Cuba Libre.

December 20, 2014 at 3:34 P.M. It is impossible to print from Computer #6, NYPL, Morningside Heights branch. It may be that, every time I sign-in using my library card, the printer will be blocked. If so, I will try to make use of public print shops to print from the Internet. 

Alternatively, this computer alone may be affected by the problem. It is impossible to tell at this time. 

A gas leak at this library facility made a number of people ill when I was using the computers yesterday. Again, I am not the only person using these computers, Mr. Menendez. 

Many innocent persons are affected by these continuing harassment and censorship tactics that are directed against me. Any forced association with persons complicit in the crimes committed against me is repulsive to me. I am not in need of "suggestions" concerning my ethical character or spiritual welfare from persons committing criminal frauds against the state of New York and/or lying about me behind my back. ("Jennifer Velez is a Dyke Magnet!" and "New Jersey Lesbian Sends Nude Photos to Minor.")

My access to the Internet is blocked on my laptop; no images can be posted at this blog; no emails can be sent or received by me; government and police ignore evidence of serious crimes, including computer crimes committed against me. I can never be certain of returning to this site and continuing to write. ("C.I.A. Lies and Torture.")    

It is unusual NOT to receive a response from Manhattan's District Attorney to communications of a serious nature with evidence of criminality, nor even an acknowledgement or explanation of a decision (if any) "not to proceed" taken by that office. ("Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?" and "Stuart Rabner's Selective Sense of Justice.") 

Evidently, no decision has yet been taken. Mr. Vance is "frozen" at the moment. I have become a character by George Orwell, a "non-person" who, I am assured, does not exist. ("How censorship works in America.")

No U.S. official, federal or state, has responded to my urgent communications. If any items that I have sent to the District Attorney have been "lost," I have retained all originals and will be happy to provide additional copies upon request to him or to the U.S. Attorney who seems to be much more interested in these matters. 

Many persons pondering whether to provide assistance or information in a delicate matter to U.S. officials from many parts of the world would be dead before they receive a response or acknowledgement of any kind from Mr. Vance or New York's U.S. Attorney. 

This official apathy (or incompetence) discourages persons from taking risks -- often great risks -- to provide such information and may endanger all of us.  

Even more bizarre is the sense of "fear" among prosecutors and police pertaining to matters concerning me. I understand that the only response allowed to officials with regard to matters concerning me (at this time) is "no comment." ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")

I will continue to post follow-up letters for as long as I am able to write at these blogs. 

There were unusual icons at computer number #6, NYPL, Morningside Heights, McAfee and Envisionware may allow for criminal spyware upon this site. 

I am sure that this is only a coincidence -- or the hacks may be designed to block my access to the library's printer when I sign-in. 

The restoration of full diplomatic relations between the United States of America and Cuba is a welcome development. 

The Helms-Burton Act and other legislation generated by Miami's Right-wing cabal makes it unlikely that the embargo will be fully lifted, as it should be, for some time -- especially, with the arrival of a Republican Congress.

The embargo is increasingly absurd. With the restoration of full diplomatic relations and with the line-up of U.S. corporations anxious to make millions in Cuba, the rationale for the archaic piece of cold war legislation becomes laughably non-existent and cruel as well as unjust.

"Nations," Henry Kissinger remarked to Richard Nixon, "do not have friends -- they have interests." 

The interest of the U.S., among other things, is money; Cuba's interest is in improving the lot of ordinary people while preserving the independence of the Cuban revolution. Both of these interests are served by ending hostilities between the two nations and improving human rights everywhere. ("Justice For Mumia Abu-Jamal" and, again, "C.I.A. Lies and Torture" then "The C.I.A. and Torture.")

This latest restoration of diplomatic relations is perceived, correctly, in Cuba, Latin America, and the rest of the world as a victory for independence on the part of small nations -- especially in the Third World -- autonomy from what is usually called, after Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt, the "Empire." 

Despite the ravings of Diaz-Balart, Menendez, and other Right-wing Cuban-Americans, like Marco Rubio, who profit from the current situation, most people (including most Cuban-Americans) agree with President Obama's recent decision and actions in Cuban relations. President Obama received 51% of the Cuban-American vote in Florida.

By "profit" I mean that some of the millions of dollars traditionally spent, regularly, on "destabilizing" the Cuban Revolution is directed to "contributors" to Cuban-American politicians and their friendly organizations who are highly adept at showing their appreciation to their favorite politicians. ("Is Menendez For Sale?" and "Manohla Dargis Strikes Again!" then "Cubanazos Pose a Threat to National Security.") 

It is likely that Mr. Obama and Raul Castro, the President of Cuba, also the Pope perhaps, may share the next Nobel Peace prize. The Vatican is certainly lobbying for that prize. ("Time to End the Embargo Against Cuba.") 

It is highly unlikely that Assata Shakur will be returned to the American legal system nor will she lose her protected status. This is also a correct decision by the Cuban government. ("The FBI Wants Assata Shakur.")

New Jersey is not a jurisdiction that is well-respected in the world. In fact, the legal institutions of that state have been deemed "contaminated by racism" and organized crime by more than one jurisdiction, notably Portugal, so that persons granted asylum are unlikely to be losing that status. This is to say nothing of the humiliating incompetence and corruption that plague the Garden State's legal system, lawyers, and judges. ("New Jersey's Politically-Connected Lawyers On the Tit" and "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State" then "New Jersey is the Home of the Living Dead" and, again, "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")

I will attach a full essay to this note examining multiple sources detailing economic and legal issues that have arisen in light of the altered diplomatic relationship between Cuba and the U.S.A. where The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal are providing exceptional coverage as I type these words.

J. David Goodman & Al Baker, "New York Officer Facing No Charges in Chokehold Case," The New York Times, December 4, 2014, p. A1. (Human rights?)

Richard A. Opel, Jr., "Cleveland Police Cited For Abuse by Justice Department," The New York Times, December 5, 2014, p. A1. (An entire police department found racist and corrupt.)

Eric L. Adams, "We Must Stop Police Abuse of Black Men," The New York Times, December 5, 2014, p. A35. (The police culture of brutality in minority communities is a subject of several academic studies. As I type these words, yet another fatal shooting in New Orleans of an African-American man places the U.S. system under international condemnation.)

Eric Fair, "I Can't be Forgiven For Abu Ghraib," (Op-Ed) The New York Times, December 10, 2014, p. A35. (The same patterns of behavior and response are found among Abu Ghraib torturers as among police officers in many high crime units.)

Sheryl Gay Stolberg & Michael Barbaro, "Torture Report Puts Politicians In Quiet Mode," The New York Times, December 11, 2014, p. A1. (Mr. Christie and Mr. Menendez are against torture and also against terrorism, but both men favor the American way of life, mom, and apple pie.)

Richard D. Emory, "Who's Policing the Prosecutors?," The New York Times, December 11, 2014, p. A33. (Continuing evidence of police and D.A. double standards and inaction are very troublesome. Is it a matter of a little favor for "friends"? Bribery? Bigotry? All of the above?)

Peter Baker, "U.S. Will Restore Full Relations With Cuba, Erasing a Last Trace of Cold War Hostility: American Is Freed -- Surprise Deal Ends Long Stalemate," The New York Times, December 18, 2014, p. A1. (Finally, progress on Cuba with Miami's anticipated "discontent." Talk of opposition by Cuban dissidents using pseudonyms in the The New York Times is Miami's disinformation: "Victoria Burnett" is also "Manohla Dargis" and "George Johnson." "Is the universe only a numbers game?" and "Manohla Dargis Strikes Again!" Is "Ana Navarro" also "Manohla Dargis"?)

Damien Cave, Randal C. Archibald, & Victoria Burnett, "As Havana Celebrates Historic Shift, Economic and Political Hopes Rise," The New York Times, December 18, 2014, p. A1. (Mr. Rubio calls the Pope a "homosexual Communist," allegedly, as plans emerge for corporations hoping to do business in Cuba.)

Damien Cave, "Focusing On Its Future, Nation Leaves Fidel Castro to History," The New York Times, December 19, 2014, p. A1. (Not just yet. It seems that Fidel can still hit the curve ball. We will be hearing from Dr. Castro soon, I believe. As Fidel's regular philosophical and political essays in popular media indicate, he is as sharp as ever and was probably among the secret negotiators of the recent "deal" between the two countries. I suspect that "the other shoe" has yet to fall in that complex deal and that there is more coming that will shock us all.)

Ben Fritz, et als., "Sony Pulls Korea Film; U.S. Blames Pyongyong For Hack," The Wall Street Journal, December 18, 2014, p. A1. (Thefts from Time/Warner have not been made public, allegedly. I wonder who is blocking my Internet signal? "Cubanazos Pose a Threat to National Security.")

Carl E. Lee, et als., "Obama Move to Restore Ties to Cuba: Historic Deal Thaws Half-Century Freeze: Opponents Vow to Fight End to Embargo," The Wall Street Journal, December 18, 2014, p. A1. (Essentially, world opinion favors Obama, but the Right-wing or "Republican-controlled" Miami opposes the move. Sane Republicans, fond of making money, also favor normalization.)

Philip Rucker, "In Paul-Rubio Feud Over Cuba, A Preview of 2016," The Washington Post, December 20, 2014, p. A1. (The divisions in the G.O.P. are substantial. Senator Paul is one of the few Republicans with cross-party appeal; Senator Rubio represents anti-Communist old guard Republicans. My fondest hope -- as an opponent of the Republican party -- is that the G.O.P. will nominate Mr. Christie.)

Greg Jaffe, et al., "Obama Slams Sony Decision to Pull Film," The Washington Post, December 21, 2014, p. A1. (It is never wise to appease bullies and thugs, or to give in to censorship: "How censorship works in America" and "Censorship and Cruelty in New Jersey.")

Shawn Boburg, "Scrutiny On PA's Rule of Ethics: Port Authority Board Debates as Ex-Chairperson Sues," The Record, December 11, 2014, p. A-1. (David Samson sues in federal court claiming he should be exempt from legal ethics rules and only subject to PA ethics provisions that allow for his creative expenditures, i.e., thefts from the PA budget. Mr. Samson plans to visit Tel Aviv soon, with most of his property, just in case he finds it necessary to retire there, quickly. Now Mr. Samson can visit Cuba. "David Samson Resigns.")

