Vivien Schweitzer, "Full-Throttle Emotion and Blind Faith," The New York Times, April 7, 2014, p. C3. ("Vivien Schweitzer" is one of the names used by "Jennifer Shuessler" a.k.a. Jill Abramson. Kristina Opalais receives a good review in Butterfly. Renata Scotto, falsely, is said to have rejected emotional commitment to acting the great Puccini parts. No source is listed for the quote or opinion attributed to Ms. Scotto. Even if the quote and comments are genuine, which I doubt, this is unprofessional and questionable journalistic ethics. Similarly, last Sunday's paper attributed a misunderstanding of "rationalism" to Barbara Ehrenreich. In fact, Ms. Scotto is one of the great singing actors, along with Maria Callas and Mr. Domingo. Ms. Scotto has clearly influenced Kristina Opalais. In her memoir, Renata Scotto spoke of the obligation to bring the great Verismo roles to life with effective acting for each generation of audience members without actually dying on stage.)
Renata Scotto & Octavio Roca, Scotto: More Than a Diva (New York: Doubleday, 1984), pp. 127-128. ("Verismo is a little more difficult because it is so much more realistic yet so concentrated ..." and intense.)
Michael Cooper, "For Soprano, From 'Butterfly' to 'Boheme,' in a Flash," The New York Times, April 6, 2014, p. A23. ("Michael Cooper" may also be "Vivien Schweitzer.")
John W. Freeman, The Metropolitan Opera: Stories of the Great Operas (New York & London: The Metropolitan Opera Guild & W.W. Norton, 1984), p. 332. (James Levine, Foreword; Introduction by Peter Allen.)
There are some theatrical and musical experiences that every person should have -- or delight in -- especially in youth. Every woman, in particular, should experience a great performance of Shakespeare's tragedy "Romeo and Juliet" during the course of an early infatuation with a boy who adores her, but is not considered suitable by her family.
Every young woman's first genuine erotic adventure deserves the accompaniment of Weber's ballet music from "Spectre de La Rose."
And every woman who is deeply in love for the first time in her life, pondering Hamlet's questions and oppositions ("to be or not to be" ... ), Freud's stark choice between love (eros) and death (thanatos), while coming to know the full enjoyment of her female power and stage presence (every woman is on stage at least on her wedding day!) -- should relish a great interpretation of Puccini's La Boheme.
On Saturday, April 5, 2014 the MET's La Boheme that featured an expected star-turn by Vittorio Grigolo -- the young Italian lyrical tenor, who has inherited the mantle of his idol and teacher, Luciano Pavarotti -- contained an Opera-within-the-Opera in the form of a nerve-wracking, 11th-hour search for a soprano to replace the ailing Anita Hartig in the lead role.
Ms. Hartig came down with the flu immediately after her MET debut in the starring role of "Mimi." The performance on Saturday was scheduled for broadcast on HD screens for hundreds of thousands of persons beyond those at the MET theater.
"The rising Soprano Kristina Opalais who had just sung the title role of Puccini's 'Madama Butterfly' for the first time at the MET on Friday night, was awakened at 7:30 A.M. Saturday with a phone call from Peter Gelb, the MET's general manager [sic.] who made a bold request: could she [Ms. Opalais] possibly sing the role of Mimi that afternoon in the matine [sic.] of 'La Boheme,' [sic.] to replace an ailing Anita Hartig."
The rest, as they say at the Espresso line at the MET's Grand Tier, is history.
Ms. Opalais -- who admitted getting to bed shortly after midnight, but not getting to sleep "until 5:00 A.M."! -- would sing the challenging role of "Mimi" that very afternoon.
Discretion, naturally, prevents me from inquiring just what the naughty Ms. Opalais was up to galavanting around town after her "death" on stage as Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly.
Perhaps Ms. Opalais was accompanied by a young "Pinkerton" from Manhattan? After all, most sopranos can, as it were, walk and chew gum at the same time.
No doubt Ms. Opalais enjoyed the opportunity to be "Musetta" before singing "Mimi" in order to die, heroically and yet again, on the MET's stage while tossing off a B flat aria to say nothing of her lovely floating pianissimi lamentations at the loss of life and beauty in the form of her "Rodolfo."
Puccini's high Romantic celebration of love's passionate embrace and "embodiment" in art (this Opera) -- poetry, music, the philosopher's genius -- is the "first kiss of Spring" that "Mimi" will receive this very afternoon, perhaps, and for the second time in 24 hours. Not bad, Ms. Opalais.
All of this "joy" in the arms of her lover takes place in a Parisian roof-top garett. As Ms. Opalais may remind us in her charming German accent with green eyes sparkling from lack of sleep: "Sopranos need more than applause!"
The metaphor of the flower that crumbles into fallen petals (her "self" that is given to "Rodolfo") is transformed into the pink bonnet ("Rodolfo's" heart given to "Mimi"). The sexual image in the Act I Soprano aria that is repeated in the duet is obvious.
Mr. Grigolo's Italian phrasing is flawless and intense, perfect for the Verismo repertoire. He has done his home work listening to classic recordings by Di Stefano, Bergonzi, Pavarotti, Carreras.
I heard two of those distinguished predecessors sing at the MET, and gloried in "Rodolfo's" aria Che gelida manina as well as the two more dramatic tenor/soprano duets in the Opera that could not be done better today by any singers of which I am aware.
Mr. Grigolo sang his heart out, giving everything he had to the audience, which is all that we can ask of any artist. He repeated the gesture of "giving away his heart" during his final bows.
Mr. Grigolo's voice is well-placed and secured by a sophisticated technique that illustrates his excellent training with Mr. Pavarotti, revealing bright colors in the upper registers of his voice and pastel shades in the middle tessitura that makes up for any lack of heft or spinto quality in the high C range. Bravo, maestro!
Susana Philips as "Musetta" is simply gorgeous-looking and will receive, I am sure, thunderous applause in Italy before she sings a note. Not only is she very pretty, sexy in this sexy role, but Ms. Philips is also blessed with a rich and deep sound in her middle register that fills the MET easily. I am eagerly looking forward to her performance in Cosi Fan Tutti.
"Marcello" is a young baritone not known to me. Regrettably, I did not have a program for the evening and cannot provide the gentleman's name at this time. I hope to do so soon. I am sure that this elegant young singer will make a great Scarpia some day because of the echoes of Renato Bruson and Tito Gobbi in his voice. (Massimo Cavalletti, I am told, is the young baritone's name.)
Colline, Schaunard, and all of the players-singers were fine, as usual, at the MET.
Having said all of this, it must be admitted that Ms. Opalais stole the performance, or made the triumph her own, by providing all of us with a living definition and example of the what the word "Diva" is all about: The fatigue and circles under her eyes were perfect for the dying "Mimi's" Act I Mi chiamano Mimi and much more for the Act III duet Addio, dolce svegliare following "Rodolfo's" Mimi, `e tanto malata!
Ms. Opalais has caused me to regret missing her Butterfly. I will look for recordings by this amazing young singer who is blessed also with physical presence and beauty. I hope to see her on stage next season. I may be able to get tickets hanging from the chandeliers ($25.00) for the current run of Madama Butterfly that will play until May 9th.
Ms. Opalais is a "singing actor" in the tradition of Teresa Stratas and Maria Callas, whose performance reminded me also of Renata Tebaldi and Renata Scotto. My first Opera was Ms. Scotto's Butterfly with Placido Domingo as Pinkerton.
Ms. Opalais possesses a subtle, gentle, highly feminine quality in her voice and the surprising ability to fill a large theater with her caressing falsetto.
The women's voices balanced, perfectly, and complimented baritone and tenor (when necessary) rendering the entire performance better than I would have thought possible. The men were very good, even as the women were a bit more dazzling and spectacular, as they often are in life.
The conducting was a little shaky at the outset, but gained in confidence during the course of the performance. A suggestion is not to miss the significance of Puccini's use of Giacosa's and Illica's association in the libretto of the leads with "poetry," then "life" and "love," as contrasted with "misery" and "death" -- the absence of love.
Love is always "now," for Puccini, writing in middle age of his misspent youth. Puccini gestures at Verdi's Traviata as his heroine is lost in "death's dateless night."
The audience at the MET these days is mostly older than sixty. More than one person, seemingly, felt the absence of a lover and appreciated the beauty as well as poignancy of this masterpiece in a way that most very young people, perhaps, cannot. La Boheme served as the inspiration for the hit show "Rent" on Broadway and in a movie version.
Ms. Opalais broke my heart as "Mimi." Bravissima. I will offer my own poor roses in humble gratitude in the form of Oscar Wilde's poem for another diva and thespian, the "fair creature of an hour" Wilde remembered throughout his life as Shakespeare's "Portia":
PORTIA
[For Ellen Terry]
I marvel not Bassanio was so bold
To peril all he had upon the lead,
Or that proud Aragon bent low his head
Or that Morroco's fiery heart grew cold:
For in that gorgeous dress of beaten gold
Which is more golden than the golden sun
No woman Veronese looked upon
Was half so fair as that whom I behold.
Yet fairer when with wisdom as your shield
The sober-suited lawyer's gown you donned.
And not the laws of Venice yield.
Antonio's heart to that accursed Jew --
O' Portia! take my heart: it is thy due.
I think I will not quarrel with the Bond.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Friday, April 4, 2014
Why Jane Can't Read.
Motoko Rich, "American Students Test Well in Problem Solving, but Trail Foreign Counterparts," The New York Times, April 2, 2014, p. A17.
William Kerrigan, "The Falls of Academe," Mark Edmundson, ed., Wild Orchids and Trotsky (New York & London: Penguin, 1993), p. 152, p. 165.
Dismayed by tests showing a decline in language skills, analytical capacities, fund of historical knowledge, and reasoning in political contexts, apologists for America's crumbling educational system have argued that the nation's students may still be great at something called "problem solving." ("Whatever happened to the liberal arts?" and "Whatever.")
A recent international test indicates, however, that American students may do "well" at this category of intellectual achievement that involves finding the solutions to puzzles or problems (whatever that means), but that they do less well than their counterparts in other First World states in all categories of both theoretical and practical (including this very "problem solving") knowledge and/or skills in every academic area. ("The Mind/Body Problem and Freedom.")
Worse, it appears that a number of Third World nations that have placed resources and other forms of commitment into their educational systems may be surpassing the U.S. in general literacy levels and educational "attainment" of students, notably Brazil and Cuba are doing exceptionally well in education for their populations. Considering the obstacles for those two countries this accomplishment is amazing. ("Time to End the Embargo Against Cuba.")
For decades the U.S. was the world leader in both categories of learning, theoretical and practical. America is now near the bottom of the pile among wealthy countries in terms of educational attainment and in the disparities that exist in our society with regard to learning as between rich and poor students. ("Aaron Schwartz, Freedom, and American Law" and "Nihilists in Disneyworld.")
There are numerous explanations offered by experts for these distressing results to which I will devote a brief comment in my closing paragraphs. For now, it may be best to examine in detail the tests administered and results obtained which confirm many sad findings noted earlier in these blogs. ("Humanity and Humanities in Decline" and "Has science made philosophy obsolete?")
Among the more salient features of these so-called results is the finding that Asian students obtain more general knowledge in science and math -- perhaps effort has something to do with this fact? -- as well as historical and cultural information than their American counterparts, including Americans of Asian ancestry whose response to this news, unsurprisingly, is "whatever." ("Robert Brandom's 'Reason in Philosophy'" and "William Shakespeare's Black Prince.")
American students were simply trounced by students from European and Asian countries, despite alleged surveillance by the NSA on European teaching methods. Happily, U.S. students do very well in "self-esteem" and tend to think themselves "superior" to others, who are smarter and better educated than they are, but do not know the lyrics to Lady Gaga's songs. This fortunate American self-esteem among students exists no matter how poorly our kids do in all forms of tests. Who knew? ("Is Humanism Still Possible?")
"The American students who took the problem solving tests in 2012, the first time they were administered, did better on these exams than on reading, math and science tests, suggesting that students in the United States are better able to apply knowledge to real-life situations than perform straightforward academic tasks."
Here is the "bottom-line" which cannot be obscured by journalists looking for a silver lining in this dark cloud. Mixed metaphor? Whatever! Who needs to know all of that stuff about grammar and all? Duh!
"Still, students who took the problem solving tests in countries including Singapore, South Korea, Japan, several provinces of China, Canada, Australia, Finland and Britain ALL outperformed American students." (emphasis added!)
These findings apply to high school students. The latest tests of university graduates indicate that the differences in intellectual attainment only increase after college when Americans are compared with their counterparts from other countries.
