at p. A8. (Gaza has cost Mr. Netanyahu even in Israeli domestic politics.)
Kareem Fahim, "Egypt Protesters Gather to Denounce Mori in Scenes Recalling Uprising," in The New York Times, November 28, 2012, at p. A12. (Developments in Egypt suggest Mr. Morsi was perceived as a "winner" in the Gaza matter, but not at home?)
"A Needless Charge for Prison Families," (Editorial) in The New York Times, November 28, 2012, at p. A33. (Exhorbitant fees for calls to families, usually collect, from inmates further exploits a vulnerable and often poor population group.)
John F. Burns & Alan Cowell, "British Lawmakers Warn Against Press Restrictions," in The New York Times, November 29, 2012, at p. A10. (Levenson report discussed during question time with the Prime Minister this week opted, essentially, for self-regulation by the UK media. It cannot be confirmed that someone hacked into Lord Levenson's phone.)
Adam Liptak, "Court Muses On Unicorns In Debating Sentencing," in The New York Times, November 29, 2012, at p. A18. (It is rare when oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court touch upon the metaphysics of essences, nominalism, "unicorns," and jurisprudence: "Robert Unger's Revolutionary Legal Theory" and "What is Law?")
Maria Eugenia Diaz & William Neuman, "Venezuelan Judge Who Angered Chavez Says She Was Raped While in Prison," in The New York Times, November 27, 2012, at p. A5. (The number of rapes in U.S. prisons exceeds the proportional rate in Venezuela.)
James Risen, "Suit Planned Over Death of Man C.I.A. Drugged," in The New York Times, November 27, 2012, at p. A21. (Man killed by CIA "mind control" experiments -- which have gone underground since the eighties -- whose family members are now suing the government.)
Sharon Otterman, "Sex Abuse Trial of Brooklyn Man Begins," in The New York Times, November 27, 2012, at p. A25. (Orthodox community in Brooklyn is divided over painful child abuse revelations and scandals.)
John Markoff, "Learning Curve: No Longer Just a Human Trait," in The New York Times, November 24, 2012, at p. A1. (Learning and self-inventing programs aimed at creating A.I. systems take the next step: "Mind and Machine" and "John Searle and David Chambers On Consciousness.")
"Their Problem With Elizabeth Warren," (Editorial) in The New York Times, November 24, 2012, at p. A20. (Republican opposition to the most qualified Democrat in the Senate to serve on the banking committee, Elizabeth Warren, must not prevent the junior senator from Mass. from serving on that committee.)
New Jersey's Continuing Farce:
"Christie Seeks $37 BILLION for Sandy Relief," (Editorial) in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. A-20. (How much of this money -- if received -- will be stolen? Conservative estimates suggest 40-50% will disappear in New Jersey. Perhaps Mayor Jones of Paterson will be entrusted with distribution of the funds.)
Allison Pries & Michael Copley, "Surgeon Arrested On Drug Charges: Accused of Improperly Filling Prescriptions," in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. L-1. (Physicians in New Jersey routinely assist with illegal drug distribution and the "questioning-torture" of victims in the legal system as well as with frauds aimed against the insurance industry. This includes, allegedly, MARY ANN BENIGNO, 52, of Saddle River, New Jersey where a recent "private network" of child porn enthusiasts has been uncovered.)
Monsy Alvarado & Allison Pries, "Pal Park Still Mum On Cops in Shooting: Chief Says Setbacks Stall Release of IDs," in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. L-1. (Inquiry beginning into fatal shooting of a man in Leonia, Bergen County, again.)
Hannan Adeley, "Zisa's Ex- May Join Pension Litigation: Possibly Entitled to Payments," in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. L-1. (Disgraced former Hackensack Police Chief, KEN ZISA, now awaiting the outcome of an appeal that will determine the length of his prison stay, may have an ex-wife -- as distinct from a former mistress with whom he conspired to defraud insurance companies -- entitled to half of one, or all, of his pensions even if Mr. Zisa is a convicted fellon. N.J. taxpayers don't mind, right?)
Peter J. Sampson, "Man Guilty in Mortgage Scam: Father, Son Bilked $4.4 MILLION From Lenders," in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. L-2. (Frederick "Freddie" Grippo, 32, of Old Bridge, admitted to bilking distressed homeowners of $4.4 MILLION with the assistance of several well-respected New Jersey law firms as well as his dad. "New Jersey's Politically-Connected Lawyers On the Tit" and "Corrupt Law Firms, Senator Bob, and New Jersey Ethics.")
Richard Cowen, "Town Begins New Inquiry On Generators: North Hudson to Investigate Officials' Use of Borough Gear," in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. L-3. (Mayor Randy George decided to "take care" of his own needs for power before worrying about town residents. This "shabbyness" and/or "shabbiness" is normal in New Jersey.)
Kibret Marcos, "Fair Lawn Man Convicted of Molesting Toddler: Jurors Had Deadlocked Last Year," in The Record, November 20, 2012, at p. L-3. (Latest in the epidemic of child abuse conspiracies, private networks, scandals in New Jersey. This one involving John Katsiagiannis, 30, from Fair Lawn, N.J., another Bergen County offender. Ms. Riccioli, friend of yours?)
Peter J. Sampson, "Wife of Union Leader Pleads Guilty of Theft: Husband Faces Charges of Embezzling $350,000," in The Record, November 30, 2012, at p. L-3. (Richard "Buzzy" Dressel charged with scam to funnel $350,000 to his wife Kathleen Dressel, 54, of Montvale. Mafia connections to this labor union are denied, allegedly. Garcia & Kriko?)
Ed Beeson, "Trio Faces Insider Trading Charges High School Buddies Used Spy-Like Charges," in The Star Ledger, November 20, 2012, at p. 1. (Lawyers assist high school buddies in insider trading scam that -- even Stuart Rabner pal, Paul Fishman -- was forced to prosecute. Will Mr. Fishman protect Stuart Rabner, Debbie Poritz and other influential New Jersey legal figures from liability? Terry Tuchin?)
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