Adam Clark, "Reported Sex Assaults Climbing," The Star Ledger, December 4, 2014, p. 1. (NJ leads the nation in forms of child sexual assaults, especially violations of children involving "prominent" members of the legal community: "New Jersey Welcomes Child Molesters!" and "New Jersey is the Home of Child Molesters" then "Edward M. De Sear, Esq. and New Jersey's Filth" and "New Jersey Superior Court Judge is a Child Molester" finally, "Trenton's Nasty Lesbian Love-Fest!" and "Deborah T. Poritz and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey" and "Diana's Friend Goes to Prison!") 

"Mr. Obama's Historic Move On Cuba," (Editorial) The New York Times, December 18, 2014, p. A38. 

"Following months of secret negotiations with the Cuban government, President Obama on Wednesday announced sweeping changes to normalize relations with Cuba, a bold move that ends one of the most misguided chapters in American foreign policy." (NYT, 12-18-14, p. A38.)

Recognition of the "misguided" and -- as President Obama noted during his remarks "failed" -- fifty-year legislative efforts to FORCE another country to abide by what are (to them) foreign values and forms of political organization, caused the president to order the restoration of full diplomatic relations with Cuba. Well done, Mr. Obama. 

Many of the provisions of the so-called "Embargo" and/or the Helms/Burton Act cannot be altered by Mr. Obama, unilaterally, or without Congressional support. 

However, the president has done everything within his power to correct for what most people, including the Pope and European Union, agrees is a dismally counterproductive policy that hurts Americans and Cubans with the possible exception of a handful of Cuban-American anti-Castro activists in Miami and/or politicians in New Jersey and Florida exploiting "hostilities" between the two countries in order to extract money from older Cuban-Americans. ("Is Menendez For Sale?" and "Bribery in Union City, New Jersey" then "Marco Rubio Lies About His Past.")

One result of this dramatic change in policy is that Mr. Obama, Raul Castro, and Pope Francis have leaped to the top of the list of possible Nobel recipients in the next Peace Prize competition. 

I am sure that the possible Nobel Prize was not a consideration in the development of this important and needed change of course in American and Cuban foreign policies. Raul may already be planning how to spend the two million dollars that comes with the award, allegedly, since the Cuban president is looking at apartments near South Beach, Miami -- or Dinseyworld, perhaps? ("Nihilists in Disneyworld.")

On the other hand, it would be difficult for the G.O.P. to criticize an Obama presidency that began and that may end with the receipt of a Nobel Prize for Peace in the world. ("For America to Lead Again: A Speech For President Barack Hussein Obama.")

Negotiations will allow for cooperation on a host of issues, including security matters that are of great concern to Americans. 

This newly-valued cooperation is in the interest of both countries, and benefits the security of the entire region. And bilateral cooperation would also promote the free speech rights of dissidents in both countries. ("Justice For Mumia Abu-Jamal" and, again, "Time to End the Embargo Against Cuba.")

I certainly continue to face computer crime, denials of access to the Internet from my home laptop, as well as numerous other forms of ostracism and interference with, or threats against, my life and welfare from Right-wing groups that are, I believe, "affiliated with" corrupt authorities in New Jersey and Miami. 

Mysteriously, local police and prosecutors in New York are unable to locate my address or phone number, despite providing both items to them with every letter I send via certified or overnight mail. ("Fidel Castro's 'History Will Absolve Me'" and "Havana Nights and C.I.A. Tapes.")

"The administration's decision to restore full diplomatic relations, take steps to remove Cuba from the State department's list of countries that sponsor terrorism and roll back restrictions on travel and trade is a change in direction that has been strongly supported by this [Editorial] page. The Obama administration is ushering in a transformational era for MILLIONS [emphasis added] of Cubans who have suffered as a result of 50 years of hostility between the two nations." (NYT, 12-18-14, p. A38.)

Will Mr. Obama's decision be reversed by a future U.S. president?

I doubt it. 

Stability and predictability of presidential decisions, uncontaminated by fraud, would be threatened by such inconsistency. ("Is Union City, New Jersey Meyer Lansky's Whore House?" and "New Jersey is Lucky Luciano's Havana" then "New Jersey's Feces-Covered Supreme Court.")

Cuban-Americans frightened to speak publicly on the issue of peace admit (privately) that it is time to change U.S. policy on Cuba. ("Does Senator Menendez have mafia friends?")

I am sure that this much-needed and long overdue change in policy is partly aimed at halting or slowing-down the "out-of-control" train that is thuggish, Right-wing Cuban-American tactics on this issue to say nothing of Miami's influence in American politics that has hurt so many people (like me) with the temerity to disagree with Rubio, Menendez, Diaz-Balart, and Ros-Leghtinen along with the Cuban American National Foundation. 

Intimidation must not be rewarded by Sony Pictures, nor by anyone in American political debate, much less when it comes to the free expression of dissenting views in the electronic public square. ("How censorship works in America.")

I will attempt to go to multiple public computers in order to complete this essay and continue writing for the foreseeable future:

"Administration officials recognize that Congress is unlikely to take complementary steps towards a healthier relationship with Cuba anytime soon, but this move will inevitably inform the debate about the merits of engagement. In all likelihood, history will prove Mr. Obama right." (NYT, 12-18-14, p. A38.) 

C.I.A. Lies and Torture.

December 17, 2014 at 1:24 P.M. The release of Alan Gross along with the remaining members of the Cuban Five group of prisoners in U.S. custody has ushered in a new era of cooperation between the Cuban Revolution and U.S. government leading, I hope, to an end to the detested embargo against Cuba. ("Time to End the Embargo Against Cuba.")

I have yet to hear from Mr. Vance. I will be writing soon about developments in U.S./Cuban relations. ("Fidel Castro's 'History Will Absolve Me.'") 

Concerning developments in U.S./Cuba relations, Senator Menendez commented, allegedly from a strip club in D.C., that the embargo should be maintained. ("Senator Bob, the Babe, and the Big Bucks.") 

Mr. Menendez is reportedly furious about the reconciliation between the two countries and (even more) that he was kept out of the loop on this matter. ("Menendez Blames Castro For His Prostitution Habit" and "Another FBI Investigation of Menendez.")

Mr. Menendez has been linked, romantically, with erotic actress Ms. Aliyah Love. Senator Menendez denies the relationship (presumably) and there is no evidence for or against the existence of such a relationship at this time. Happily, Ms. Love is an adult. ("Menendez Consorts With Underage Prostitutes" and "Wedding Bells Ring For Menendez!")

" ... constant [harsh] lighting; loud music and an all-white room. ... The set-up would cause 'psychological disorientation,' and reduced psychological wherewithal [breakdown] ..."

James Risen & Matt Apuzzo, "C.I.A., On Path to Torture, Chose Haste Over Analysis: Harsh Interrogation of Terrorism Suspects Is Traced to Desperation After 9/11," The New York Times, December 16, 2014, p. A1. (Detailed discussion of "psychological protocols" developed over decades to bring about the mental assassination of victims.)

Was Marilyn Straus a victim of such methods? ("Marilyn Straus Was Right!" and "Diana's Friend Goes to Prison!") 

December 15, 2014 at 2:34 P.M. No response has been received from Mr. Vance at this time. ("An Open Letter to Cyrus Vance, Jr., Esq.")

A list of sources will be added to this essay in the days ahead. It will take some time for me to list these sources due to the fact that my home Internet connection is blocked, illegally, from my laptop. I only have 45 minutes per day to write at NYPL computers. No images can be posted with these essays. 

Scott Shane, "Defending C.I.A., Cheney Revisits Bush-Era Debate: Rejects Torture Label," The New York Times, December 15, 2014, p. A1. ("I would do it again in a minute!" Mr. Cheney proclaimed his commitment to torture, shamelessly and shockingly. "Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "What is it like to be tortured?")

Mark Landler & Peter Baker, "White House and the G.O.P. Clash Over Torture Report," The New York Times, December 9, 2014, p. A1. (Polarizing reaction by the pro-torture G.O.P. insisting on the need for more lies and cover-ups against the U.S. Senate's and White House's efforts to make full disclosures. Senator Udall may include the entire report in the Congressional record.)

"A Crisis of Confidence in Prosecutors," (Editorial) The New York Times, December 9, 2014, p. A30. (Will Mr. Vance discharge his ethical and legal responsibilities by acting on the evidence brought to his attention concerning my "situation"? Or will Mr. Vance protect Stuart Rabner, Mr. Christie, and Mr. Menendez? Thus far, there is only silence from Manhattan's District Attorney. "Prosecutorial Misconduct.")

Peter Baker & Mark Mazetti, "C.I.A. Chief and President Walk Fine Line," The New York Times, December 15, 2014, p. A1. (Mr. Brennan may have had a role in the formulation of the torture policy that is now embarrassing to America; Mr. Obama should have prosecuted the torturers in his first term. "Obama Says Torture is a Secret.")

Mark Mazetti, "Senate Panel Faults C.I.A. Over Brutality and DECEIT in Terrorism Interrogations: Failure of Oversight Is Outlined -- Agency Defends Program," The New York Times, December 10, 2014, p. A1. (The disgusting spectacle of C.I.A. -- or OAE -- tortures, together with the unwillingness to admit the unspeakable atrocities committed against innocent persons, have sullied the United States of America and continue to astonish the world. The emphasis in this title is mine. "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics" and "John McGill, Esq., the OAE, and N.J. Corruption.")

Charlie Savage & James Risen, "Rejecting the Claim That Tactic Led to Bin Laden," The New York Times, December 10, 2014, p. A1. (Mr. Cheney, shamefully, asserted that he "authorized" -- his word -- the tortures, that they "worked," and that he would do the same today. Failure to recognize that torture is ALWAYS a "crime against humanity" under international law, that "enhanced interrogation" qualifies as torture under domestic and international laws, and that, like slavery, torture is beyond the pale in every civilized legal system in the world. These tortures of detainees will only lead to the tortures and more beheadings of Americans, sadly.)