This fact may help to explain why a majority of Ph.D.s granted by American universities today are received by non-U.S. candidates. The numbers are especially striking in the so-called "hard sciences" and mathematics as well as logic/philosophy.
I am not shocked by these findings and would have predicted these results based on prior writings dealing with America's current intellectual crisis.
Political Correctness (PC) and declining intellectual standards -- these are probably related phenomena -- have combined to produce students whose learning in the humanities is often non-existent or embarrassing, even as they are surpassed only by levels of scientific and mathematical illiteracy among young people that often makes their diplomas fraudulent documents. ("Is the universe only a numbers game?" and "Nice Babies and Bad Psychologists.")
Narcissism and self-congratulation among their equally ignorant teachers along with the awful smugness that defines America's children of privilege has produced a generation of graduates who know much less than their predecessors, but who admire themselves much more.
Reacting to these statistics Bob Wise, the aptly-named former Governor of West Virginia and President of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a national policy and advocacy group focused on improving high schools, had this to say:
"The challenge is that a lot of other nations are now developing this [problem-solving capacity] and even moving ahead. So where we used to, in an earlier era, dominate in what we called the deeper learning skills -- creative thinking, critical thinking [philosophy?] and the ability to solve problems -- in terms of producing the workers that are increasingly needed in this area, other nations are coming on strong and in some cases surpassing us."
Philosophy is the academic field that seems to correlate most strongly with creative judgment and analytical capacity, foresight and talent for generalizing prospective solutions, logical reasoning and warranted conclusions.
America may have the world's richest philosophical academy and one of the world's greatest philosophical traditions, but we may be dead last among developed nations in making the subject available to young people, or introducing philosophical discussion among generally well-educated adults, who often fail to appreciate the relevance of philosophical scholarship and learning to the intellectual challenges and public controversies of the day. This is a failure of my generation of intellectuals, not of today's young people. ("Nihilism Against Memory" and "John Finnis and Ethical Cognitivism.")
As someone who has published articles in philosophical journals as well as a book dealing with Continental thought and who is qualified to teach philosophy of law at the undergraduate or law school level, I find these realities sad and painful. ("Why philosophy is for everyone.")
On the positive side the U.S. seems to lead the world in something called "alternative culture appreciation courses" to say nothing of seminars devoted to "The Lesbian Phallus in Jane Austen's Novels." Shakespeare, Milton, metaphysics, Renaissance studies, quantum physics are poor alternatives to the deeper meaning of the Simpsons cartoons in terms of gay and lesbian studies. ("Shakespeare's Black Prince" and "David Hume's Philosophical Romance.")
I began by speaking of "causes" of these distressing developments in academia. William Kerrigan may have anticipated some of what I wish to say in seeking to explain the appalling ignorance that has become common not only among freshmen, but among graduates of many of our leading universities and their professors.
Professor Kerrigan has noted the reductivist tendency among colleagues seeking to boil down life's complexities and the wealth of our literary heritage to issues of race, gender, sexual-orientation and what is called "white male privilege":
"Current attacks on the literary canon ... suggests all sorts of good reasons for studying overlooked works by women, nonwhites, and postcolonial authors. The reasons do sound good to me, but I cannot overcome the heartfelt conviction that the educational program they support is a prescription for mediocrity. [emphasis added] Nothing I have ever read or heard has made me doubt for a moment that the greatest figures in European literature are Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, Swift, Pope, Johnson, Austen, the Romantic poets, Dickens, Emerson, Melville, Whitman, and so on."
Professor Kerrigan goes on to lament:
" ... everything is reduced to political [sermons] about race, class, and gender" -- to say nothing, for once, about the undeniable glories of, say, lesbianism for Asian students of mathematics -- "that make contemporary people feel good, feel sympathetic and tolerant and superior to the evil past."
I cannot imagine why people in China, for instance, are increasingly having second thoughts about sending their daughters and sons to American colleges and universities to discover these "different" lifestyles and value-systems as opposed to being educated. After all, foreign students are bound to gain so much "self-esteem" in American liberal arts colleges even if they do not learn very much about science or math, history or the arts.
William Kerrigan, "The Falls of Academe," Mark Edmundson, ed., Wild Orchids and Trotsky (New York & London: Penguin, 1993), p. 152, p. 165.
Dismayed by tests showing a decline in language skills, analytical capacities, fund of historical knowledge, and reasoning in political contexts, apologists for America's crumbling educational system have argued that the nation's students may still be great at something called "problem solving." ("Whatever happened to the liberal arts?" and "Whatever.")
A recent international test indicates, however, that American students may do "well" at this category of intellectual achievement that involves finding the solutions to puzzles or problems (whatever that means), but that they do less well than their counterparts in other First World states in all categories of both theoretical and practical (including this very "problem solving") knowledge and/or skills in every academic area. ("The Mind/Body Problem and Freedom.")
Worse, it appears that a number of Third World nations that have placed resources and other forms of commitment into their educational systems may be surpassing the U.S. in general literacy levels and educational "attainment" of students, notably Brazil and Cuba are doing exceptionally well in education for their populations. Considering the obstacles for those two countries this accomplishment is amazing. ("Time to End the Embargo Against Cuba.")
For decades the U.S. was the world leader in both categories of learning, theoretical and practical. America is now near the bottom of the pile among wealthy countries in terms of educational attainment and in the disparities that exist in our society with regard to learning as between rich and poor students. ("Aaron Schwartz, Freedom, and American Law" and "Nihilists in Disneyworld.")
There are numerous explanations offered by experts for these distressing results to which I will devote a brief comment in my closing paragraphs. For now, it may be best to examine in detail the tests administered and results obtained which confirm many sad findings noted earlier in these blogs. ("Humanity and Humanities in Decline" and "Has science made philosophy obsolete?")
Among the more salient features of these so-called results is the finding that Asian students obtain more general knowledge in science and math -- perhaps effort has something to do with this fact? -- as well as historical and cultural information than their American counterparts, including Americans of Asian ancestry whose response to this news, unsurprisingly, is "whatever." ("Robert Brandom's 'Reason in Philosophy'" and "William Shakespeare's Black Prince.")
American students were simply trounced by students from European and Asian countries, despite alleged surveillance by the NSA on European teaching methods. Happily, U.S. students do very well in "self-esteem" and tend to think themselves "superior" to others, who are smarter and better educated than they are, but do not know the lyrics to Lady Gaga's songs. This fortunate American self-esteem among students exists no matter how poorly our kids do in all forms of tests. Who knew? ("Is Humanism Still Possible?")
"The American students who took the problem solving tests in 2012, the first time they were administered, did better on these exams than on reading, math and science tests, suggesting that students in the United States are better able to apply knowledge to real-life situations than perform straightforward academic tasks."
Here is the "bottom-line" which cannot be obscured by journalists looking for a silver lining in this dark cloud. Mixed metaphor? Whatever! Who needs to know all of that stuff about grammar and all? Duh!
"Still, students who took the problem solving tests in countries including Singapore, South Korea, Japan, several provinces of China, Canada, Australia, Finland and Britain ALL outperformed American students." (emphasis added!)
These findings apply to high school students. The latest tests of university graduates indicate that the differences in intellectual attainment only increase after college when Americans are compared with their counterparts from other countries.
This fact may help to explain why a majority of Ph.D.s granted by American universities today are received by non-U.S. candidates. The numbers are especially striking in the so-called "hard sciences" and mathematics as well as logic/philosophy.
I am not shocked by these findings and would have predicted these results based on prior writings dealing with America's current intellectual crisis.
Political Correctness (PC) and declining intellectual standards -- these are probably related phenomena -- have combined to produce students whose learning in the humanities is often non-existent or embarrassing, even as they are surpassed only by levels of scientific and mathematical illiteracy among young people that often makes their diplomas fraudulent documents. ("Is the universe only a numbers game?" and "Nice Babies and Bad Psychologists.")
Narcissism and self-congratulation among their equally ignorant teachers along with the awful smugness that defines America's children of privilege has produced a generation of graduates who know much less than their predecessors, but who admire themselves much more.
Reacting to these statistics Bob Wise, the aptly-named former Governor of West Virginia and President of the Alliance for Excellent Education, a national policy and advocacy group focused on improving high schools, had this to say:
"The challenge is that a lot of other nations are now developing this [problem-solving capacity] and even moving ahead. So where we used to, in an earlier era, dominate in what we called the deeper learning skills -- creative thinking, critical thinking [philosophy?] and the ability to solve problems -- in terms of producing the workers that are increasingly needed in this area, other nations are coming on strong and in some cases surpassing us."
Philosophy is the academic field that seems to correlate most strongly with creative judgment and analytical capacity, foresight and talent for generalizing prospective solutions, logical reasoning and warranted conclusions.
America may have the world's richest philosophical academy and one of the world's greatest philosophical traditions, but we may be dead last among developed nations in making the subject available to young people, or introducing philosophical discussion among generally well-educated adults, who often fail to appreciate the relevance of philosophical scholarship and learning to the intellectual challenges and public controversies of the day. This is a failure of my generation of intellectuals, not of today's young people. ("Nihilism Against Memory" and "John Finnis and Ethical Cognitivism.")
As someone who has published articles in philosophical journals as well as a book dealing with Continental thought and who is qualified to teach philosophy of law at the undergraduate or law school level, I find these realities sad and painful. ("Why philosophy is for everyone.")
On the positive side the U.S. seems to lead the world in something called "alternative culture appreciation courses" to say nothing of seminars devoted to "The Lesbian Phallus in Jane Austen's Novels." Shakespeare, Milton, metaphysics, Renaissance studies, quantum physics are poor alternatives to the deeper meaning of the Simpsons cartoons in terms of gay and lesbian studies. ("Shakespeare's Black Prince" and "David Hume's Philosophical Romance.")
I began by speaking of "causes" of these distressing developments in academia. William Kerrigan may have anticipated some of what I wish to say in seeking to explain the appalling ignorance that has become common not only among freshmen, but among graduates of many of our leading universities and their professors.
Professor Kerrigan has noted the reductivist tendency among colleagues seeking to boil down life's complexities and the wealth of our literary heritage to issues of race, gender, sexual-orientation and what is called "white male privilege":
"Current attacks on the literary canon ... suggests all sorts of good reasons for studying overlooked works by women, nonwhites, and postcolonial authors. The reasons do sound good to me, but I cannot overcome the heartfelt conviction that the educational program they support is a prescription for mediocrity. [emphasis added] Nothing I have ever read or heard has made me doubt for a moment that the greatest figures in European literature are Chaucer, Shakespeare, Donne, Milton, Swift, Pope, Johnson, Austen, the Romantic poets, Dickens, Emerson, Melville, Whitman, and so on."
Professor Kerrigan goes on to lament:
" ... everything is reduced to political [sermons] about race, class, and gender" -- to say nothing, for once, about the undeniable glories of, say, lesbianism for Asian students of mathematics -- "that make contemporary people feel good, feel sympathetic and tolerant and superior to the evil past."
I cannot imagine why people in China, for instance, are increasingly having second thoughts about sending their daughters and sons to American colleges and universities to discover these "different" lifestyles and value-systems as opposed to being educated. After all, foreign students are bound to gain so much "self-esteem" in American liberal arts colleges even if they do not learn very much about science or math, history or the arts.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
David Samson Resigns.
Regrettably, due to sabotage, the size of the text has been altered at several paragraphs. It is truly shameful that New Jersey government officials are engaging in public computer crime and vandalism against me and my writings in 2014. I cannot access my email accounts and no images can be posted at these blogs. I have reason to believe that authorities in Trenton have been contacted about my situation and requests, but they have refused to answer any questions or respond to inquiries. ("The Invicta Watch Company" and "The Invicta Watch Company Caper.")
Mathew Goldstein, "Pleas of 'Dewey Seven' Reveal Their Roles in Financial Manipulations," The New York Times, March 29, 2014, p. B3. (Dewey and LeBoeuf attorneys are involved in massive criminal frauds. Seven lawyers will inform against colleagues and clients. Most of them, allegedly, are from New Jersey. "New Jersey's Politically-Connected Lawyers On the Tit.")
Michael Barbaro, "Report Details Ex-Ally's Claim About Christie: That Governor Knew of Fort Lee Lane Closings," The New York Times, March 29, 2014, p. A1. (A witness is willing to testify that Christie was informed of the lane closings, but Randy Mastro was oblivious to the news and has not included the item in his report. If this testimony is accurate, the governor has lied about what he knew and when he knew it in connection with the GWB scandal and, perhaps, in connection with my matters.)
Kate Zernike & David W. Chen, "Irate Friends See Sexism in Report's Comments on Ex-Christie Aide," The New York Times, March 28, 2014, p. A20. (Bridget Anne Kelly is smeared in Mr. Mastro's report, despite remaining loyal to the Nixonian Chris Christie. Is this insult of Ms. Kelly "demeaning to women"?)
"A Whitewash For Gov. Christie," (Editorial) The New York Times, March 28, 2014, p. A26. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
Abbott-Koloff, "Hoboken Mayor Portrayed as Confused: Zimmer Calls Report 'Whitewash' of Threats," The Record, March 28, 2014, p. A-1. (Dawn Zimmer is not only befuddled, but may be indicted for corruption.)
Stephanie Akin & Melissa Hayes, "Christie Unscathed by Report: In-House Probe Faults Kelly," The Record, March 28, 2014, p. A-1. (Mr. Mastro earned his million dollars; Kelly gets smeared; Christie walks. As a member of the New Jersey Bar Association Mr. Christie might be subjected to an ethics proceeding at which he may be compelled to testify.)
Charles Stile, "Governor Gets the Verdict He Wanted," The Record, March 28, 2014, p. A-1. ("The 344-page report doesn't just absolve Governor Christie. It bathes him in a sympathetic light, a victim of treachery.")
Melissa Hayes, "Report's Aftershocks: Port Chief Resigns; Governor Defends Inquiry," The Record, March 29, 2014, p. A-1. (Mr. Christie may be the only person convinced by the $1 MILLION report from Randy Mastro.)
Kate Zernike, "Samson Quits Amid Scandal On Shut Lanes: Exit at Port Authority as Christie Looks Ahead," The New York Times, March 29, 2014, p. A1.
Russ Buettner, "Christie Ally Undone by Word in an Email," The New York Times, March 29, 2014, p. A18.
I continue to experience harassment, obstructions and frustrations in writing my essays. I can only hope that the goal of these tactics will not be censorship nor to have me make comments that can be called "intemperate." I would never do that.
The true obscenity in New Jersey's legal system is the contradiction between laws and rules on the books and their misapplication in practice based on illicit privilege.
It has been reported in the media that the embattled Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, David Samson, has finally resigned. His resignation comes after calls for Mr. Samson's departure appearing in The New York Times (surprisingly enough!) and from a number of New Jersey newspapers accustomed to corrupt officials leaving office in disgrace.
David Samson is a former New Jersey Attorney General; a former member of the New Jersey Bar Association's Ethics Committee that went after me, secretly, soliciting grievances and paying for now admittedly fraudulent testimony against me; and Mr. Samson is also, allegedly, affiliated with a person known to me only as "Terry Tuchin." ("Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture.")
Even by New Jersey standards it must be said that the blatant and shameless exploitation of public office by Mr. Samson in order to maximize monetary gain for himself and his corporate clients as well as his equally greedy law partners gives a new meaning to the term "sleazeball lawyer."
If you look-up the words "sleazy lawyer" you should find Mr. Samson's picture next to the dictionary definition. I am not overly distressed that Mr. Samson disapproves of my ethics.
Part of the absurdity and disgusting lie that I live with, every day, is seeing a filthy, criminal, and sad excuse for a human being -- like David Samson -- PROTECTED by a corrupt, lying, sold-out farce of a legal system and ethics establishment still thriving among lawyers and judges in Trenton. No ethics grievance or criminal charges have been -- or will be -- filed against Mr. Samson. This selective application of ethics rules makes the N.J. legal ethics system a farce. ("David Samson is On the Tit.")
It should make all of us sick that Mr. Samson can occupy a position of public trust in which he is charged with looking after the welfare of the people of New York and New Jersey, as well as the rest of the country, mostly, in order to devote himself to scamming billions of dollars for public works projects through his private law firm's corporate clients' "winning" public contracts that really only make him and his friends richer. Mr. Samson is the "Samson and Wolff of Wall Street." ("Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
$28 BILLION in capitol improvement funds were seen as a slush fund to enrich the Samson family, Wolff & Samson, Esqs., Israeli clients operating through subsidiaries while screwing American taxpayers. ("New Jersey is the Home of the Living Dead" and "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State.")
If anything may be said to be the epitome of unethical law practice, then it must be abuse of Samson's Chairmanship for cash. David Samson provides the perfect example of dirty law practice and of being a filthy and slimy lawyer, but also of New Jersey's "culture of corruption," cronyism, double standards, and hypocrisy about legality and ethics. (Again: "New Jersey's Politically-Connected Lawyers On the Tit" and "New Jersey Lawyers' Ethics Farce" then "Corrupt Law Firms, Senator Bob, and New Jersey Ethics.")
For Governor Christie to seek to protect this "bag man," David Samson, is shameful. This is the "business as usual" in New Jersey politics that Mr. Christie promised would end with his administration. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "John McGill, Esq., the OAE, and New Jersey Corruption" then "You gotta pay to play!")
At 74 years-old, David Samson will be allowed to walk away with the fiction that he "chose" to resign rather than being forced out; he will not face the ethics charges that he so richly deserves; he will not be disbarred or indicted, as he would be, if he were a less well-connected attorney (or an apolitical gentile), to say nothing of an African-American or Latino attorney actually calling for accountability in the cesspool of corruption and crime that is the Garden State's legal world. ("New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics" and "Sexual Favors For New Jersey Judges" then "New Jersey's Judges Disgrace America.")
I am told that turds have been dropped into a number of New Jersey courtrooms. If this is true, I cannot imagine a more fitting symbol of what New Jersey law has become and is likely to remain. ("New Jersey's Feces-Covered Supreme Court" then "New Jersey's Unethical Judiciary" and "New Jersey's Legal System is a Whore House.")
Mr. Samson may end his life in sunny downtown Tel Aviv, perhaps, counting his money that used to be your money. Perhaps one of the turds found in a New Jersey courtroom should be named for "David Samson." ("New Jersey is Lucky Luciano's Havana.")
"For Mr. Samson, who has been on the authority's board since 2011, there is more than the bridge scandal. Federal investigators have started looking at whether he lobbied hard for projects that could help top clients of his large, politically connected law firm. He should have excused himself from any debates or votes on such matters."
"A Christie Appointee Quits, Finally," (Editorial) The New York Times, March 29, 2014, p. A20. ("Retaliation," Mr. Samson?)
Mathew Goldstein, "Pleas of 'Dewey Seven' Reveal Their Roles in Financial Manipulations," The New York Times, March 29, 2014, p. B3. (Dewey and LeBoeuf attorneys are involved in massive criminal frauds. Seven lawyers will inform against colleagues and clients. Most of them, allegedly, are from New Jersey. "New Jersey's Politically-Connected Lawyers On the Tit.")
Michael Barbaro, "Report Details Ex-Ally's Claim About Christie: That Governor Knew of Fort Lee Lane Closings," The New York Times, March 29, 2014, p. A1. (A witness is willing to testify that Christie was informed of the lane closings, but Randy Mastro was oblivious to the news and has not included the item in his report. If this testimony is accurate, the governor has lied about what he knew and when he knew it in connection with the GWB scandal and, perhaps, in connection with my matters.)
Kate Zernike & David W. Chen, "Irate Friends See Sexism in Report's Comments on Ex-Christie Aide," The New York Times, March 28, 2014, p. A20. (Bridget Anne Kelly is smeared in Mr. Mastro's report, despite remaining loyal to the Nixonian Chris Christie. Is this insult of Ms. Kelly "demeaning to women"?)
"A Whitewash For Gov. Christie," (Editorial) The New York Times, March 28, 2014, p. A26. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
Abbott-Koloff, "Hoboken Mayor Portrayed as Confused: Zimmer Calls Report 'Whitewash' of Threats," The Record, March 28, 2014, p. A-1. (Dawn Zimmer is not only befuddled, but may be indicted for corruption.)
Stephanie Akin & Melissa Hayes, "Christie Unscathed by Report: In-House Probe Faults Kelly," The Record, March 28, 2014, p. A-1. (Mr. Mastro earned his million dollars; Kelly gets smeared; Christie walks. As a member of the New Jersey Bar Association Mr. Christie might be subjected to an ethics proceeding at which he may be compelled to testify.)
Charles Stile, "Governor Gets the Verdict He Wanted," The Record, March 28, 2014, p. A-1. ("The 344-page report doesn't just absolve Governor Christie. It bathes him in a sympathetic light, a victim of treachery.")
Melissa Hayes, "Report's Aftershocks: Port Chief Resigns; Governor Defends Inquiry," The Record, March 29, 2014, p. A-1. (Mr. Christie may be the only person convinced by the $1 MILLION report from Randy Mastro.)
Kate Zernike, "Samson Quits Amid Scandal On Shut Lanes: Exit at Port Authority as Christie Looks Ahead," The New York Times, March 29, 2014, p. A1.
Russ Buettner, "Christie Ally Undone by Word in an Email," The New York Times, March 29, 2014, p. A18.
I continue to experience harassment, obstructions and frustrations in writing my essays. I can only hope that the goal of these tactics will not be censorship nor to have me make comments that can be called "intemperate." I would never do that.
The true obscenity in New Jersey's legal system is the contradiction between laws and rules on the books and their misapplication in practice based on illicit privilege.
It has been reported in the media that the embattled Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, David Samson, has finally resigned. His resignation comes after calls for Mr. Samson's departure appearing in The New York Times (surprisingly enough!) and from a number of New Jersey newspapers accustomed to corrupt officials leaving office in disgrace.
David Samson is a former New Jersey Attorney General; a former member of the New Jersey Bar Association's Ethics Committee that went after me, secretly, soliciting grievances and paying for now admittedly fraudulent testimony against me; and Mr. Samson is also, allegedly, affiliated with a person known to me only as "Terry Tuchin." ("Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture.")
Even by New Jersey standards it must be said that the blatant and shameless exploitation of public office by Mr. Samson in order to maximize monetary gain for himself and his corporate clients as well as his equally greedy law partners gives a new meaning to the term "sleazeball lawyer."
If you look-up the words "sleazy lawyer" you should find Mr. Samson's picture next to the dictionary definition. I am not overly distressed that Mr. Samson disapproves of my ethics.
Part of the absurdity and disgusting lie that I live with, every day, is seeing a filthy, criminal, and sad excuse for a human being -- like David Samson -- PROTECTED by a corrupt, lying, sold-out farce of a legal system and ethics establishment still thriving among lawyers and judges in Trenton. No ethics grievance or criminal charges have been -- or will be -- filed against Mr. Samson. This selective application of ethics rules makes the N.J. legal ethics system a farce. ("David Samson is On the Tit.")
It should make all of us sick that Mr. Samson can occupy a position of public trust in which he is charged with looking after the welfare of the people of New York and New Jersey, as well as the rest of the country, mostly, in order to devote himself to scamming billions of dollars for public works projects through his private law firm's corporate clients' "winning" public contracts that really only make him and his friends richer. Mr. Samson is the "Samson and Wolff of Wall Street." ("Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
$28 BILLION in capitol improvement funds were seen as a slush fund to enrich the Samson family, Wolff & Samson, Esqs., Israeli clients operating through subsidiaries while screwing American taxpayers. ("New Jersey is the Home of the Living Dead" and "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State.")
If anything may be said to be the epitome of unethical law practice, then it must be abuse of Samson's Chairmanship for cash. David Samson provides the perfect example of dirty law practice and of being a filthy and slimy lawyer, but also of New Jersey's "culture of corruption," cronyism, double standards, and hypocrisy about legality and ethics. (Again: "New Jersey's Politically-Connected Lawyers On the Tit" and "New Jersey Lawyers' Ethics Farce" then "Corrupt Law Firms, Senator Bob, and New Jersey Ethics.")
For Governor Christie to seek to protect this "bag man," David Samson, is shameful. This is the "business as usual" in New Jersey politics that Mr. Christie promised would end with his administration. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "John McGill, Esq., the OAE, and New Jersey Corruption" then "You gotta pay to play!")
At 74 years-old, David Samson will be allowed to walk away with the fiction that he "chose" to resign rather than being forced out; he will not face the ethics charges that he so richly deserves; he will not be disbarred or indicted, as he would be, if he were a less well-connected attorney (or an apolitical gentile), to say nothing of an African-American or Latino attorney actually calling for accountability in the cesspool of corruption and crime that is the Garden State's legal world. ("New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics" and "Sexual Favors For New Jersey Judges" then "New Jersey's Judges Disgrace America.")
I am told that turds have been dropped into a number of New Jersey courtrooms. If this is true, I cannot imagine a more fitting symbol of what New Jersey law has become and is likely to remain. ("New Jersey's Feces-Covered Supreme Court" then "New Jersey's Unethical Judiciary" and "New Jersey's Legal System is a Whore House.")
Mr. Samson may end his life in sunny downtown Tel Aviv, perhaps, counting his money that used to be your money. Perhaps one of the turds found in a New Jersey courtroom should be named for "David Samson." ("New Jersey is Lucky Luciano's Havana.")