Jonathan Mahler & Ravi Somaija, "Revolt at 'The New Republic': An Owner Promised Preservation, but Two Years Later Change Has Crippled His Magazine," The New York Times, December 8, 2014, p. B1. (Efforts are being made both at The New Republic and Times to oust the attempted Right-wing control of the publications in favor of more objective reporting. "Manohla Dargis Strikes Again!")

Kate Zernike [Kim Guardagno?] "Christie's Chief of Staff Quits for a Hospital Job," The New York Times, November 15, 2014, p. A18. (Mr. Christie and loyal minions -- like Milton's Lucifer and his demons -- continues to rule in hell [N.J.] but will only serve in heaven [D.C.]. Jeb Bush may crush Mr. Christie's hopes.)

Alan Feuer, "On the Edge of Disgrace," The New York Times, Sunday Metropolitan, December 14, 2014, p. 1. (Sanford Rubenstein, Esq. may have been targeted by "off-duty cops" for his defense of African-Americans whose civil rights were violated. "Jay Romano and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey" and "Crooked Cop Lies to Convict People.")

Michael Wilson & J. David Goodman, "Heroin Takes Over a House, and Mom," The New York Times, November 30, 2014, p. A1. (Laura Spurring is white, middle class, and a mom as well as a heroin addict. This is what heroin -- much of it enters the city from New Jersey -- does to people. How strange that TONS of illegal drugs and guns comes across the G.W. bridge, every day, without difficulty, but that traffic jams occur only at the request of Republican politicians for no particular reason. "Mafia Influence in New Jersey Courts and Politics" and "Christie's Bridge of Sighs.")  

"A Record of Torture and Lies," (Editorial) The New York Times, December 10, 2014, p. A34. 

"The world has long known that the United States government illegally detained and tortured prisoners after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and LIED about it to Congress and the world. But the summary of a report released Tuesday of the Senate investigation of these tortures, even after being sanitized by the Central Intelligence Agency itself, is a portrait of depravity [emphasis added] that is hard to comprehend and even harder to stomach." ("New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics" and "John McGill, Esq., the OAE, and New Jersey Corruption" then "Is America's Legal Ethics a Lie?" and "Psychological Torture in the American Legal System.")

It now seems pretty clear that the C.I.A.'s tortures were far worse than anyone admitted at the time that they occurred, as many of us warned and anticipated in public writings that were ignored when they appeared, but that are now quoted internationally. ("Nihilists in Disneyworld.")

It is also obvious that top Bush-era officials "authorized" these terrible crimes, LIED under oath to Congress and the world -- many of these officials who lied, blatantly, happen to be attorneys! -- and that there have been no significant (or "insignificant" for that matter) legal consequences for these officials. ("Corrupt Law Firms, Senator Bob, and New Jersey Ethics" and "New Jersey Lawyers' Ethics Farce.")

Indeed, Bush administration lawyers providing legal cover for torture, including Mr. Yoo and Circuit Judge Bybee, have gone on to distinguished careers as "ethical" members of the profession, or so we are led to believe. ("Stuart Rabner's Selective Sense of Justice" and "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")

No attorney with the Bush presidential counsel's office has been sanctioned, no torture lawyers have been disbarred, and no one (including the actual C.I.A. torturers and murderers "on the ground") has been (or will be) prosecuted for any of these heinous crimes. ("American Hypocrisy and Luis Posada Carriles.")

Rather, it appears that many officials, including the former Vice President of the United States of America, Mr. Cheney, and the current head of the C.I.A., Mr. Brennan, are simply "outraged" that the Senate's report has been published to the world and/or that the C.I.A. is being criticized at all for placing the US, allegedly, below the level of most nations (roughly on the same level with North Korea) in terms of human rights violations, according to UN experts now calling for prosecutions of all U.S. torturers. (Again: "Nihilists in Disneyworld" and "American Lawyers and Torture" then "Legal Ethics Today" and "American Doctors and Torture.")

Having experienced many techniques of psychological torture at the hands, presumably, of persons affiliated with New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics (OAE), the loathsome crimes detailed in the Senate report are all-too familiar to me. For example, torture victims were made to experience:

" ... 'sleep deprivation for up to 180 hours, usually standing or in stress positions, at times with their hands shackled over their heads.' ..."

Victims subjected to this practice were made to stand in their own bodily filth:

"Detainees were walked around naked and shackled, and at other times naked detainees were 'hooded and dragged up and down a long corridor while being slapped and punched.' ... " ("Is Senator Menendez 'For' Human Rights?" and "The C.I.A. and Torture.")

Besides waterboarding and beatings, starvation, drugging, and hypnosis were used in the so-called "dark sites." Sexual assaults and even rapes were not uncommon: 

"Some detainees were subjected to nightmarish pseudo-medical procedures, referred to as 'rectal feeding.' ..."

The lies disseminated by the C.I.A. in the P.R. effort that preceded the release of this report may be called the "rectal feeding" of America and the world with more lies. ("Law and Ethics in the Soprano State" and "An Open Letter to My Torturers in New Jersey, Terry Tuchin and Diana Lisa Riccioli.")

At least 26 of the 119 persons held by the C.I.A. were kept by "mistake." As many as 50% of detainees may have done nothing criminal, nor participated in any way in terrorist actions against the U.S. government, or coalition forces. 

Nothing is more evil and insane than, knowingly, torturing innocents and failing to apologize for it.

This is the sort of thing (false or "mistaken" charges) that is usually detected when detainees are granted due process of law as required by the U.S. Constitution.

Shamefully, the U.S. denied all due process to these victims. Many have yet to be accused or convicted of any crimes. 

It is doubtful that these tortures "worked" -- as Mr. Cheney proclaimed -- or that they were in keeping with basic principles of American and international law, as Mr. Cheney also assured us, while advising the C.I.A. to make the same claim in public statements. 

Mr. Cheney has made it clear, however, that he "authorized" harsh interrogation methods (torture) and would do the same today. 

Is this what is called "contrition and repentance" by Mr. Cheney who claims to be a Christian? 

Whether torture "works" is irrelevant, incidentally, to the legal validity (or ethics) involved in the use of torture. 

Torture remains a crime against humanity in all civilized nations as a matter of international law and treaties or conventions to which the United States of America is a signatory that are also part of domestic American law.

Torture and, say, slavery, or the burning of women as witches are practices that humanity has left behind, except for Mr. Bush's C.I.A. and the sanctioned torture of detainees. 

Especially disgraceful is the role of professionals, like lawyers and psychologists who have committed these atrocities, happily, while refraining (as of today) from offering apologies to their fellow citizens or the global community. 

Do you speak to me of "ethics," Mr. Rabner? ("What did you know, Mr. Rabner, and when did you know it?")

Many of these hateful tactics have been used, secretly, for years in America's prisons. ("Foucault, Rose, Davis and the Meaning(s) of Prison" and "Justice For Mumia Abu-Jamal.")

Not only have the culprits waltzed away from legal consequences for their criminal actions, but they continue to express pride in their despicable conduct as well as lying about what they have done. ("Marilyn Straus Was Right!" and "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" then "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")

"Maybe George Tenet, who ran the C.I.A. during this IGNOBLE period, [emphasis added] could make a tiny amends by returning the Presidential Medal of Freedom that President Bush gave him [which has certainly been disgraced] upon his retirement." 

Christie Slides Away From Bridge-Gate.

December 8, 2014 at 2:03 P.M. No response to, or acknowledgement of, my communication containing evidence of the commission of serious crimes against me has been received from Mr. Vance. 

This mysterious silence continues despite the ethical and statutory obligation on prosecutors to enforce the law, equally, and to protect all citizens by applying identical criminal sanctions to perpetrators, without prejudice and in good faith, despite the race, ethnicity, religious affiliation or lack of political influence of victims.

It is unusual for a prosecutor to ignore evidence of serious crimes brought to his attention by a citizen. There are, I am sure, persons in many places in the world pondering whether to bring information of crimes (or prospective threats) to the authorities in this city and nation, possibly at great personal risk -- as I have done -- who may not wish to be ignored or insulted and may decline to provide such necessary information since I seem to be ignored. 

In the aftermath of the events in Ferguson involving the death of Michael Brown and New York's protection of cops responsible for the killing of Eric Garner, continuing efforts to ensure the safety of politicians from New Jersey and their "off-duty" cops for crimes like rape, theft, assaults, violations of fundamental rights and perjury -- as well as other obstructions of justice -- are especially sad and unfortunate. Computer crime? ("An Open Letter to Cyrus Vance, Jr., Esq.")

The whole world is watching, Mr. Vance. Television appearances may not be sufficient in this situation. 

A list of sources will be added to this text if I am able to continue writing for 45 minutes at a library computer. 

My home access to the Internet is still blocked, illegally. Attacks on this text as well as deformations of the size of letters is always expected. No images can be posted at these blogs. No email account can be used by me. 

Peter Baker, "Bush and C.I.A. Ex-Officials Rebut Torture Report," The New York Times, December 8, 2014, p. A3. (The rebuttal appears before the release of the U.S. Senate's so-called "Torture Report" that was introduced by Mr. McCain and Ms. Feinstein this afternoon on the Senate floor. Torture is a "crime against humanity" which the U.S. is legally committed to never engaging in and opposing throughout the world. The C.I.A. lied to the U.S. Senate and people about the extent and nature of the tortures, then attempted to intimidate the people's representatives so that this report would never be released to the public. The disclosures are incomplete, but necessary and better than nothing. According to Mr. Cheney, the C.I.A. tortures were "authorized." Please see "American Lawyers and Torture" and "Psychological Torture in America's Legal System" then "Is America's Legal Ethics a Lie?" and "Foucault, Rose, Davis and the Meaning(s) of Prison" then "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture.")

Mark Mueller, Diocese Pays $18K to Settle Fourth Sex Abuse Case," The Star Ledger, October 27, 2014, p. 1. (More cases of clergy violating children and receiving favorable treatment will be examined soon. Will saying some "Hail Mary" prayers be enough?)