"For Mr. Samson, who has been on the authority's board since 2011, there is more than the bridge scandal. Federal investigators have started looking at whether he lobbied hard for projects that could help top clients of his large, politically connected law firm. He should have excused himself from any debates or votes on such matters."
"A Christie Appointee Quits, Finally," (Editorial) The New York Times, March 29, 2014, p. A20. ("Retaliation," Mr. Samson?)
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Controlling the NSA.
Chief Justice Stuart Rabner should note, during what may be his final weeks in office, that each day that the cover-ups in my matters continue is a renewal of the tortures for many victims of the OAE's "secret" methods.
The pressure is on to reappoint Mr. Rabner. In a state where the governor cannot compel Mr. Samson to resign after blatant conflicts of interest by the Chairman of the Port Authority are revealed in the media, Stuart Rabner may well be reappointed to his judgeship and may receive an award for ethics. I hope not. ("Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "An Open Letter to My Torturers in New Jersey, Terry Tuchin and Diana Lisa Riccioli" then "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
"Witnesses have a duty to intervene. This duty is not necessarily a juridical one, but is in any case a moral one. [There is both a legal and ethical obligation to rescue and/or assist in New Jersey.] If a person has the opportunity to intercede in an injustice, but fails to, then that person shares part of the blame. However, our high regard for personal comfort -- not security, but comfort -- has a tendency to overshadow our concern for a victim's welfare, and even existence. Sins of neglect are not the worst type of sin, but they are certainly among the most common. Most murders have witnesses, but it's very rare that these witnesses act to prevent the tragic outcome."
Lars Svensen, "The Problem of Evil," A Philosophy of Evil (London: Dalkey Archive, 2011), p. 205. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "John McGill, Esq., the OAE, and N.J. Corruption.")
"Beyond the BWB: PA's Chairman's Many Conflicts of Interest," The Record, March 20, 2014, p. A-12. (David Samson should resign. Mr. Christie's inability to DEMAND Mr. Samson's resignation is highly revealing and far more devastating for the Trenton governor than the GWB traffic jam. More newspapers and officials are calling for Mr. Samson's departure every day. I concur.)
Karen Sudol, "Port Approves $1 BILLION Plan to Improve GWB: Work is Slated to Begin in 2017," The Record, March 20, 2014, p. L-3. (A "face-lift" for the GWB that will result in the theft of millions of dollars, perhaps by Mr. Samson's Israeli clients. Evidently, it will cost a billion dollars to paint the bridge.)
Jim Norman, "Possible Luring Suspect Sought in Hackensack," The Record, March 20, 2014, p. L-3. (Latino male sought in luring attempt upon a 13 year-old boy matches the description of Bob Menendez: "Menendez Consorts With Underage Prostitutes" and "Senator Bob, the Babe, and the Big Bucks.")
John Reitmeyer & Shawn Boburg, "Internal Probe May Clear Christie: Administration and Critics Differ On Report," The Record, March 25, 2014, p. A-1. (Christie's lawyers -- who have made $1 MILLION for writing a memo -- have concluded that Christie "did not know from nothing!" The OAE deems this a "reasonable" fee, but questions minority attorneys rates in uncontested divorce cases: "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
Shawn Boburg, "Port Reconsidering $1 Lease: Chairman Recuses Himself From Discussing Client's Deal," The Record, March 20, 2014, p. A-1. (The $1 lease was for land located in North Bergen which the FBI has been interested in because of allegations that there are bodies buried there. Does "Ray Pocino" of the PA also belong to "Big Nicky" Sacco? "Jay Romano and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey" and "North Bergen, New Jersey is the Home of La Cosa Nostra.")
AP, "Homeless Vet Dies In Overheated Jail Cell: Was Arrested for Trespassing When Seeking Shelter From Cold Weather," The Record, March 20, 2014, p. A-7. (Is this how America honors its war heros?)
"Heros For All Time: Belated Honors for Military Service," (Editorial) The Record, March 20, 2014, p. A-12. (This editorial is ridiculous in light of the foregoing item.)
Olen Steinhauer, "Hello, My Lovely: The Irish Writer Benjamin Black a.k.a. John Banville, Finds a New Adventure for Philip Marlowe," The New York Times Book Review, March 16, 2014, p. 18. (Incompetent review for which the ostensible author may not be to blame: "Raymond Chandler and The Simple Art of Murder" and "John Banville's 'The Newton Letter.'")
Benjamin Black, The Black-Eyed Blonde (New York & London: Henry Holt & Co., 2014). (Finally, Philip Marlowe may be returning to the big screen. The novel features a great femme fatal.)
Mary Diduch, "Emerson Replaces Ex-Official Facing Charges: Real Estate Executive Named to Council Seat," The Record, March 20, 2014, p. L-3. (Ron Griffin may be joining other NJ legislators in prison. Vincent Tripodi -- allegedly, affiliated with the Gambino crime family -- will replace him in public service. "Mafia Influence in New Jersey Law and Politics.")
Charlie Savage, "Obama Says N.S.A. Curbs Would Address Worries," The New York Times, March 26, 2014, p. A16.
Andrew Jacobs, "After Reports On N.S.A., China Urges End to Spying," The New York Times, March 25, 2014, p. A10. (U.S. caught violating international law and committing computer crime by hacking into Chinese networks on the day Mr. Obama reported that the NSA is under control.)
The absurd blanket information gathering by the NSA has infuriated America's allies and revealed to the president how difficult it will be to persuade nations to join in U.S.-led sanctions efforts against, say, Russia, apart from public rhetoric.
America's concern with international conventions and human rights laws is selective and intermittent. America is usually focused in international settings on the actions of other countries, rarely upon the nation's own deeds.
America has been spying on millions of people, both domestically and internationally. The NSA has expressed, through its actions, utter disdain for the dignity and privacy rights of countless people from all over the world, including political leaders such as Ms. Merkel, Mr. Cameron, Mr. Putin as well as officials in smaller countries to say nothing of ordinary Americans, like me. ("NSA Spying is Illegal" and "Aaron Schwartz, Freedom, and American Law.")
This attitude and the Snowden revelations have made the U.S. -- even after Russia's adventure in Crimea! -- the most unpopular regime in the opinion of Europeans and others in the world concerned about human rights.
Significantly, Mr. Obama is less popular on a personal level than Vladimir Putin in the aftermath of the Crimean invasion. This may be due to greater feelings of disappointment after lofty expectations for President Obama. Seeking a solution of the privacy versus security dilemma while remaining mindful of U.S. NATO obligations and diplomatic commitments, Mr. Obama stated:
" ... 'They have presented me now with an option that I think is workable,' [the president] added, 'I'm confident that it allows us to do what is necessary in order to deal with the danger of a terrorist attack, but does so in a way that addresses some of the concerns that people have raised.' ..."
Essentially, the proposed solution is as follows:
"The NSA would no longer collect records about Americans' calling habits in bulk. Instead the data would stay with phone companies, which could not be required to retain it any longer than they normally would."
If you believe that this is a serious suggestion, or that the NSA would not happily extract such information as it may need from phone company records, wherever they are located, then perhaps I can sell you a bridge located in Fort Lee with an occasional "accidental" traffic jam. ("Christie's Bridge of Sighs" and "The Teflon Governor.")
There is still a shocking failure to recognize the privacy rights of people and the affront to our civil liberties in giving intelligence agencies free reign to make determinations affecting millions of innocent persons' personal lives (or records) seemingly without rational criteria or any principled legal bases.
No apologies, explanations, or amends are offered to the world's peoples from the NSA. Perhaps NSA officials should learn about compliance with regulations and legislative oversight from Director Brennan and the CIA. We must do better than this. ("Justice Department Hesitation On CIA/Senate Dispute.")
The pressure is on to reappoint Mr. Rabner. In a state where the governor cannot compel Mr. Samson to resign after blatant conflicts of interest by the Chairman of the Port Authority are revealed in the media, Stuart Rabner may well be reappointed to his judgeship and may receive an award for ethics. I hope not. ("Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "An Open Letter to My Torturers in New Jersey, Terry Tuchin and Diana Lisa Riccioli" then "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
"Witnesses have a duty to intervene. This duty is not necessarily a juridical one, but is in any case a moral one. [There is both a legal and ethical obligation to rescue and/or assist in New Jersey.] If a person has the opportunity to intercede in an injustice, but fails to, then that person shares part of the blame. However, our high regard for personal comfort -- not security, but comfort -- has a tendency to overshadow our concern for a victim's welfare, and even existence. Sins of neglect are not the worst type of sin, but they are certainly among the most common. Most murders have witnesses, but it's very rare that these witnesses act to prevent the tragic outcome."
Lars Svensen, "The Problem of Evil," A Philosophy of Evil (London: Dalkey Archive, 2011), p. 205. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "John McGill, Esq., the OAE, and N.J. Corruption.")
"Beyond the BWB: PA's Chairman's Many Conflicts of Interest," The Record, March 20, 2014, p. A-12. (David Samson should resign. Mr. Christie's inability to DEMAND Mr. Samson's resignation is highly revealing and far more devastating for the Trenton governor than the GWB traffic jam. More newspapers and officials are calling for Mr. Samson's departure every day. I concur.)
Karen Sudol, "Port Approves $1 BILLION Plan to Improve GWB: Work is Slated to Begin in 2017," The Record, March 20, 2014, p. L-3. (A "face-lift" for the GWB that will result in the theft of millions of dollars, perhaps by Mr. Samson's Israeli clients. Evidently, it will cost a billion dollars to paint the bridge.)
Jim Norman, "Possible Luring Suspect Sought in Hackensack," The Record, March 20, 2014, p. L-3. (Latino male sought in luring attempt upon a 13 year-old boy matches the description of Bob Menendez: "Menendez Consorts With Underage Prostitutes" and "Senator Bob, the Babe, and the Big Bucks.")
John Reitmeyer & Shawn Boburg, "Internal Probe May Clear Christie: Administration and Critics Differ On Report," The Record, March 25, 2014, p. A-1. (Christie's lawyers -- who have made $1 MILLION for writing a memo -- have concluded that Christie "did not know from nothing!" The OAE deems this a "reasonable" fee, but questions minority attorneys rates in uncontested divorce cases: "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
Shawn Boburg, "Port Reconsidering $1 Lease: Chairman Recuses Himself From Discussing Client's Deal," The Record, March 20, 2014, p. A-1. (The $1 lease was for land located in North Bergen which the FBI has been interested in because of allegations that there are bodies buried there. Does "Ray Pocino" of the PA also belong to "Big Nicky" Sacco? "Jay Romano and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey" and "North Bergen, New Jersey is the Home of La Cosa Nostra.")
AP, "Homeless Vet Dies In Overheated Jail Cell: Was Arrested for Trespassing When Seeking Shelter From Cold Weather," The Record, March 20, 2014, p. A-7. (Is this how America honors its war heros?)
"Heros For All Time: Belated Honors for Military Service," (Editorial) The Record, March 20, 2014, p. A-12. (This editorial is ridiculous in light of the foregoing item.)
Olen Steinhauer, "Hello, My Lovely: The Irish Writer Benjamin Black a.k.a. John Banville, Finds a New Adventure for Philip Marlowe," The New York Times Book Review, March 16, 2014, p. 18. (Incompetent review for which the ostensible author may not be to blame: "Raymond Chandler and The Simple Art of Murder" and "John Banville's 'The Newton Letter.'")
Benjamin Black, The Black-Eyed Blonde (New York & London: Henry Holt & Co., 2014). (Finally, Philip Marlowe may be returning to the big screen. The novel features a great femme fatal.)
Mary Diduch, "Emerson Replaces Ex-Official Facing Charges: Real Estate Executive Named to Council Seat," The Record, March 20, 2014, p. L-3. (Ron Griffin may be joining other NJ legislators in prison. Vincent Tripodi -- allegedly, affiliated with the Gambino crime family -- will replace him in public service. "Mafia Influence in New Jersey Law and Politics.")
Charlie Savage, "Obama Says N.S.A. Curbs Would Address Worries," The New York Times, March 26, 2014, p. A16.
Andrew Jacobs, "After Reports On N.S.A., China Urges End to Spying," The New York Times, March 25, 2014, p. A10. (U.S. caught violating international law and committing computer crime by hacking into Chinese networks on the day Mr. Obama reported that the NSA is under control.)
The absurd blanket information gathering by the NSA has infuriated America's allies and revealed to the president how difficult it will be to persuade nations to join in U.S.-led sanctions efforts against, say, Russia, apart from public rhetoric.
America's concern with international conventions and human rights laws is selective and intermittent. America is usually focused in international settings on the actions of other countries, rarely upon the nation's own deeds.
America has been spying on millions of people, both domestically and internationally. The NSA has expressed, through its actions, utter disdain for the dignity and privacy rights of countless people from all over the world, including political leaders such as Ms. Merkel, Mr. Cameron, Mr. Putin as well as officials in smaller countries to say nothing of ordinary Americans, like me. ("NSA Spying is Illegal" and "Aaron Schwartz, Freedom, and American Law.")
This attitude and the Snowden revelations have made the U.S. -- even after Russia's adventure in Crimea! -- the most unpopular regime in the opinion of Europeans and others in the world concerned about human rights.
Significantly, Mr. Obama is less popular on a personal level than Vladimir Putin in the aftermath of the Crimean invasion. This may be due to greater feelings of disappointment after lofty expectations for President Obama. Seeking a solution of the privacy versus security dilemma while remaining mindful of U.S. NATO obligations and diplomatic commitments, Mr. Obama stated:
" ... 'They have presented me now with an option that I think is workable,' [the president] added, 'I'm confident that it allows us to do what is necessary in order to deal with the danger of a terrorist attack, but does so in a way that addresses some of the concerns that people have raised.' ..."
Essentially, the proposed solution is as follows:
"The NSA would no longer collect records about Americans' calling habits in bulk. Instead the data would stay with phone companies, which could not be required to retain it any longer than they normally would."
If you believe that this is a serious suggestion, or that the NSA would not happily extract such information as it may need from phone company records, wherever they are located, then perhaps I can sell you a bridge located in Fort Lee with an occasional "accidental" traffic jam. ("Christie's Bridge of Sighs" and "The Teflon Governor.")
There is still a shocking failure to recognize the privacy rights of people and the affront to our civil liberties in giving intelligence agencies free reign to make determinations affecting millions of innocent persons' personal lives (or records) seemingly without rational criteria or any principled legal bases.
No apologies, explanations, or amends are offered to the world's peoples from the NSA. Perhaps NSA officials should learn about compliance with regulations and legislative oversight from Director Brennan and the CIA. We must do better than this. ("Justice Department Hesitation On CIA/Senate Dispute.")
Monday, March 24, 2014
Justice Department Hesitation On CIA/Senate Dispute.
March 26, 2014 at 2:39 P.M. 6 computers were disabled at NYPL, Morningside Heights branch, after a suspicious power problem. One printer and device for reservations was also disabled. This sabotage deprived many patrons of research tools and made life harder for librarians at this facility. These tactics -- whoever may be responsible for them -- will not silence me, but they hurt many innocent and, often, poor New Yorkers.
March 25, 2014 at 2:06 P.M. A number of alterations of this text took place, again, as I attempted to post the work. I have done my best to repair the harm done. I will continue to write from public and private computers.
Lin That, "GWB Probe Costing Fort Lee: Council Approves $45,000 for Overtime, Legal Fees," The Record, March 15, 2014, p. L-1. (Political warfare between Democrats in Fort Lee and the GOP Governor in Trenton will cost the residents of Fort Lee and Bergen County much more money. "Legal fees" will come back under the table to politicians from their lawyer friends who are willing to share. Any excuse to spend extra money with connected law firms will be welcome by local bosses: "Herbert Klitzner, Esq.'s Greed and New Jersey's Hypocrisy.")
Joe Malinconico, "Ex-Mayor Still Owes the City After Partial Repayment," The Record, March 15, 2014, p. L-1. (Former Mayor Joey Torres repaid $2,238 of the amount he received for 10 cashed-in "unused" vacation days that had actually resulted in a payment to him of $3,169. The former mayor explained that he "wasn't good at math." I'd say he is excellent at math.)
John Petrick, "State Police Ex-Leader Sentenced: Gets PROBATION for Theft of $55,0000 From Fund," The Record, March 15, 2014, p. L-1. (N.J. State Police Commander Maj. Michael Mattia, 47, stole $55,000 from a fund to help family members of troopers killed or injured in the line of duty. The suspect correctly noted, allegedly, that in New Jersey "everybody steals!")
Mathew McGrath, "Leonia Report of Luring 4th in County During the Week," The Record, March 15, 2014, p. L-1. (The famous public schools in Leonia have made the town a trendy location for child molesters seeking to "snatch" little boys and girls. There were 6 attempts to sexually assault and/or kidnap children in Bergen County in one week, several men succeeded in violating children, and all culprits were Latino men, I believe, from North Jersey. This confirms some of my suspicions and allegations concerning Cuban-American organized crime and this loathsome industry. "New Jersey Welcomes Child Molesters.")
Stephanie Dazio, "Hackensack Reports Luring Attempt, 6th Incident in Bergen in Recent Days," The Record, March 18, 2014, p. L-3. ("New Jersey's Child Sex Industry" and "Is Menendez For Sale?")
Jeff Green, "Embattled Priest Stripped of His Collar: Vatican Action Fulfills Agreement With Bergen County Prosecutor," The Record, March 18, 2014, p. A-1. (Michael Fugee is returned to the lay state, like Jim McGreevey. Mr. Fugee plans to go to law school.)
Shawn Boburg, "Ex-Port Official Thanked For a 'Great Job': Emails Show Stepien's Praise For Now Debunked Testimony," The Record, March 18, 2014, p. A-1. (The reward for Baroni's "questionable" testimony is a job with a political law firm. Did Mr. Baroni lie for Mr. Christie?)
Joe Malinconico, "Man Indicted in Girl's Assault," The Record, March 18, 2014, p. L-3. (Arcadio 'Junior' Nova, 38, indicted for sexually assaulting a child in her home may be "connected" to Cuban-American organized crime groups from Elizabeth that specialize in child porn: "New Jersey's Child Sex Industry" and "Marilyn Straus Was Right!" then "Diana's Friend Goes to Prison!")
Jim Norman, "Passaic Man Held On Child Porn Charges," The Record, March 18, 2014, p. L-3. (Alberto Gutierrez-Villaba, 30, charged for distributing child porn on a "private network" which may have involved local officials: "Edward M. De Sear, Esq. and New Jersey's Filth" and "Law Firm Employee Distributes Child Porn" then "Is Menendez For Sale?")
Matt Apuzzo, "Judge Rebukes Justice Department for Requesting Overly Broad Email Searches," The New York Times, March 20, 2014, p. A19. (A tendency to "disdain privacy rights" is called "repugnant" to the Constitution. I am not a Republican, but it must be said that Senator Rand Paul has been making this argument for some time.)
Matt Apuzzo & Mark Mazetti, "Justice Dept. Is Cautious On Joining CIA Fight," The New York Times, March 20, 2014, p. A19.
The recent contest between the Senate's Intelligence Oversight Committee's staff under Senator Dianne Feinstein and the CIA under Director John Brennan is about ego, turf, and power, but also over the perception that laws are being broken in merely "requesting" the truth about "secret" CIA torture policies, practices, and protocols. ("America's Torture Lawyers.")
Mr. Brennan seems to believe that CIA secret torture policies are not something the Senate should seek to know much about. Politicians usually welcome plausible deniability. It must be infuriating to the spies that they are being questioned about such matters of national security by mere politicians. ("America's Torture Doctors.")
Whether this attitude by Director Brennan is about covering himself from blame or liability, or protecting the CIA, or the agency's culture of secrecy, or all of these things, is irrelevant to the crux of the issue now. ("Nihilists in Disneyworld.")
At issue today in what has become a Constitutional and political crisis is the rule of law and scope of the Constitution's protections for all Americans.
The Justice Department seems frightened and confused about its role or the significance of the controversy. This is symbolic of the Obama Administration tendency to tread water when venturing, accidentally, into stormy and deep seas -- politically or legally "stormy" seas.
The controversy between CIA and Senate has become symbolic of America's befuddlement before the entire world. Mr. Holder may simply not know what to do or whether he should do anything.
Hesitation and confusion are also what many world leaders see in Mr. Obama. A cacophony of voices and representations coming out of Washington directed at the world makes it difficult to know where the administration stands on any number of issues in the legal system and/or with regard to several global crises.
Maybe that's the point to the mixed messages. Let's keep them guessing about what we will do or whether we will do anything about, say, Crimea.
Excluding Russia from a meeting of the G-8 nations does not constitute a permanent reduction of the group to the "G-7." Russia's trade with Europe was $170 BILLION last year; Russia did $60 BILLION in trade with China during the same period. It is estimated that Russo-Chinese trade will double in 18 months while trade with Europe will reach $200 BILLION in the same period. Sanctions, aside from public rhetoric, are unlikely to have much effect in this climate.
America has one attitude to its own actions and a different attitude to the actions of other nations, but the fight between Senate and spy agency is strictly a local one. We should be able to agree on this one. It is absolutely crucial for the Justice Department to be on the side of law in controlling an intelligence agency as against a co-equal branch of government under the Constitution that is charged with representing the people in limiting the secret powers of government:
"Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. seemed to reflect his department's ambivalence [confusion?] when he noted on Wednesday that it reviews many criminal referrals and often declines to investigate or prosecute."
It is important that the Justice Department make it clear that the CIA may be required to operate secretly, "in the shadows," but that in a democracy and under the rule of law, the people's representatives must supervise and monitor as well as control, if necessary, all of the agency's actions, especially when those actions contravene fundamental values of our society and obligations incurred by America under international law, as in the torture controversy. Drones? ("America's Drone Murders.")
CIA compliance and assistance for Senate staff members is not a "favor" or mere "politeness" on the part of spies in Brooks Brothers suits. Compliance is what CIA officials are required to provide.
Likewise, the OAE must submit its "secret" actions to review by courts and prosecutors, especially when it operates illegally and/or unethically, as when OAE officials commit crimes and further infractions as part of a cover-up effort or deny and lie about their original offenses. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
" ... Senator Feinstein, a Democrat, said that the C.I.A. [search of Senate computers] might have violated the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, [Has the OAE committed computer crimes against me?] which prohibits government employees from gaining unauthorized access to government computers."
It may be that Mr. Brennan is trying to intimidate or brush back from the plate Senate investigators who may have stumbled onto his own less than noble role in the development of the torture policies or upon evidence that calls into question the Director's testimony on this issue in his confirmation hearing before the same Senator Feinstein whom Mr. Brennan clearly dislikes so intensely.
We must limit intelligence agency activity to what is deemed "permissible" under enabling legislation, executive instructions, or other authorization from Senate overseers.
The temptation to use secret powers to seize more power -- or to frighten ostensible regulators and supervisors -- will be far too strong for many CIA operatives to resist:
"The flash point in the dispute is a classified report on the intelligence agency's detention program, which was set up in the months after the 9/11 attacks. The panel finished its report in December, 2012, and months later the agency delivered a lengthy response to the committee challenging parts of the report."
Here is the crucial conclusion the CIA may be seeking to obscure:
" ... the agency gained little valuable intelligence from its brutal questioning of Qaeda detainees, and ... CIA officials repeatedly misled [LIED TO] the White House, Congress and the public about the unique value of the program." ("Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "Psychological Torture in the American Legal System.")
March 25, 2014 at 2:06 P.M. A number of alterations of this text took place, again, as I attempted to post the work. I have done my best to repair the harm done. I will continue to write from public and private computers.
Lin That, "GWB Probe Costing Fort Lee: Council Approves $45,000 for Overtime, Legal Fees," The Record, March 15, 2014, p. L-1. (Political warfare between Democrats in Fort Lee and the GOP Governor in Trenton will cost the residents of Fort Lee and Bergen County much more money. "Legal fees" will come back under the table to politicians from their lawyer friends who are willing to share. Any excuse to spend extra money with connected law firms will be welcome by local bosses: "Herbert Klitzner, Esq.'s Greed and New Jersey's Hypocrisy.")
Joe Malinconico, "Ex-Mayor Still Owes the City After Partial Repayment," The Record, March 15, 2014, p. L-1. (Former Mayor Joey Torres repaid $2,238 of the amount he received for 10 cashed-in "unused" vacation days that had actually resulted in a payment to him of $3,169. The former mayor explained that he "wasn't good at math." I'd say he is excellent at math.)
John Petrick, "State Police Ex-Leader Sentenced: Gets PROBATION for Theft of $55,0000 From Fund," The Record, March 15, 2014, p. L-1. (N.J. State Police Commander Maj. Michael Mattia, 47, stole $55,000 from a fund to help family members of troopers killed or injured in the line of duty. The suspect correctly noted, allegedly, that in New Jersey "everybody steals!")