Myles Ma, "Disbarred Attorney Gets Probation," The Star Ledger, October 27, 2014, p. 12. (Jeffrey P. Squittieri, 48, former croney of North Bergen's, Jay Romano, and alleged member of the ethics committee was sentenced to probation for stealing $88,000 in client funds in 2009. He had previously received a 30-month sentence [suspended?] in December, 2012 for scheming to commit health care fraud. The latest sentence was imposed by colleague and alleged former lover of Estela De La Cruz, LILIANA S. DE AVILA-SILEBI, who may be under investigation herself and may have visited my blogs. "Trenton's Nasty Lesbian Love-Fest!" and "Jay Romano and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")

Jodi Rudoren, "Facing Rights Accusations, Israel Opens Gaza Inquiries," The New York Times, December 7, 2014, p. A18. (The Israeli military will investigate its own actions in the face of UN and other international investigations. It is obvious that horrible human rights violations have taken place in the Gaza operation. "Israel Heightens the Gaza Crisis.")

Lin Tat, Mary Diduch, Stefanie Dazio, "Educator Held in Child Sex Assault: Cliffside Park Hasn't Suspended Popular Guidance Counsellor," The Record, October 29, 2014, p. 1. (Edward C. Meier, 60, assaulted a 5-year-old girl, but may be protected in Bergen County, New Jersey. "New Jersey is the Home of Child Molesters" and "New Jersey Welcomes Child Molesters.")

"PA Sweetheart Deal: $1 Annual Lease to NJ Transit," (Editorial) The Record, November 22, 2014, p. A-11. (The $1 deal was for a property that cost $1 MILLION to lease for a parking facility only a year earlier. Evidently, the lot will generate hundreds of thousands of dollars, or more, with the expectation that %40-%50 of the funds will "disappear." "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State.")

Kim Lueddeke, "Police Psychologist Arrested in Shooting: Englewood Native's Husband Wounded," The Record, November 22, 2014, p. L-5. (Emily Dearden, 46, formerly of Englewood and one of the alleged former lovers of Diana Lisa Riccioli, her fellow therapist and an expert on hypnosis-based torture, was arrested for shooting her husband in the neck. She claimed that it is all in his mind. "Diana's Friend Goes to Prison!")

Herb Jackson, "Senate Panel Will Weigh Measure Authorizing War: Menendez Wants Islamic State Vote," The Record, December 5, 2014, p. A-4. (Menendez will be removed as Chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee and may face ethics charges, finally. "Menendez Croney's Office Raided" and "Another FBI Investigation of Menendez.")

Karen Sudol & Kim Lueddeke, "$100,000 Bail Set in Internet Child Porn Case: W. Milford Man [Confined] to Home,"  The Record, December 5, 2014, p. L-3. (Thomas Bachalis, 30, was assigned bail for disseminating child porn images on a network that may include distinguished officials in New Jersey. "Law Firm Employee Distributes Child Porn" and "Edward M. De Sear, Esq. and New Jersey's Filth.")

Lily Washburn, "Insurer Sues Medicaid Fraud Suspect: Allstate Seeking Reimbursement for $5.1 MILLION," The Record, December 5, 2014, p. L-3. (Ray Zuberi, whose imaging offices have been used by Mr. Ginarte and Mr. Navarrete, was indicted for fraud. "N.J. Lawyers in School Lunch Scam" and "'Michael Clayton': A Movie Review.")

Shawn Boburg, "GWB Probe Finds No Direct Tie to Christie: Says Aides Acted With 'Perceived Impunity,'" The Record, December 5, 2014, p. A-1. 

Joe Malinconico, "Councilman Took Bribes: Pleads Guilty to Receiving $10,000 From Informant[,] Resigns His Seat," The Record, December 5, 2014, p. L-1.

"A report summarizing a yearlong investigation by the legislative panel examining the George Washington Bridge lane closures found no evidence of Gov. Christie's involvement but concluded that two of his aides acted 'with perceived immunity' when they gridlocked Fort Lee's streets for political reasons." ("Christie's Bridge of Sighs.")

The crucial finding -- one that will return to haunt Mr. Christie if he runs for president -- is that the lane closures were "motivated," in part, by "political considerations." 

The lives of individual citizens, accordingly, and a serious general public threat was created in order to "punish" a Democrat mayor in Fort Lee who refused to support Mr. Christie's reelection effort. ("Cement is Gold!" and "New Jersey is Lucky Luciano's Havana.")

"Brass knuckles" tactics are far from unusual in N.J. politics. However, Mr. Christie was elected on the promise that he would end forever corruption and political strong arm tactics in New Jersey. ("Mafia Influence in New Jersey Courts and Politics" and "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State.")

Fort Lee -- Heroin's "gateway" to America -- is one of the areas of Bergen County where Mr. Christie continues to be disfavored and still unpopular for indicting many local mafiosos affiliated with the Democrat machine while favoring, allegedly, gangsters loyal to the G.O.P., probably from South Jersey. ("Christie Gives a Donor $1 Million of New Jersey Money.")

Far from exoneration, the report states: " ... there is no 'conclusive evidence' as to whether the governor was OR WAS NOT aware of the lane closures or involved in directing them." (emphasis added!) 

In non-legal prose this suggests that the authors of the report believe Christie's aides would not have acted without his approval, but they cannot prove the governor actually ordered the lane closures, which (I believe) is very likely. 

Similarly, I am sure that Mr. Menendez orchestrated efforts against me, using lesbian friends and croneys -- like Lilian Munoz, Estela De La Cruz, Nydia Hernandez, Diana Lisa Riccioli and/or others who may have supplied "female company" to the senator in the past. ("Bribery in Union City, New Jersey" and "Is Union City, New Jersey Meyer Lansky's Whore House?")

I cannot say (or prove) what contacts these "ladies" and/or others (or Senator Menendez!) may have had with Marilyn Straus. I am sure that there were some highly unwelcome "contacts" for Ms. Straus, possibly while she was under hypnosis. ("Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "Diana's Friend Goes to Prison!" and "Marilyn Straus Was Right!" then "Menendez Consorts With Underage Prostitutes" and "Another FBI Investigation of Menendez.")

"Even if BRIDGET ANN KELLY and DAVID WILDSTEIN acted alone, the report states, 'they did so with perceived immunity' and in the environment, both [in the governor's office] and the Port Authority, in which they felt empowered to act as they did, with little regard for public safety or the steadily mounting public frustrations." 

Will Texas Kill an Insane Man?

December 1, 2014 at 1:49 P.M. I am limited to 45 minutes per day (or a little more, if I am lucky) on a library computer. 

I continue to be denied access to the Internet from my home, illegally. As a result, it may take a while to complete and publish the essay that appears below. A number of sources will be added to this essay in the days ahead.

The total number of pages sent to Mr. Vance by overnight mail is 60. The package was sent out on December 3, 2014 and is guaranteed delivery by 12:00 noon December 4, 2014. The tracking number is EK 579841140US. 

With the posting of this information I anticipate that both persons assigned to intercept this mail and those expecting the items will be on notice. I am sure that the authorities in New York are aware of my situation and the grave threats posed by that situation. This has been true for some time. There is simply no plausible denial at this stage of the "matter." ("Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?" and "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")

I have kept all originals of the items sent, again, and there are hundreds of additional pages indicating computer crimes and other crimes committed against me (and others) by the persons behind these various "communications" to me. Many of the hackers seem to be using New Jersey or federal government computers.

Thomas Erdbrink, "Iran Grants Bail to Woman From Britain Held 5 Months," The New York Times, November 24, 2014, p. A4. ("A British-Iranian woman detained in Iran since June, whose case attracted international attention after her family said she had been arrested for trying to attend an all-male volleyball match, was released on bail on Monday." The proposed execution of Mr. Panetti is a greater injustice than the absurd imprisonment of this woman in Iran. Amazingly, even the granting of a stay at the eleventh hour has been opposed by Texas law enforcement officials.)

Emma G. Fitzimmons, "Boy Dies After Police in Cleveland Shoots Him [sic.]: 2 Officers in City Are Placed On Leave," The New York Times, November 24, 2014, p. A12. (A 12-year-old African-American boy, Tamir Rice, was shot and killed by Cleveland police officers because he was playing with a toy gun. On the same day numerous white children played with toy guns, but not one of them was shot dead by police. Very few fat white persons have been strangled by police on Park Avenue in Manhattan. The unobjectionable and inspiring words of Mayor De Blasio concerning the Garner incident have provoked a weird over-reaction from police who feel embattled. NYPD is probably the best in the country. Racism in New York exists, but is nothing like what is found elsewhere in the country. Given the controversy over the non-indictment of a police officer in the Garner case, a tactful silence from police officers is probably wisest.)

Erick Erickholm, [Eric Holder?] "Court Upholds Marriage Bans In Four States," The New York Times, November 7, 2014, p. A1. (The U.S. Supreme Court will need to resolve contradictions between the Circuit Courts on this controversial issue.)

Stephanie Clifford, "A Nominee for Attorney General: Praised for Substance, Not Flash -- Woman in the News Loretta Elizabeth Lynch," The New York Times, November 9, 2014, p. A1. (Regrettably, the G.O.P. will play politics with this appointee's nomination process. The delays will be substantial to allow for the "arrival" of the Republican majorities. Everything I have heard suggests that Ms. Lynch is an excellent candidate for U.S. Attorney General.)

Benjamin Mueller, "New York Prosecutor Accused Of Attacking Woman at a Bar," The New York Times, November 9, 2014, p. A29. (A strong supporter of Israel and "Terry Tuchin," ELI CHERASKY, 35, a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney -- perhaps he is assigned to the mail room? -- was charged with misdemeanor assault, threatening, and harassing a young woman. This is "demeaning to women" and part of the alleged "patriarchy" in our society. Also allegedly, however, the matter will be "taken care of" for this person by his colleagues -- including, possibly, Mr. Bloomberg's "old friends" at the District Attorney's office. Prosecutors and police officers seem to get very special treatment when they commit crimes, especially against minority men. This is what people object to in the legal system. New York is better on these issues than most other places, but it is not perfect.)