Mathew McGrath, "Leonia Report of Luring 4th in County During the Week," The Record, March 15, 2014, p. L-1. (The famous public schools in Leonia have made the town a trendy location for child molesters seeking to "snatch" little boys and girls. There were 6 attempts to sexually assault and/or kidnap children in Bergen County in one week, several men succeeded in violating children, and all culprits were Latino men, I believe, from North Jersey. This confirms some of my suspicions and allegations concerning Cuban-American organized crime and this loathsome industry. "New Jersey Welcomes Child Molesters.")
Stephanie Dazio, "Hackensack Reports Luring Attempt, 6th Incident in Bergen in Recent Days," The Record, March 18, 2014, p. L-3. ("New Jersey's Child Sex Industry" and "Is Menendez For Sale?")
Jeff Green, "Embattled Priest Stripped of His Collar: Vatican Action Fulfills Agreement With Bergen County Prosecutor," The Record, March 18, 2014, p. A-1. (Michael Fugee is returned to the lay state, like Jim McGreevey. Mr. Fugee plans to go to law school.)
Shawn Boburg, "Ex-Port Official Thanked For a 'Great Job': Emails Show Stepien's Praise For Now Debunked Testimony," The Record, March 18, 2014, p. A-1. (The reward for Baroni's "questionable" testimony is a job with a political law firm. Did Mr. Baroni lie for Mr. Christie?)
Joe Malinconico, "Man Indicted in Girl's Assault," The Record, March 18, 2014, p. L-3. (Arcadio 'Junior' Nova, 38, indicted for sexually assaulting a child in her home may be "connected" to Cuban-American organized crime groups from Elizabeth that specialize in child porn: "New Jersey's Child Sex Industry" and "Marilyn Straus Was Right!" then "Diana's Friend Goes to Prison!")
Jim Norman, "Passaic Man Held On Child Porn Charges," The Record, March 18, 2014, p. L-3. (Alberto Gutierrez-Villaba, 30, charged for distributing child porn on a "private network" which may have involved local officials: "Edward M. De Sear, Esq. and New Jersey's Filth" and "Law Firm Employee Distributes Child Porn" then "Is Menendez For Sale?")
Matt Apuzzo, "Judge Rebukes Justice Department for Requesting Overly Broad Email Searches," The New York Times, March 20, 2014, p. A19. (A tendency to "disdain privacy rights" is called "repugnant" to the Constitution. I am not a Republican, but it must be said that Senator Rand Paul has been making this argument for some time.)
Matt Apuzzo & Mark Mazetti, "Justice Dept. Is Cautious On Joining CIA Fight," The New York Times, March 20, 2014, p. A19.
The recent contest between the Senate's Intelligence Oversight Committee's staff under Senator Dianne Feinstein and the CIA under Director John Brennan is about ego, turf, and power, but also over the perception that laws are being broken in merely "requesting" the truth about "secret" CIA torture policies, practices, and protocols. ("America's Torture Lawyers.")
Mr. Brennan seems to believe that CIA secret torture policies are not something the Senate should seek to know much about. Politicians usually welcome plausible deniability. It must be infuriating to the spies that they are being questioned about such matters of national security by mere politicians. ("America's Torture Doctors.")
Whether this attitude by Director Brennan is about covering himself from blame or liability, or protecting the CIA, or the agency's culture of secrecy, or all of these things, is irrelevant to the crux of the issue now. ("Nihilists in Disneyworld.")
At issue today in what has become a Constitutional and political crisis is the rule of law and scope of the Constitution's protections for all Americans.
The Justice Department seems frightened and confused about its role or the significance of the controversy. This is symbolic of the Obama Administration tendency to tread water when venturing, accidentally, into stormy and deep seas -- politically or legally "stormy" seas.
The controversy between CIA and Senate has become symbolic of America's befuddlement before the entire world. Mr. Holder may simply not know what to do or whether he should do anything.
Hesitation and confusion are also what many world leaders see in Mr. Obama. A cacophony of voices and representations coming out of Washington directed at the world makes it difficult to know where the administration stands on any number of issues in the legal system and/or with regard to several global crises.
Maybe that's the point to the mixed messages. Let's keep them guessing about what we will do or whether we will do anything about, say, Crimea.
Excluding Russia from a meeting of the G-8 nations does not constitute a permanent reduction of the group to the "G-7." Russia's trade with Europe was $170 BILLION last year; Russia did $60 BILLION in trade with China during the same period. It is estimated that Russo-Chinese trade will double in 18 months while trade with Europe will reach $200 BILLION in the same period. Sanctions, aside from public rhetoric, are unlikely to have much effect in this climate.
America has one attitude to its own actions and a different attitude to the actions of other nations, but the fight between Senate and spy agency is strictly a local one. We should be able to agree on this one. It is absolutely crucial for the Justice Department to be on the side of law in controlling an intelligence agency as against a co-equal branch of government under the Constitution that is charged with representing the people in limiting the secret powers of government:
"Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. seemed to reflect his department's ambivalence [confusion?] when he noted on Wednesday that it reviews many criminal referrals and often declines to investigate or prosecute."
It is important that the Justice Department make it clear that the CIA may be required to operate secretly, "in the shadows," but that in a democracy and under the rule of law, the people's representatives must supervise and monitor as well as control, if necessary, all of the agency's actions, especially when those actions contravene fundamental values of our society and obligations incurred by America under international law, as in the torture controversy. Drones? ("America's Drone Murders.")
CIA compliance and assistance for Senate staff members is not a "favor" or mere "politeness" on the part of spies in Brooks Brothers suits. Compliance is what CIA officials are required to provide.
Likewise, the OAE must submit its "secret" actions to review by courts and prosecutors, especially when it operates illegally and/or unethically, as when OAE officials commit crimes and further infractions as part of a cover-up effort or deny and lie about their original offenses. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
" ... Senator Feinstein, a Democrat, said that the C.I.A. [search of Senate computers] might have violated the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, [Has the OAE committed computer crimes against me?] which prohibits government employees from gaining unauthorized access to government computers."
It may be that Mr. Brennan is trying to intimidate or brush back from the plate Senate investigators who may have stumbled onto his own less than noble role in the development of the torture policies or upon evidence that calls into question the Director's testimony on this issue in his confirmation hearing before the same Senator Feinstein whom Mr. Brennan clearly dislikes so intensely.
We must limit intelligence agency activity to what is deemed "permissible" under enabling legislation, executive instructions, or other authorization from Senate overseers.
The temptation to use secret powers to seize more power -- or to frighten ostensible regulators and supervisors -- will be far too strong for many CIA operatives to resist:
"The flash point in the dispute is a classified report on the intelligence agency's detention program, which was set up in the months after the 9/11 attacks. The panel finished its report in December, 2012, and months later the agency delivered a lengthy response to the committee challenging parts of the report."
Here is the crucial conclusion the CIA may be seeking to obscure:
" ... the agency gained little valuable intelligence from its brutal questioning of Qaeda detainees, and ... CIA officials repeatedly misled [LIED TO] the White House, Congress and the public about the unique value of the program." ("Terry Tuchin, Diana Lisa Riccioli, and New Jersey's Agency of Torture" and "Psychological Torture in the American Legal System.")
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Paul J. Fishman, Esq. Distances Himself From Samson Inquiry.
March 21, 2014 at 1:49 P.M. Several words and the spacing between sentences have been altered by persons using New Jersey government computers to hack into the blog and/or NYPL computers. I will do my best to repair the harm done to my text after each alteration.
"A single action can scar or even destroy a victim for life, but this same action may seem like a small, meaningless episode to the perpetrator: A professional torturer, for instance, probably doesn't remember each and every victim. Instead, the act of torture is entirely impersonal; after all, he was 'only doing his job,' despite the fact that his victims will carry this experience with them for the rest of their lives."
Lars Svendsen, "Demonic Evil," in A Philosophy of Evil (London: Dalkey Press, 2011), pp. 88-89. (Adolf Eichman explained: "It was nothing personal.")
March 20, 2014 at 7:09 P.M. It was necessary to restart my computer twice to be able to edit the following text to which I will add a number of sources in the days ahead.
Peter J. Samson, "Guilty Plea in ATM Skimming Ring," The Record, February 27, 2014, p. L-3. (Bogdan Radu is one of the men involved in the $5 MILLION ATM scam. Similar operations were carried out in other parts of the country, notably in Connecticut.)
Steve Strunsky, "Ex-Port Authority Official Baroni Joins Law Firm," The Star Ledger, March 6, 2014, p. 8. (Bill Baroni, disgraced Christie public official, joins a sleazy -- if politically-connected -- law firm where his function will be to "make it rain" by exploiting his friendships with politicians to scam taxpayer money.)
Thomas Zambito, "Judge Rips Christie On Affordable Housing: Questions Why Deadline Missed," The Star Ledger, March 6, 2014, p. 13. (My old buddy Jose Fuentes is still causing trouble. As Bob Menendez may recall, Judge Fuentes could be "difficult." I am surprised that Stuart Rabner has not called on Fuentes or Rodriguez to reach out to me. I am sure that Mr. Menendez wishes to know whether I can be bribed. The answer is "no," Bob.)
John Petrick, "PVSC Bosses Facing Prison: Northvale Mayor and Supervisor Found Guilty of Official Misconduct," The Record, March 11, 2014, p. A-1. (Anthony Ardis and Paul Bazela convicted of corruption. According to their lawyers: "They didn't know from nothing!")
Shawn Boburg & Melissa Hayes, "New Twist in GWB Inquiry: Feds in N.Y. Bow to N.J. Team, Drop Samson Subpoena," The Record, March 11, 2014, p. A-1. (Paul Fishman may seek to protect David Samson. Most people would prefer New York to handle this Samson inquiry. Questions on the street focus on whether instructions for Mr. Fishman are coming from Israel or Washington.)
Abbott-Koloff, "Former Port Authority Lawyer Admits Forging Letter," The Record, March 11, 2014, p. A-6. (Christopher Hartwyck, Esq., 53, admits to FORGING a letter from a political law firm to make it appear the public agency shopping for services would get a discount on legal fees, authorities said. This would ensure that the firm received the public business on false pretenses. Mr. Hartwyck has done "favors" for the OAE, and will not be prosecuted criminally for obstruction of justice or criminal fraud, perhaps because he is the cousin of Richard J. Codey, Esq., former president of the NJSBA and New Jersey's one-time "real governor" who is also said to be "on the take." As far as I can tell John McGill, Esq. and the OAE ADMIT fabricating evidence against me and threatening persons to file grievances against me -- both of these actions are crimes -- but feel no need to remedy the fraud on the court or to meliorate the harm to me as the victim of their crimes. Is this New Jersey's legal "ethics," Mr. Rabner? "John McGill, Esq., the OAE, and New Jersey Corruption.")
Kibret Marcos, "Patriarch's Health Again a Focus: Cohen Discusses Father's Role in Company's Transfer," The Record, March 11, 2014, p. L-1. (James Cohen -- I wonder whether "Terry Tuchin" is really named "Cohen"? Schwartz? -- will not receive a subpoena from Paul Fishman who may be returning to Israel this Summer. Presiding over this trial, allegedly, is Estela De La Cruz -- or has Ms. De La Cruz been replaced? Lost your judicial robes, Estela? Disbarment? "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")
Michael Phillis, "Protesters Push Christie to Rename Rabner to the Bench," The Record, March 12, 2014, p. A-3. (A number of Jewish groups and Paul Fishman are lobbying for the reappointment of Stuart Rabner to the position of Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
Jim Norman, "Garfield Man Accused of Sexually Assaulting a Girl, 11," 'The Record,' March 12, 2014, p. L-3. (Another alleged CASH contributor to Mr. Menendez's coffers, EDUARDO ROMERO, charged for sexual activity with an 11 year-old girl. "Menendez Consorts With Underage Prostitutes.") (It was necessary to repair the alteration of the newspaper identified in this item and damaged by hackers from New Jersey, who have also altered the spacing between sentences in this paragraph.)
William K. Rashbaum, "Inquiry Seeks Port Records That Involve Christie Ally: Firms Tied to Samson Won 2 Rich Contracts," The New York Times, March 19, 2014, p. A17.
Many observers have expressed reservations about the objectivity of New Jersey's U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman in pursuing an investigation, to which he had to be "prompted" to begin with, against consummate insider David Samson, Esq. ("New Jersey's Politically-Connected Lawyers On the Tit" and "David Samson, Esq. is On the Tit.")
Mr. Samson's law firm Wolff & Samson, Esqs., and their clients, have benefited from deals with the Port Authority of NEW YORK and New Jersey of which Mr. Samson remains the chairman. ("Corrupt Law Firms, Senator Bob, and New Jersey Ethics" and "New Jersey Lawyers' Ethics Farce.")