Charlie Savage, "U.N. Commission Presses U.S. On Torture," The New York Times, November 14, 2014, p. A6. ("In a two-day presentation in Geneva, the American delegation acknowledged that the United States had tortured terrorism suspects after the Sept. 11 attacks." The U.S. legal team would not deny on the record that psychological torture and censorship tactics are used on dissidents in the United States nor speak to the issue of torture in American prisons. "Psychological Torture in the American Legal System" then "Justice For Mumia Abu-Jamal" and "Foucault, Rose, Davis and the Meaning(s) of Prison.")

James Risen, "Psychologists to Review Role in Interrogations," The New York Times, November 14, 2014, p. A6. (U.S. psychologists defend the U.S. torture protocols that involve so-called "touchless torture." "Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "American Doctors and Torture.")

Douglas Martin, "Tomas Young Dies at 34; Faulted Iraq War in Film," The New York Times, November 17, 2014, p. A23. (Tomas Young is an eloquent symbol of protest against the disaster that is Iraq today.)

"Manhattan D.A. Addresses a National Problem," (Editorial) The New York Times, November 19, 2014, p. A25. (Will Mr. Vance deal with matters brought to his attention by me -- some may concern this very national problem, rape -- before an innocent person in New York is injured, or worse? I hope so. An overnight mail receipt number for the package sent to the D.A.'s office, for the second time, has been posted here. Hackers continue to attack printers and computers used by me at the NEW YORK Public Library that is also used by others. "John McGill, Esq., the OAE, and New Jersey Corruption.") 

"Horror in Israel," (Editorial) The New York Times, November 19, 2014, p. A25. (More attacks are expected in reaction to the Israeli claims of 1,000 acres of seized lands and events in Gaza as the French Parliament and other national legislatures recognize the nation of Palestine. Among the countries now recognizing Palestine are a number of European and Latin American countries. This is not the path to peace.)

The size of letters may be increased and other deformations of this text must be expected at all times. Insults, threats, and/or other violations of fundamental rights should be directed at me, not at my family members or other innocent persons in New York City whose safety and welfare should concern the District Attorney, Mr. Vance, also Mayor De Blasio as well as Mr. Bratton. 

"Will Texas Kill an Insane Man?," The New York Times, November 24, 2014, p. A28.

David Montgomery, "Justices Urged to Intervene in Execution of Texas Man," The New York Times, December 2, 2014, p. A14. (So far, the United States Supreme Court seems to have no problem with the execution of Mr. Panetti. The matter was sent back to a Circuit Court panel that has granted a TEMPORARY stay, but has not yet resolved the underlying issues. I will continue to research this matter which the United States Supreme Court must address at some point. "The Wanderer and His Shadow.") 

Edward Bennett Williams, "Punishing the Sick," in Eugene V. Rostow, Dean of Yale University's Law School, Introduction, One Man's Freedom (New York: Atheneum, 1977), pp. 245-264.

Joshua Dressler, "Insanity," in Understanding Criminal Law (Mass.: Lexis, 2006), pp. 363-392 (2nd Ed. 2014?). 

H.L.A. Hart, Punishment and Responsibility (Oxford: Oxford University/Clarendon Press, 1968).

"In Defense of Battered Women Who Kill," 13 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 518 (1993). ("Abuse and Exploitation of Women in New Jersey.")

Michael S. Moore, Law and Psychiatry: Rethinking the Relationship (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984).  

Gerry Spence, Of Murder and Madness: A True Story of Insanity and the Law (New York: Doubleday, Inc., 1983), entirety. (The best full-length work I have read dealing with insanity in the criminal law process from the point of view of a great trial attorney, who first exonerated his client using the insanity defense and then had the same client found sane so as to win his release from a mental institution.)

Victor Tadros, Criminal Responsibility (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 322-347 ("Excusing the Mentally Disabled").

Susan Wolf, "Sanity and the Metaphysics of Responsibility," in G. Watson, Ed., Free Will 2nd Ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003). (Professor Wolf is a philosopher and law professor as well as a leading expert on legal ethics. This essay is much-reproduced and is found in many anthologies.)

"On December 3, Texas plans to execute an inmate named Scott Panetti, who was convicted in 1995 for murdering his in-laws with a hunting rifle. There is no question that Mr. Panetti committed the murders. There is also no question that he is severely mentally ill, and has been for decades." (emphasis added!)

One aspect of the U.S. criminal law system which, for some reason, remains controversial is the existence of something called "the insanity defense."

The insanity defense is not some "trick" devised by criminal defense lawyers to get guilty people off. 

Rather, the hallowed insanity defense involves a pretty basic recognition that responsibility and social deterrence are essential components of legal punishment, so that the absence of these elements makes "punishment" meaningless or absurd. 

The notion of being "guilty" of something also depends on moral concepts structural to the legal system's rules as well as definitions of criminality.  ("The Allegory of the Cave.")

"Insanity" -- which is a legal and not a scientific or merely psychological category -- is an "excuse" to the commission of a crime focusing on the mental state of the agent as opposed to "events" taking place in a particular scenario that would otherwise certainly be criminal. 

Fortunately, it is not usually required that defense lawyers, prosecutors, or judges be sane. However, to be convicted of a crime an accused person must be sane, or sufficiently sane as to be capable of the necessary "relation" to his or her "actions," or deeds. 

There is usually a highly specific degree of intent defined by law for the commission of identified or so-called "specific intent" offenses, like kidnapping, murder, or rape. 

Murder, for instance, requires "malice aforethought," "deliberation," "planning," or other detailed mental states prior to, or accompanying, the killing of another human being as well as (and/or) actions that cause the death of an "intended" (foreseeable) victim. 

In the language of the common law tradition this requirement specifies that there must be mens rea (mental state) as well as actus rea (action or deeds) prohibited by law. 

If a person has NO awareness of the nature of his or her actions, nor even any sense of who or where he or she is, "punishing" that individual for an alleged crime -- or proven "event" as opposed to a "crime" -- is comparable to accusing your refrigerator of a crime, or the medieval practice of charging lower animals for legal offenses.

It is morally absurd to "punish" inanimate objects or lower animals under the rubric of the criminal law system that is designed for persons capable of being held responsible for their actions. ("A Doll's Aria.") Edward Bennett Williams notes: 

"Jacques Ferron was charged with the felony of sodomy with a she-ass at Vancres, France, 1750. ... What makes the prosecution noteworthy by our standards is that the animal was tried along with Ferron as con-conspirator in the crime. If convicted, the animal faced execution for the crime." (See the film The Advocate.)

In a number of witchcraft trials animals accused of acting as "familiars" were indicted along with women charged with witchery.

The animals' (usually cats) in these witchcraft trials that failed to "testify" in order to save themselves were deemed to reveal magical control by a demon or witch and, hence, (usually) the accused woman's guilt. If they testified, however, then the woman with a talking cat was clearly a witch who would be killed after torture. ("New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.") 

The punishment for witches was burning at the stake. No doubt this punishment ensured that the women learned their lesson. 

In the absence of all agency by a person, or any blameworthiness for an action by the accused, there is a moral equivalence that arises between executing a mentally ill person and, for example, sending a cat to prison for killing a mouse, or killing a woman who owned a cat for being a witch:

"During his capital murder trial, at which Mr. Panetti was inexcusably allowed to defend himself, Mr. Panetti dressed in a cowboy suit and attempted to subpoena, among others[,] John F. Kennedy and Jesus Christ. A standby lawyer said his behavior was 'scary' and 'trance-like,' and called the trial a 'judicial farce' [worthy of New Jersey?] ..." ("New Jersey is the Home of the Living Dead" and "Is Union City, New Jersey Meyer Lansky's Whore House?")

For prosecutors to suggest that such an incompetent individual should be EXECUTED -- when he may not even have been fit to stand trial -- and for them to go out of their way to "fail to notify" the man's appointed counsel of this planned execution on the grounds that there was no formal legal requirement that they do so, speaks of a crass and brutal insensitivity (or even inhumanity) that merits ethics sanctions. (Again: "John McGill, Esq., the OAE, and New Jersey Corruption" and "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")

Anyone with legal training in America should be ashamed that such a hideous spectacle and utter barbarism is taking place ostensibly under the structure of our legal system and the U.S. Constitution. ("Prosecutorial Misconduct" and "Ape and Essence" then "Primates and Personhood.")

I am not aware of a civilized society in the world that would punish with the ultimate criminal sanction any human being who is literally UNAWARE of the nature and consequences of acts performed by his or her physical body on a particular occasion. 

Without the intention to perform the "actions" that are deemed criminal -- whether the person is mentally ill, under hypnosis, or unconscious -- there is no basis for moral blameworthiness or legal liability. ("Richard A. Posner On Voluntary Actions and Criminal Responsibility.")

This does not mean that the individual will be permitted to continue killing innocent others, but that he or she is a candidate for involuntary confinement to a mental institution for treatment. If and/or when there is genuine recovery, the confined person can be placed on trial. Texas has decided to ignore such "niceties" and "quibbles." 

"Noting Mr. Panetti's 'well-documented history of mental illness,' the [federal] court held that capital punishment serves no retributive purpose when the defendant's understanding of crime and punishment is so distorted that it has little or no relation to the understanding of those concepts shared by the community as a whole."     

"Interstellar": A Movie Review.

November 22, 2014 at 12:52 P.M. I brought my laptop to the NYPL, Morningside Heights branch. I am prevented from accessing the Internet from my laptop even at the library.

Evidently, there is nothing wrong with the laptop. Hence, it is inexplicable to people why I am unable to use it to write from my home, or other Internet connection at a public location. 

I have received no notice from any government agency that I am not permitted to write online. For the time being, accordingly, I am forced to use library computers exclusively. 

I will try to find other public computers from which to access the Internet. 

I have the impression that some powerful officials do not wish to have me writing and publishing online. 

I wonder why this is true? ("Menendez Consorts With Underage Prostitutes" and "Christie Gives a Donor $1 Million of New Jersey Money.") 

Neither laws, nor courts and/or police respond to these illegalities that are brought to their attention and that I will continue to bring to their attention. ("An Open Letter to Cyrus Vance, Jr., Esq.")

I will soon post the overnight mail receipt number for the package sent to Mr. Vance for a second time. Follow-up letters to government officials will also be posted at this blog. 

"Silencing" me threatens all journalists and everyone writing on-line in America and elsewhere. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.") 

As regards the Constitution's guarantee of freedom of speech, persons conducting this censorship effort are "playing with matches." 

"Interstellar": Directed by Christopher Nolan; script by Jonathan Nolan & Christopher Nolan; Director of Photography (impressive) Hoyte Van Hoyten; edited by Lee Smith; music (not so impressive) Hans Zimmer. Paramount, 2014. 

Performers: Mathew McConaughey (Coop, Oscar please!); Ann Hathaway (Dr. Amelia Brand); Jessica Chastain (Murph as an adult); Bill Irwin (voice of TARS); McKenzie Foy (Murph as a child); John Lithgow (Donald); Timothee Chalamert (Tom); Wes Bentley (Doyle); David Gyasic (Romilly); Topher Grace (Getty); Michael Caine (Professor Brand); Ellen Burstyn, Matt Damon, and Casey Affleck in supporting roles. 

Reviews: 

Adam Rodgers, "The Physics of Interstellar: A Conversation With Christopher Nolan and Kip Thorne," in Wired, December, 2014, p. 44. (Article appearing after I posted my review that is excellent on the physics, but misses the biology and mythic aspects of the film.) 

Dennis Overbye, "'Interstellar': The Cinema of Physicists," The New York Times, Science Times, November 18, 2014, p. D1. (Some errors by Mr. Overbye, including failures to identify key issues: "The Theory of Everything"? Hawking and Sheldrake? "We" put the wormhole there under the plot-line which answers the question of who put the wormhole "there." The fifth dimension may be as many as eleven dimensions in string theory which would solve the planetary science issues. Is Mr. Overbye also "George Johnson"? "Is the universe only a numbers game?")

Lou Lumenick, "Over the Moon," The New York Post, November 14, 2014, p. 35. (Complementary review -- or even a rave -- but clueless about the science and philosophy in the film.)

A.O. Scott, "Off to the Stars, With Dread and Regret," The New York Times, November 5, 2014, p. C1. (Lost on the science; favorable on the performances. David Brooks is worse on the science and more confused on philosophical issues. Does Mr. Brooks write under pseudonyms? If so, what are those pseudonyms? "Manohla Dargis"? GOP?)

"There is No Reason At All [Why] You Should Care About the Universe. For One Thing, It Doesn't Care About You," Time, November 10, 2014, p. 44. (Arguably, this film is saying exactly the opposite of what this unsigned article suggests.)

Films Referenced in "Interstellar":

1. "2001, A Space Odyssey."
2. "The Wizard of Oz."
3. "Star Wars."
4. "Star Trek."
5. "Lost in Space," TV Show and Movie.
6. "The Bible." 
7. "Prometheus."
8. "Mindwalk."
9. "Lifeforce."
10. "Silent Running."
11. "Looper."
12. "Close Encounters of the Third Kind," "E.T.," "A.I." 

"Man and nature will combine in an all-embracing unity." -- Friedrich Holderlin.

"Interstellar" is the latest film by Christopher Nolan featuring a thoughtful script co-authored with younger brother Jonathan Nolan. Mr. Nolan -- the director, not the writer -- studied literature at the University of London, specializing in the Romantics, while younger brother, Jonathan, read philosophy and science at Oxford University.

The Nolans display a shared interest in Romantic ideas as well as the philosophy of science and contemporary physics which continues to inform their works. 

Lurking under the surface of the Nolans' plots and overt themes, however, is a fascinating and related meditation on the mystery of "doubleness" -- mirror-images and -symmetries -- leading to the mutuality of identity that must be poignant for twins, or any siblings and/or "dialectical partners." 

There is a "yes-and-no" quality to the self-as-duality which is intriguing to the Nolans because it seems to parallel the puzzles of cinema and the latest aesthetic theory to say nothing of quantum physics. ("'Inception': A Movie Review" and "'The Prestige': A Movie Review" then "Drawing Room Comedy: A Philosophical Essay in the Form of a Film Script.")

Several entanglement relations are detectable in this movie between fathers and daughters: Michael Caine's Professor Brand gives a daughter to Coop for his Promethean journey only to acquire Coop's daughter "Murph" as his only student. 

John Lithgow's aging paternal archetype adds to the poignancy of the "fathers and their children" theme that emphasizes the way most of us measure time's passage in our lives -- by way of transitions between or among generations -- as well as changes in our lives and concerns. 

These disturbing themes ("Ford" and "Dolores" or God and Man/Woman) continue to be explored in Jonathan Nolan's and Lisa Joy's spectacular "Westworld" series on HBO that also delves into the mystery and paradox of freedom as -- or against evil -- at the center of personhood. The Nolan style of film-making is nothing if not metaphysically ambitious as well as aesthetically adventurous. 

The child (in this case a daughter) is "father to the man," to paraphrase Wordsworth. "Lived" time will be contrasted with other forms of temporal passage and chronicling in this movie.

Coop's final quest for Amelia (as in the famous "aviator" Amelia Earhardt?) Brand takes him back to the stars as substitute father/lover to a new lover/partner/wife echoing themes from Greek mythology. Icharus? 

Dispositions that find many forms of expression across the generations hint at an analogy between quantum entanglements and genetic relations or evolutionary drives. 

Talents that are "inherited" as well as the instinct for survival reflect the curvature of moral space around the "morphogenetic" emotion and force that is love.

Much of the biology of "Interstellar" is found in discussions among the Chilean school of biologists, Humberto Maturana especially, and distinguished thinkers, such as Alister McGrath (genetic biologist and Anglican priest) of Oxford University together with Francisco Ayala of Princeton University. 

The film offers both a search for and suggested resolution to the mystery of "The Theory of Everything." The movie also provides theological speculation on the transformations of the Christian narrative in a secular age or in postmodernist-scientific culture.

"Coop" is the Promethean/Christ figure who dies and is reborn, Michael Caine's Dr. Brand is the god that fails; Ms. Hathaway's Dr. Brand, Jr. is the unified version of Christianity's Mary Magdalene/Mary the Mother of God who creates the "Lazarus" settlement on a distant planet that (she believes) permits humanity to conquer death. ("Duality in Christian Feminine Identity" and "'The Da Vinci Code': A Movie Review.")

Love is what allows for the only genuine "conquest" of death leading to the "rebirth" of Coop and his return to dwell among us before ascending to the stars, as I said, to rejoin "Mary" -- I mean, Ann Hathaway's "Dr. Brand."  

The crucial dialectic between love and death is at the center of this film with references to the second law of thermodynamics (entropy) balanced by suggestions of love as the unity of the other fundamental forces in the universe as well as the means of overcoming death. 

If the new school of biologists is correct (autopoesis) spontaneous order may counter entropy with the creation of ever-more beautiful or elegant order from chaos or decay. 

"Entropy" is the term for the way that all energy in the universe is running down (or dissipating) leading, eventually, to what has been called: "the heat death of the universe." 

Life, survival, love is set against collapse, disintegration, or evil as death. 

C.S. Peirce's classic essay "Evolutionary Love" is invoked beside the celebrated dialogue between David Bohm and Rupert Sheldrake. 

More on this fascinating scholarship will be offered later in this discussion. 

Several of Einstein's thought experiments -- notably, the "watch in the box and the watch in the rocket ship" -- are found in the plot twists of the movie, but these devices have not been detected or discussed by reviewers to the best of my knowledge.  

"One of the early thought experiments proposed by Einstein is the clock in the box experiment ..." balanced by the watch in the space ship that, decades later, is dropped into a black hole by Stephen Hawking. 

Please refer to Menos Kafatos & Robert Nordeau, The Conscious Universe: Part and Whole in Modern Physical Theory (New York: Springer/Verlag, 1990), p. 61 and then the crucial extended discussion of relativity, the time-space continuum, and quantum mechanics in Albert Einstein, "Quantum Theory and the Fundamentals of Physics," from 1936 that is reprinted in Out of My Later Years (New York: Castle Books, 1956), pp. 59-98, especially pp. 85-93. 

The Wizard of Oz is one of the films haunting "Interstellar" since survival -- like happiness or the proverbial bluebird -- is in our own backyard all along, or so we are told. 

Death and Hamlet's questions, Noir images, have continued to grow in importance for Mr. Nolan as he enters what is laughingly called "middle age." 

Climate warming  is easily solved as a human crisis in "Interstellar" by locating another habitable planet or two. The plot device suggests, unintentionally, that we should not worry about destroying the Earth because we can continue polluting multiple dimensions of reality and countless other worlds thanks to science. 

I suggest that we worry about climate warming here and now so that we do not have to escape our friendly planet.  

I doubt that this is the idea we are intended to derive from the movie ("don't worry about it!"), but I am sure that more than one audience member will exit the theater with a sigh of relief in order to get into a gas-guzzling BMW SUV. 

There is a surprising (and suspicious) shortage of African-Americans in this future America and very few, if any, dark-skinned persons who survive into the brave New World of the multiverse. 

I am somewhat alarmed by this development (to say nothing of the censorship I struggle against!) for many of our friends in urban neighborhoods, or those who presume to think differently, since the distant future looks like America in the nineteen-fifties.

A key theme is time and the running out of time (death for planets, species, persons) together with the prospects of transcendence and overcoming of death. The solution we are offered has to do with the elongation of time achieved not only in relativistic accounts of the space-time continuum, but also by way of the controlled plasticity of time achieved through a new "theory of everything" re-unifying the fundamental forces of physics -- gravity, the weak and strong nuclear forces, electromagnetism -- by way of the unsuspected "morphic field" of love. 