To protect himself from the "appearance of impropriety," Mr. Fishman is using a baby lawyer LEE M. CORTES, ESQ., who probably is loyal to Bob Menendez for his employment at the U.S. Attorney's Office. Mr. Cortes will carry this grenade; Mr. Menendez and Mr. Fishman will pull the pin on that grenade from behind the scenes. ("Law and Ethics in the Soprano State" then "Senator Bob, the Babe, and the Big Bucks.")
Mr. Samson has not resigned despite calls for that resignation from the Times and other leading newspapers. This is probably because Mr. Samson has a great deal of influence among "contributors" and is, allegedly, instrumental in setting up "Republicans For Andrew Cuomo" and other entities that are designed to be really nice to New York's governor and not only good for Mr. Christie. Playing for both sides is a David Samson specialty. ("You gotta pay to play!")
"The subpoena from Mr. Fishman's office sought records related to two bridge contracts the Port Authority awarded last April, one for $1.5 BILLION to 'replace and maintain' the Goethels Bridge, and the other in a $1.3 BILLION project to 'raise' the Bayonne Bridge, one of the people [?] said." (Replace?)
Given the amounts involved and Mr. Samson's unwillingness to recuse himself from votes involving contracts with the PA for his private law firm's clients -- clients who would immediately make use of the firm's services to draft documents -- conflict of interest and corruption issues seem pretty clear. (Again: "John McGill, Esq., the OAE, and New Jersey Corruption" and "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
No ethics grievance has been filed by the OAE in obvious neglect of its duty to protect the public. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "Is America's Legal Ethics a Lie?" then "Legal Ethics Today.")
As a former New Jersey Attorney General and Republican so-called "bag man," Mr. Samson is one of the "Nice Jewish Boys" protected in the state's ethics and law process by other "Nice Jewish Boys and Girls." ("Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?" and "Stuart Rabner and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")
The OAE prefers to target minority attorneys -- especially those who are political radicals disliked by politicians -- thereby avoiding any political "blowback." (Again: "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics" and "Deborah T. Poritz and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")
I remember discussing the OAE's focus on minority attorneys, who were deemed politically safe for "assassination," with Appellate Division Judge Ariel Rodriguez who agreed with me about these suspicions. ("New Jersey's Judges Disgrace America" and "New Jersey Supreme Court's Implosion.")
Mr. Samson should resign his chairmanship pending the resolutions of these matters. Mr. Christie's failure to call for that resignation of an influential insider may be due to fear or a need to keep friends close in the current crisis. ("U.S. Attorney Calls New Jersey a Culture of Corruption.")
"Mr. Samson and his fellow commissioners also voted to award roughly half of the $1.3 BILLION Bayonne Bridge project to a joint venture that included [corporation] Skanka, according to a news release the company issued announcing the contract at the time. Skanka was also a Wolff & Samson client."
Are Wolff & Samson the true "skanks"? How many of these companies represented by Mr. Samson are subsidiaries for Israeli corporations? ("New Jersey Rabbi Arrested For Child Molesting" and "Neil M. Cohen, Esq. and Conduct Unbecoming to the Legislature in New Jersey.")
Amazingly, it took the New York U.S. Attorney to persuade Mr. Fishman to act in a half-hearted manner against Mr. Samson. It is rumored that Mr. Samson and Mr. Fishman were on a trip to Israel together a few years ago. Mazeltov.
If personal ties preclude Mr. Fishman from pursuing this matter, I am sure that other officials are willing to investigate these serious allegations. No wonder Mr. Fishman is not interested in the crimes committed against me. I was not among the friendly travelers to Israel.
"Minutes of the April 2013 Port Authority board meeting show that Mr. Samson did not recuse himself from either vote."
"A single action can scar or even destroy a victim for life, but this same action may seem like a small, meaningless episode to the perpetrator: A professional torturer, for instance, probably doesn't remember each and every victim. Instead, the act of torture is entirely impersonal; after all, he was 'only doing his job,' despite the fact that his victims will carry this experience with them for the rest of their lives."
Lars Svendsen, "Demonic Evil," in A Philosophy of Evil (London: Dalkey Press, 2011), pp. 88-89. (Adolf Eichman explained: "It was nothing personal.")
March 20, 2014 at 7:09 P.M. It was necessary to restart my computer twice to be able to edit the following text to which I will add a number of sources in the days ahead.
Peter J. Samson, "Guilty Plea in ATM Skimming Ring," The Record, February 27, 2014, p. L-3. (Bogdan Radu is one of the men involved in the $5 MILLION ATM scam. Similar operations were carried out in other parts of the country, notably in Connecticut.)
Steve Strunsky, "Ex-Port Authority Official Baroni Joins Law Firm," The Star Ledger, March 6, 2014, p. 8. (Bill Baroni, disgraced Christie public official, joins a sleazy -- if politically-connected -- law firm where his function will be to "make it rain" by exploiting his friendships with politicians to scam taxpayer money.)
Thomas Zambito, "Judge Rips Christie On Affordable Housing: Questions Why Deadline Missed," The Star Ledger, March 6, 2014, p. 13. (My old buddy Jose Fuentes is still causing trouble. As Bob Menendez may recall, Judge Fuentes could be "difficult." I am surprised that Stuart Rabner has not called on Fuentes or Rodriguez to reach out to me. I am sure that Mr. Menendez wishes to know whether I can be bribed. The answer is "no," Bob.)
John Petrick, "PVSC Bosses Facing Prison: Northvale Mayor and Supervisor Found Guilty of Official Misconduct," The Record, March 11, 2014, p. A-1. (Anthony Ardis and Paul Bazela convicted of corruption. According to their lawyers: "They didn't know from nothing!")
Shawn Boburg & Melissa Hayes, "New Twist in GWB Inquiry: Feds in N.Y. Bow to N.J. Team, Drop Samson Subpoena," The Record, March 11, 2014, p. A-1. (Paul Fishman may seek to protect David Samson. Most people would prefer New York to handle this Samson inquiry. Questions on the street focus on whether instructions for Mr. Fishman are coming from Israel or Washington.)
Abbott-Koloff, "Former Port Authority Lawyer Admits Forging Letter," The Record, March 11, 2014, p. A-6. (Christopher Hartwyck, Esq., 53, admits to FORGING a letter from a political law firm to make it appear the public agency shopping for services would get a discount on legal fees, authorities said. This would ensure that the firm received the public business on false pretenses. Mr. Hartwyck has done "favors" for the OAE, and will not be prosecuted criminally for obstruction of justice or criminal fraud, perhaps because he is the cousin of Richard J. Codey, Esq., former president of the NJSBA and New Jersey's one-time "real governor" who is also said to be "on the take." As far as I can tell John McGill, Esq. and the OAE ADMIT fabricating evidence against me and threatening persons to file grievances against me -- both of these actions are crimes -- but feel no need to remedy the fraud on the court or to meliorate the harm to me as the victim of their crimes. Is this New Jersey's legal "ethics," Mr. Rabner? "John McGill, Esq., the OAE, and New Jersey Corruption.")
Kibret Marcos, "Patriarch's Health Again a Focus: Cohen Discusses Father's Role in Company's Transfer," The Record, March 11, 2014, p. L-1. (James Cohen -- I wonder whether "Terry Tuchin" is really named "Cohen"? Schwartz? -- will not receive a subpoena from Paul Fishman who may be returning to Israel this Summer. Presiding over this trial, allegedly, is Estela De La Cruz -- or has Ms. De La Cruz been replaced? Lost your judicial robes, Estela? Disbarment? "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")
Michael Phillis, "Protesters Push Christie to Rename Rabner to the Bench," The Record, March 12, 2014, p. A-3. (A number of Jewish groups and Paul Fishman are lobbying for the reappointment of Stuart Rabner to the position of Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
Jim Norman, "Garfield Man Accused of Sexually Assaulting a Girl, 11," 'The Record,' March 12, 2014, p. L-3. (Another alleged CASH contributor to Mr. Menendez's coffers, EDUARDO ROMERO, charged for sexual activity with an 11 year-old girl. "Menendez Consorts With Underage Prostitutes.") (It was necessary to repair the alteration of the newspaper identified in this item and damaged by hackers from New Jersey, who have also altered the spacing between sentences in this paragraph.)
William K. Rashbaum, "Inquiry Seeks Port Records That Involve Christie Ally: Firms Tied to Samson Won 2 Rich Contracts," The New York Times, March 19, 2014, p. A17.
Many observers have expressed reservations about the objectivity of New Jersey's U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman in pursuing an investigation, to which he had to be "prompted" to begin with, against consummate insider David Samson, Esq. ("New Jersey's Politically-Connected Lawyers On the Tit" and "David Samson, Esq. is On the Tit.")
Mr. Samson's law firm Wolff & Samson, Esqs., and their clients, have benefited from deals with the Port Authority of NEW YORK and New Jersey of which Mr. Samson remains the chairman. ("Corrupt Law Firms, Senator Bob, and New Jersey Ethics" and "New Jersey Lawyers' Ethics Farce.")
To protect himself from the "appearance of impropriety," Mr. Fishman is using a baby lawyer LEE M. CORTES, ESQ., who probably is loyal to Bob Menendez for his employment at the U.S. Attorney's Office. Mr. Cortes will carry this grenade; Mr. Menendez and Mr. Fishman will pull the pin on that grenade from behind the scenes. ("Law and Ethics in the Soprano State" then "Senator Bob, the Babe, and the Big Bucks.")
Mr. Samson has not resigned despite calls for that resignation from the Times and other leading newspapers. This is probably because Mr. Samson has a great deal of influence among "contributors" and is, allegedly, instrumental in setting up "Republicans For Andrew Cuomo" and other entities that are designed to be really nice to New York's governor and not only good for Mr. Christie. Playing for both sides is a David Samson specialty. ("You gotta pay to play!")
"The subpoena from Mr. Fishman's office sought records related to two bridge contracts the Port Authority awarded last April, one for $1.5 BILLION to 'replace and maintain' the Goethels Bridge, and the other in a $1.3 BILLION project to 'raise' the Bayonne Bridge, one of the people [?] said." (Replace?)
Given the amounts involved and Mr. Samson's unwillingness to recuse himself from votes involving contracts with the PA for his private law firm's clients -- clients who would immediately make use of the firm's services to draft documents -- conflict of interest and corruption issues seem pretty clear. (Again: "John McGill, Esq., the OAE, and New Jersey Corruption" and "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
No ethics grievance has been filed by the OAE in obvious neglect of its duty to protect the public. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "Is America's Legal Ethics a Lie?" then "Legal Ethics Today.")
As a former New Jersey Attorney General and Republican so-called "bag man," Mr. Samson is one of the "Nice Jewish Boys" protected in the state's ethics and law process by other "Nice Jewish Boys and Girls." ("Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?" and "Stuart Rabner and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")
The OAE prefers to target minority attorneys -- especially those who are political radicals disliked by politicians -- thereby avoiding any political "blowback." (Again: "New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics" and "Deborah T. Poritz and Conduct Unbecoming to the Judiciary in New Jersey.")
I remember discussing the OAE's focus on minority attorneys, who were deemed politically safe for "assassination," with Appellate Division Judge Ariel Rodriguez who agreed with me about these suspicions. ("New Jersey's Judges Disgrace America" and "New Jersey Supreme Court's Implosion.")
Mr. Samson should resign his chairmanship pending the resolutions of these matters. Mr. Christie's failure to call for that resignation of an influential insider may be due to fear or a need to keep friends close in the current crisis. ("U.S. Attorney Calls New Jersey a Culture of Corruption.")
"Mr. Samson and his fellow commissioners also voted to award roughly half of the $1.3 BILLION Bayonne Bridge project to a joint venture that included [corporation] Skanka, according to a news release the company issued announcing the contract at the time. Skanka was also a Wolff & Samson client."
Are Wolff & Samson the true "skanks"? How many of these companies represented by Mr. Samson are subsidiaries for Israeli corporations? ("New Jersey Rabbi Arrested For Child Molesting" and "Neil M. Cohen, Esq. and Conduct Unbecoming to the Legislature in New Jersey.")
Amazingly, it took the New York U.S. Attorney to persuade Mr. Fishman to act in a half-hearted manner against Mr. Samson. It is rumored that Mr. Samson and Mr. Fishman were on a trip to Israel together a few years ago. Mazeltov.
If personal ties preclude Mr. Fishman from pursuing this matter, I am sure that other officials are willing to investigate these serious allegations. No wonder Mr. Fishman is not interested in the crimes committed against me. I was not among the friendly travelers to Israel.
"Minutes of the April 2013 Port Authority board meeting show that Mr. Samson did not recuse himself from either vote."
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
N.J. Child Abusers and Sex-Traffickers.