Along the way we will travel through a wormhole and fall into a black hole to discover the "singularity," a mathematical representation of infinite information in all directions (the tesseract)  that amounts to a new definition of God. Ian Stewart, Nature's Numbers: The Unreal Reality of Mathematics (New York: Basic Books, 1995), pp. 146-147. (Abstract mathematical "forms" may exist logically, but not empirically, as with multi-dimensional objects that are numerically definable and simulated in computer programs without being encountered in the "real" world.)

"We put it there." We did indeed. This human origin does not make any concept less real. "We" also invented physics and mathematics. Part of what is at issue in Christopher Nolan's films is the concept of "reality" and the ambiguous boundaries between the real versus unreal, dream and wakefulness, time and space, fiction and fact in an age when all bivalent relations are subject to intense challenge and debate. ("Has science made philosophy obsolete?" and "Michel Foucault and the Authorship Question" then "Jacques Derrida's Philosophy as Jazz.") 

Critics have mistakenly suggested that there is no vision of the divine in this movie. This is inaccurate: God is the mathematical structure that is infinite in all directions, perfect, eternal, where the force of love may impel us in one direction or another, towards one moment (and person) or another, based on need and connection. ("Would Jesus be a Christian?" and "'The American': A Movie Review.") 

Among the dimensions and entities brought together in the tesseract, a kind of mathematical weaving together of dimensions and forces, is time-space that becomes a Borgesian infinite library of moments, or "nows." Amit Goswami, The Self-Aware Universe: How Consciousness Creates the Material World (New York: Penguin, 1995), pp. 139-145. 

It is in this mathematical space that Coop experiences the "gravitational" pull of love bringing him to the crucial moment of his relationship with Murph that allows him to hint to her of a solution to the paradoxes in which we find ourselves located resulting in the rescuing of the human race. Robin Morgan, The Anatomy of Freedom: Feminism, Physics, and Global Politics (New York: Anchor Press, 1982), pp. 280-318. ("Judith Butler and Gender Theory.")

Before offering a more detailed consideration of key plot elements and turning to a full discussion of themes highlighted in the film that are unified under the symbol of the "twin" watches, I will comment on the concept(s) of time in the narrative: one watch is in a box on Earth, the other is in the rocket ship in the heavens; one (a "baby" watch) is given to Murph; the other (a "grown-up" watch, a Longines, by the way, certainly a respectable choice) is worn by Coop. 

We all have such watches inside ourselves that will one day stop ticking. Time's subtle dance and coy seductions is attached to gravity's enhanced solidity and malleability in the Smolin/Greene "loop quantum gravity" discussions of the unification problem in physics. Brian Greene, The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality (London & New York: Penguin, 2007), pp. 489-491 ("Loop Quantum Gravity").

If there is a way to unite nature's fundamental forces, gravity is probably the key to the solution. 

In terms of subconscious associations, in this movie, time is "feminine" while gravity seems to be "masculine," whereas the fusion of the two is love with a bow to Darwin and Freud. 

Love and death, again, define the human condition. The idea is not that through love we return to a past moment, but that crucial moments in our lives -- as well as in life-narratives -- travel with us in our life-journeys. The influence of hermeneutic thinkers, especially Ricoeur and Gadamer is also important:

"Once inside the hole, therefore, [the hypothetical astronaut] will be imprisoned in a timewarp, unable to return to the outside universe again, because the outside universe will have happened. He will be, literally, beyond the end of time as far as the universe is concerned. To emerge from the hole, he would have to come out before he went in. This is absurd [only in a four-dimensional universe!] and shows there is no escape. The inexorable grip of the hole's gravity drags the hapless astronaut towards the singularity where, a microsecond later, he reaches the edge of time, and obliteration; the singularity marks the end of a one-way journey to 'nowhere' and 'nowhen.' It is a non-place where the physical universe ceases."

The quantum paradoxes become obvious and are underscored as the narrative progresses. In fact, the very idea of "narrative progression" is called into question in the movie's "cinematic" time:

"Questions such as 'What is happening now on Mars?' are intended to refer to a particular instant on that planet. But as we have seen, a space traveller sweeping past Earth in a rocket who asked the same question at the same instant would be referring to a different moment on Mars. In fact, the range of possible 'nows' on Mars available to an observer near Earth (depending on his motion) actually spans several minutes. When the distance to the subject is greater, so is this range of 'nows.' For a distant Quasar 'now' could refer to any interval over BILLIONS of years. Even the effect of strolling around on foot alters the 'present moment' on a quasar by thousands of years."

Physicist Paul Davies explains these anomalies in "Time," God and the New Physics (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983), pp. 123-124. ("What is memory?" and "'In Time': A Movie Review.")

Please compare Errol E. Harris, "Time and the Transcendental Subject," in The Reality of Time (New York: SUNY, 1988), pp. 88-92 (" ... cognitive acts are not phenomena, but transcend, as they must in order to cognize, the objects and relations which they intend ...") with Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes (New York: Bantam, 1988), pp. 174-175 ("If we find the answer to that, [the unified field theory,] it would be the ultimate triumph of human reason -- for then we should know the mind of God ...").

Thanks to Christopher and Jonathan Nolan we now know that the mind of God is love and (or "as") a sublime mathematical elegance which may be redundant. Love is beauty for these thinkers. Hence, the "elegant universe hypothesis." 

" ... the unimaginable touch of time." -- William Wordsworth.

Coop finds himself farming some of the few remaining acres in North America capable of yielding viable crops after climate warming's dire effects. Mostly people eat corn in post-apocalyptic America. This must be better than government cheese. I say this as someone who has eaten government cheese and known days when he would have been grateful for some of that cheese.

Coop's son (played as an adult by Casey Affleck in an underappreciated part) may have a genuine grievance against dad and Murph, since he seems to get the short end of the stick in parental attention and love.

I am a Casey Affleck fan because he is not only a superb actor, but (like most of the best actors) Casey is willing to play disturbing and far from likable characters and unconcerned about appearing in the most flattering manner on screen. Please see: "The Killer Inside." 

Murph will become the bearer of the torch for humanity and Jr. will be only another struggling farmer from the heartland. 

A meeting at the boy's school makes it clear to Coop that the American decline includes school textbooks denying the reality of the moon landing as well as most other American achievements that are seemingly impossible to attribute to transgendered persons of color residing in the East Village of Manhattan. ("Whatever happened to the liberal arts?" and "Is the universe only a numbers game?")

In one of the few scenes featuring an African-American, the audience is told that the moon landing was staged to force an impossible economic competition on the former Soviet Union. Such insanity, apparently, is not unheard of in academic circles these days. ("Why Jane can't read" and "America's Nursery School Campus.")

Michael Caine's presence makes any movie better. He serves as "Philemon," or a Stephen Hawking-like scientist forced underground by political correctness who is a mentor to Coop. The senior Dr. Brand offers Coop redemption and the chance to do what he is trained to do so well -- pilot a space ship. ("Nihilists in Disneyworld.")

As Murph will fulfill her genetic endowment -- dad is an engineer and scientist, but a crappy farmer -- and salvific mission only by finding a formula for the theory of everything with dad's help ("back to the future!"), so Dr. Amelia Brand (Ann Hathaway) will "go where no man has gone before" to create the first off-world human colony called "Lazarus" when it is no longer needed. 

That is so annoying for a woman scientist -- to save the world when it is no longer necessary. On the other hand, the home planet is endowed with 11 more dimensions that we can happily ruin at our leisure. 

For those who crave more about the physics of the multiverse, Professor Michiu Kaku has devoted substantial attention to the topic in a Science Channel documentary on the "physics of the future" that accompanies his book by the same title.

We will journey into wormholes and, eventually, fall into a black hole to discover the "singularity" that allows for an experience of the infinite mathematics that is ultimate reality in which we are placed, uncomfortably and confusedly at the "moment."

References to the stories of the Hebrew Bible (complete with a flood) will prevent viewers from claiming that this is only a Christian narrative which it is, mostly. 

The tesseract, of course, is a representation of the "mind of God."

Along the way, as I have suggested, there are knowing references to Einstein's most famous thought-experiments and their subsequent elaborations, coupled with key themes in hermeneutic theory concerning temporality and narrative: 124 years elapse in the story on screen but only 2 and 1/2 hours pass in the movie theater, suggesting that the clever Nolans have placed all of us (in the audience) on a "spaceship" that alters the experience of time for the film's recipients. The movie "Interstellar" is our "spaceship" as audience members and participants in the work. The reference is to Hans-Robert Jauss and the "reader-response" theory. ("Metaphor is Mystery" and "A Doll's Aria.")

We have become time-travelers. Cool, pass me the popcorn. 

Derrida's "deconstruction" of time-experience and time-conception in language(s) comes to mind establishing beyond any doubt that the Nolan brothers have their postmodernist credentials fully up-to-date. Professor Derrida was among the leading thinkers posing a powerful critique to Western dualisms and all bivalent relations. Jacques Derrida, The Gift of Death (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995) and Paul Ricoeur, Critique and Conviction (New York: Columbia University Press, 1998) are meditations on death as the "end of time" by two of the leading philosophers of their generation in France concerned with "time and narrative" and the "deconstruction of time." 

Modernism's "linear" understandings time have been transformed into a postmodernist conception of time as circles/mandalas as we are forced to enter the "sliding doors" universe of the twenty-first century. ("'The Adjustment Bureau': A Movie Review.")

The Nolan brothers are transformed into robots paraphrasing the device on the old "Lost in Space" television show ("Danger Will Robinson!") except that the machines seem to have read Hans-Georg Gadamer. 

The tribute to "Star Wars" and the twin robots in the original film by Mr. Lucas is cute if a little heavy-handed. "Use the force!," Mr. Nolan. When combined with the "twin" watches the only conclusion is that the Nolans see themselves as mirror-images of one another in a very mutually annoying way. ("Dialectics, Entanglement, and Special Relativity.")

Jonathan Nolan seems to believe that his brother Christopher "talks enough for both of us." (Again: "'The Prestige': A Movie Review.") 

The concept of evil in the film is "entrapment in ego" in the form of Mr. Damon's character (what did Dr. Brand see in him?) whereas freedom is self-giving love, or sacrifice for others, in the form of Coop. 

Several ideas or concepts of love are juxtaposed, including eros that is only hinted at in the film. Love at several stages in the plot exerts a gravitational pull on characters, not exclusively on Coop or Murph. 

The fusion of Buddhist themes with astro-physics -- derived from Ken Wilber's writings -- is fascinating and familiar to those of us who have read these brilliant books:  

"The level of mind ["Inception"] by whatever other name it is given, is what there is and all there is -- so say its explorers. This, however, introduces a new task for this synthesis, namely, to attempt to describe the apparent (i.e., illusory) creation or evolution of our conventional levels of consciousness 'from' or 'out of' the level of Mind, somewhat as a physicist would describe the optics of a prism that creates a [second] prism from a single beam of light. But this is not an actual evolution of Mind through time, as we will explain, but a seeming evolution of Mind into time, for Mind itself is intemporal, timeless, eternal. We are approaching consciousness, in other words, from the viewpoint of the absolute Now-moment, and so this synthesis becomes a psychological interpretation of the philosophia perennis. It is this [view] inescapably made prey to the paradoxes, logical contradictions, and baffling assertions that must accompany all such interpretations for the sublimely simple reason that the level of Mind is ultimately not an idea but an intensely intimate experience which is so close to us that it slips through the net of words; and that is why it was so emphasized that treating consciousness as a spectrum [multiverse] is pure metaphor or analogy -- it tells what consciousness is like, but not at all what it is, for what it is goes behind words and symbols 'to the inwardness of one's spiritual experience,' which cannot be analyzed intellectually without somehow involving logical contradictions."

The Spectrum of Consciousness (Illinois: Fourth Quest, 1985), p. 26 then Ken Wilber, A Brief History of Everything (Boston: Shambala, 2007), pp. 423-453 ("The Ego and the Eco"). Juan Galis-Menendez, Paul Ricoeur and the Hermeneutics of Freedom (North Carolina: Lulu, 2004). (With the loss of linear time determinism is undermined. I understand that my essay on Ricoeur's philosophy is being translated into other languages. I will post the result at this blog: "Stephen Hawking's Free Will is Determined" and "Stephen Hawking is Right On Time.")

"Rage against the dying of the light." -- Dylan Thomas. 

Unlike most of us, Coop is able to see his child grown very old and on the verge of death. Coop experiences a kind of death and resurrection, as I have noted, and so does our planet in the story.

This is a theological theme of renewal that is found in all of the Nolans' films. The classic hermeneutic example of this device is the "Virgin birth": the animal grows into a spiritual being from base origins. 

Against the ubiquity of decline and death is the idea of an instinct for survival, for the human species and individuals. This instinct is also connected to love, as an emotion and cultural phenomenon, that is transformed into actual energy for "creative evolution" through elegance. The idea of creative evolution is part of the many teleological interpretations of cosmology currently being investigated in universities. John P. Briggs & F. David Peat, Looking Glass Universe: The Emerging Science of Wholeness (London: Fontana, 1984), pp. 163-265. (References to the biologists mentioned above can be found in this work.)

Coop is almost killed by the Matt Damon character and his effort at survival, in Darwinian terms, is described as "instinctive." Later in the story more complex notions of survival and subtle elaborations of Darwinian theory where "organicism" leads to further teleological interpretations of the universe's "narrative" will emerge. ("Is it rational to believe in God?") 

During a moment of inspiration the adult Murph speaks of love as the potential unifying power (form) that prevents the process of "dissipation" from holding sway. ("Pieta" and "The Allegory of the Cave.")

It is love alone which guides Coop back to the crucial "now" in time that allows him to provide the essential hint for his child's key insight about the multiverse. ("God is Texting Me!" and "Magician's Choice.")

This moment in the film-narrative is a single hermeneutic circle in a story that contains several such circles forming "clock-faces" that recapitulate the themes of the text underlining the Nolans' reading of Derrida as well as their fascination with the multi-verse or post-quantum physics. (Again: "Jacques Derrida's Philosophy as Jazz" and "Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Missing Author.")

Compare David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order (New York & London: Routledge, 1980), pp. 140-157, pp. 172-214 with Jacques Derrida, The Problem of Genesis in Husserl's Philosophy (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2003), entirety. (Derrida's book is a short one and devoted to parallel themes to those in "Interstellar.")

I do not believe that the movie's hints concerning the sources to read are accidental or difficult to miss. The obvious reference is to C.S. Peirce's "Evolutionary Love" and to Rupert Sheldrake's concept of "Morphic Fields" exerted by and for life-forms. 

I begin with Peirce, then I turn to the conversation between Sheldrake and Bohm: 

"The doctrine of the primacy of chance naturally suggests the primacy of mind. Just as law is chance habit, [Murph's law: "Anything that can happen will happen."] so is matter inert mind. The principle law of mind is that ideas literally spread themselves continuously [Richard Dawkins' "memes"?] and become more and more general or inclusive, so that people who form communities of any sort develop general ideas in common when this continuous reaching out of feeling becomes nurturing love, such e.g., which parents have for their offspring or thinkers for their ideas, we have creative evolution."

Charles Sanders Peirce, "Evolutionary Love," in Chance, Love, and Logic: Philosophical Essays (Lincoln & London: U. Nebraska Press, 1998), pp. 282-292.

F.H. Bradley's Appearance and Reality (New York: McMillan, 1893), pp. 35-43 ("Space and Time") anticipates Einstein as well as developments in contemporary science by underscoring exactly this point about convergence, pp. 141-161. (Einstein's papers on "Relativity" date from 1905, then 1915 and 1918.) ("A Review of the t.v. Show 'Alice.'") 

Professor Sheldrake is one of the foremost biologists in the world today whose theory of morphic fields contributes to the plot of "interstellar." The dialectic between Sheldrake's and David Bohm's ideas is crucial to appreciating the contemporary science of emotive connection or organic entanglement parallel to entanglement among particles. ("Reality and The Theory of Everything" and, once more, "Dialectics, Entanglement, and Special Relativity.") 

"You could say that if the whole universe is thought-like, [tesseract] then you automatically have a sort of cosmic memory developing. There are systems of thought that take exactly this view. One of them is Mahayana Buddhist system -- the idea of Alayavijana, 'store consciousness,' is rather similar to that of cosmic memory ... The entire universe is, in one school of thought, Vishnu's dream. Vishnu dreams the universe into being -- it has the same kind of reality as a dream, and because Vishnu is a long-lasting god who goes on dreaming for a long time it retains a certain consistency. ... for example, could the gravitational forces that link together all matter have arisen through an original creative insight that all matter was one? ..." 

Rupert Sheldrake, Morphic Resonance: The Nature of Formative Causation (Vermont: Park Street, 2009), pp. 261-265. ("'Total Recall': A Movie Review" then, again, "'Inception': A Movie Review.")

In light of this comment, see Nick Herbert's discussion of the "multiverse" interpretation of quantum phenomena on a cosmological scale alongside Professor Bohm's scholarship on the "implicate order" of reality: Nick Herbert, Quantum  Reality: Beyond the New Physics -- An Excursion Into Metaphysics and the Meaning of Reality (New York: Doubleday, 1985), pp. 168-175 and David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order, pp. 172-214. ("John Searle and David Chalmers On Consciousness" and "Robert Brandom's Reason in Philosophy.")

On the mathematics of "entanglement," see Amir D. Aczel, Entanglement (London: Plume, 2001), pp. 249-253 then John Archibald Wheeler, A Journey Into Gravity and Spacetime (New York: Scientific American Library, 1990), entirety, and Roger Penrose, The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds and the Laws of Physics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989), pp. 391-450, pp. 450-483. ("Consciousness and Computers" and "Mind and Machine.")

The thematics of the film come down to another dialogue, this time between poets Dylan Thomas and W.H. Auden. Thomas is quoted several times by Michael Caine's character, Dr. Brand, notably on his death-bed:

Do not go gently into that good night,
Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

W.H. Auden's response to the message of this poem is also Nolan's protest against decline and death for the nation and species that will open the final section of my review essay if I am allowed to complete this work. 

"We must love one another or die." -- W.H. Auden. 

W.H. Auden's response to the evil and death that he saw hovering over European civilization (September 1, 1939) -- life's response to the inescapable entropy in all of creation -- is emphasized:

All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie, 
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man in the street
And the life of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.

"Interstellar" suggests that the mystery of life alone is a kind of defeat of death. The purpose of life is love.

This resolution is proposed as at least one meaning of the universe. This idea is certainly theological, but it is expressed entirely in a vocabulary of science and secular philosophy in a popular work of art in keeping with (and developing) the themes of the Nolans' earlier films. 

In raising the issue of whether physics has merged with bio-chemistry, given the conscious or "living universe" model, some of the leading scientists of our age have noted the paradoxical nature of the mere existence of conscious and intelligent life in a universe that comes to know itself as "living" and "knowing" only through us. 

Hegel spoke of "Spirit coming to know itself as Spirit": 

"The theory of evolution today describes a process in which individual atoms and molecules are organized into amino acids and proteins. More curiously it describes the development of cells and increasingly complex organisms which, once formed, carefully readjust themselves to pursue their integrity for future growth. How can this be? How can life appear, sustain itself, and display organizational growth" -- creative evolution towards ever higher forms? -- "in the face of the universal march of entropy?"

Looking Glass Universe, pp. 172-173. ("Ronald Dworkin Says: 'The Law Works Itself Pure!'" and "Thomas Nagel's Guilt by Association.")

Albert Camus reminds us that "the last judgment takes place every day." ("Stuart Hampshire and Iris Murdoch On Freedom of Mind.") 

We must live our lives with the knowledge of their precious and fleeting nature even -- or especially -- in coping with suffering and loss (love often includes both painful emotions) since everything and every person we love must die. ("Shakespeare's Black Prince" and "The Soldier and the Ballerina.")

Perhaps this is the universe's way of instructing us to treasure the beauty of the presence of loved-ones, NOW, to cherish and celebrate the vanishing moment in which we live, to struggle for the good in order to create or achieve our fragile and fleeting meanings eternally if not forever. 

Bravo, Nolan brothers and to all of the players and artists who have made this fine movie possible.