March 19, 2014 at 8:25 P.M. Efforts to prevent me from writing continue; my resistance to such efforts and struggle to write, freely, also continues.
March 18, 2014 at 2:45 P.M. My best wishes and hopes for a long overdue Nobel Prize are extended to one of America's greatest living novelists Philip Roth.
"Mysogyny, a hatred of women, provides my work with neither a structure, a meaning, a motive, a message, a conviction, a perspective, or a guiding principle. This is contrary, say, to how another noxious form of psychopathic abhorrence -- and misogyny's equivalent in the sweeping inclusiveness of its pervasive malice -- anti-Semitism, a hatred of Jews, provides all those essentials to 'Mein Kampf.' My traducers propound my alleged malefaction as though I have spewed venom on women for half a century. But only a madman would go to the trouble of writing 31 books in order to affirm his hatred."
These words are spoken by Philip Roth in a recent interview. Mr. Roth goes on to say:
"It is my comic fate to be the writer these traducers have decided I am not. They practice a rather common-place form of social control: You are not what you think you are. You are what we think you are. You are what we choose for you to be. Well, welcome to the subjective human race. [It's all relative because there is no truth?] The imposition of a cause's idea of reality on the writer's idea of reality can only mistakenly be called 'reading.' And in the case at hand, it is not necessarily a harmless amusement. In some quarters, 'misogynyst' is now a word used almost as laxly as was 'Communist' by the McCarthyite right in the 1950s -- and for very like the same purpose."
To dismiss Philip Roth's novels as "comic books" is not serious literary criticism. Finally,
" ... I am who I don't pretend to be." (Times, 3-16-14, p. 14.)
Daniel Sandstrom, "Interview With Philip Roth," The New York Times Book Review, March 16, 2014, p. 14. (Interview appearing in the Sweedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet suggesting that Mr. Roth may finally receive the Nobel Prize. It would border on absurdity or something worse, in my opinion, to give the award to any other novelist working today that I am aware of, given Mr. Roth's lifetime achievement in creating novels that will last for as long as people read literature.)
Michael Cooper, "'Werther' Goes Silent A Little Too Soon," The New York Times, March 17, 2014, p. L-3. (I enjoyed the MET simulcast of Massenet's Werther at the Ziegfield Theater with hundreds of New Yorkers -- who paid more than they would for a Hollywood movie -- only to have an absolutely magnificent performance marred by a final seven minutes of lost audio due to obstructions of the satellite signal. It is rumored that sabotage was involved in this disruption that affected so many persons in America. Who would wish to score political points by doing something utterly despicable like that? Mr. Menendez? "Does Senator Menendez have mafia friends?")
Karen Rouse, "Transit Leader's Tenure Ending: Call for removal began with Sandy failures," The Record, February 19, 2014, p. A-1. (Jim Weinstein of NJ Transit may actually report to David Samson, not to Mr. Christie. Time for many of these people to leave government.)
"G.W.B. Sidestep: Bill Stepien should not fight subpoenas," (Editorial) The Record, February 19, 2014, p. A-8. (Amazingly, officials who complain that criminals "lawyer-up" are reluctant to "cooperate" with inquiries and have now hired lawyers. "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
Peter J. Samson, "Alleged Leader Indicted in $5 MILLION ATM Fraud Scam," The Record, February 19, 2014, p. L-1. (Marius Vitilla, 31, a native of Romania -- who may have been a former Russian intelligence officer -- has left the country, but may first have contributed to a number of New Jersey politicians' coffers. I wonder why it took so long to catch him?)
John Petrick, "2 Ex-Officials Stole Services, Jury is Told: Men blame each other for work by PVSC employees at homes," The Record, February 19, 2014, p. L-3. (Two former Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission officials exploited agency workers for renovations and other repairs in their homes paid for by N.J. taxpayers. The officials further explained that this was a "fact-finding operation." How right they are.)
Michael Linhorst & John Reitmeyer, "Debt Takes Biggest Leap of Christie Tenure," The Record, February 20, 2014, p. A-1. ($40 BILLION is too optimistic a number concerning pension indebtedness and shortfalls. New Jersey's pension funds may well be more than $50 BILLION in the hole. One day your grandfather's pension check will not clear at the bank.)
Salvador Rizzo, "Judge is Admonished For Aiding a Girlfriend: Sought favors using judiciary letterhead," The Record, February 20, 2014, p. A-3. (Joseph Isabella, who married into the Manza crew, reprimanded for seeking "a little favor" by using his judicial letterhead. This man served on the Hudson County Ethics Commitee. Do you speak to me of "ethics" in New Jersey's corridors of power? "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")
Jim Norman, "Man Accused of Pimping Teenage Girl: Faces prostitution, drug charges," The Record, February 20, 2014, p. L-2. (Miguel Hernandez -- any relation to Armando Hernandez, Esq.? -- charged with promoting prostitution and is seeking to use Senator Menendez as a character reference, allegedly. "The blind leading the blind." There is rumored to be an investigation into whether this individual was "protected" by local authorities.)
Hannan Adeley, "Tracing Path of a Child Predator: Eyed in unsolved killings since parole," The Record, February 27, 2014, p. A-1. (Charles T. Williams, 62, is believed by the authorities to be responsible for a series of child rapes and murders in New Jersey. Along with alleged traffickers from the Clifton-Passaic area, Mr. Williams may number Diana Lisa Riccioli among his many acquaintances: "Diana's Friend Goes to Prison!" and "Marilyn Straus Was Right!")
John Petrick, "Couple Accused of Human Trafficking: Police say they used girl, 16, as prostitute," The Record, February 27, 2014, p. L-1. (FRANKLYN SANCHEZ-GAVINO, 25, a contributor to Mr. Menendez's campaigns, allegedly, and Arline Souza Silva, 18, employed a girl of sixteen to work in a so-called "protected" massage parlor in Passaic. Clifton and Passaic are Diana's territory, allegedly.)
It may be that child sexual exploitation is New Jersey's most protected and lucrative industry. "Protected" insiders sell the "services" of children as prostitutes. ("Neil M. Cohen, Esq. and Conduct Unbecoming to the Legislature in New Jersey.")
Is Diana Lisa Riccioli still "protected"? Did Diana claim to be "protected" from criminal charges in New Jersey? How is it working out for you, Diana? ("New Jersey's Child Sex Industry" and "Is Menendez For Sale?" then "Menendez Consorts With Underage Prostitutes" and "Judges Protect Child Molesters in Bayonne, New Jersey.")
I wonder when and how Diana Lisa Riccioli first met Marilyn Straus? Can you shed any light on this mystery, Alexander Booth, Esq.? Was or is Diana Lisa Riccioli really a "therapist" as she claimed to be? Estela De La Cruz, what is your connection with Diana Lisa Riccioli? Just sex with Diana, Estela? What name did you give to Marilyn Straus, Estela De La Cruz? ("New Jersey Welcomes Child Molesters" and "New Jersey is the Home of Child Molesters.")
"PASSAIC -- A city couple were charged Wednesday with human trafficking in connection with their alleged employment of a 16 year-old girl at a massage parlor, where she allegedly had sex for money with clients booked by the couple."
At least one other young woman may have been so employed by these fine "ethical" people. This type of operation ("mom and pop," as it were) was probably paying protection both to local cops and the mob (Diana?) in exchange for "assistance" in avoiding arrest. ("Mafia Influence in New Jersey Courts and Politics.")
The defendants' difficulties may indicate, either competition for the territory or that sufficient humiliation for New Jersey's soiled institutions has, finally, generated some action to control the cesspool of child exploitation in the area. The new kids on the block got tagged.
These arrests constitute only a tiny portion of the disgusting child violating activity in a jurisdiction that has been called "America's legal toilet." ("Edward M. De Sear, Esq. and New Jersey's Filth" and "New Jersey Superior Court Judge is a Child Molester.")
"The girl was solicited by another underage female" -- who may be working for more than one employer as a "recruiter" -- "to work for the couple, according to authorities." ("Trenton's Nasty Lesbian Love-Fest!")
Control is exerted through psychological and physical violence often against very young women who have escaped -- or may be trying to escape -- from horrendous home situations that also involve physical and sexual abuse. ("Protecting Sex Workers" and "New Jersey's Child Sex Crisis.")
"The defendants have been charged with human trafficking, promoting prostitution and endangering the welfare of a child." (Wedding Bells Ring For Menendez!" and "Senator Bob, the Babe, and the Big Bucks" then "Slavery Today.")
People doing this recruiting for individuals "pimping" children in North Jersey like to come to New York for their targets. We prefer that they stay in New Jersey and avoid all the traffic jams. ("Christie's Bridge of Sighs.")
"Human trafficking carries a mandatory 20-year state prison sentence before eligibility for parole. Promoting prostitution carries a minimum of 20 years, and endangering the welfare of a child carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years."
March 18, 2014 at 2:45 P.M. My best wishes and hopes for a long overdue Nobel Prize are extended to one of America's greatest living novelists Philip Roth.
"Mysogyny, a hatred of women, provides my work with neither a structure, a meaning, a motive, a message, a conviction, a perspective, or a guiding principle. This is contrary, say, to how another noxious form of psychopathic abhorrence -- and misogyny's equivalent in the sweeping inclusiveness of its pervasive malice -- anti-Semitism, a hatred of Jews, provides all those essentials to 'Mein Kampf.' My traducers propound my alleged malefaction as though I have spewed venom on women for half a century. But only a madman would go to the trouble of writing 31 books in order to affirm his hatred."
These words are spoken by Philip Roth in a recent interview. Mr. Roth goes on to say:
"It is my comic fate to be the writer these traducers have decided I am not. They practice a rather common-place form of social control: You are not what you think you are. You are what we think you are. You are what we choose for you to be. Well, welcome to the subjective human race. [It's all relative because there is no truth?] The imposition of a cause's idea of reality on the writer's idea of reality can only mistakenly be called 'reading.' And in the case at hand, it is not necessarily a harmless amusement. In some quarters, 'misogynyst' is now a word used almost as laxly as was 'Communist' by the McCarthyite right in the 1950s -- and for very like the same purpose."
To dismiss Philip Roth's novels as "comic books" is not serious literary criticism. Finally,
" ... I am who I don't pretend to be." (Times, 3-16-14, p. 14.)
Daniel Sandstrom, "Interview With Philip Roth," The New York Times Book Review, March 16, 2014, p. 14. (Interview appearing in the Sweedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet suggesting that Mr. Roth may finally receive the Nobel Prize. It would border on absurdity or something worse, in my opinion, to give the award to any other novelist working today that I am aware of, given Mr. Roth's lifetime achievement in creating novels that will last for as long as people read literature.)
Michael Cooper, "'Werther' Goes Silent A Little Too Soon," The New York Times, March 17, 2014, p. L-3. (I enjoyed the MET simulcast of Massenet's Werther at the Ziegfield Theater with hundreds of New Yorkers -- who paid more than they would for a Hollywood movie -- only to have an absolutely magnificent performance marred by a final seven minutes of lost audio due to obstructions of the satellite signal. It is rumored that sabotage was involved in this disruption that affected so many persons in America. Who would wish to score political points by doing something utterly despicable like that? Mr. Menendez? "Does Senator Menendez have mafia friends?")
Karen Rouse, "Transit Leader's Tenure Ending: Call for removal began with Sandy failures," The Record, February 19, 2014, p. A-1. (Jim Weinstein of NJ Transit may actually report to David Samson, not to Mr. Christie. Time for many of these people to leave government.)
"G.W.B. Sidestep: Bill Stepien should not fight subpoenas," (Editorial) The Record, February 19, 2014, p. A-8. (Amazingly, officials who complain that criminals "lawyer-up" are reluctant to "cooperate" with inquiries and have now hired lawyers. "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
Peter J. Samson, "Alleged Leader Indicted in $5 MILLION ATM Fraud Scam," The Record, February 19, 2014, p. L-1. (Marius Vitilla, 31, a native of Romania -- who may have been a former Russian intelligence officer -- has left the country, but may first have contributed to a number of New Jersey politicians' coffers. I wonder why it took so long to catch him?)
John Petrick, "2 Ex-Officials Stole Services, Jury is Told: Men blame each other for work by PVSC employees at homes," The Record, February 19, 2014, p. L-3. (Two former Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission officials exploited agency workers for renovations and other repairs in their homes paid for by N.J. taxpayers. The officials further explained that this was a "fact-finding operation." How right they are.)
Michael Linhorst & John Reitmeyer, "Debt Takes Biggest Leap of Christie Tenure," The Record, February 20, 2014, p. A-1. ($40 BILLION is too optimistic a number concerning pension indebtedness and shortfalls. New Jersey's pension funds may well be more than $50 BILLION in the hole. One day your grandfather's pension check will not clear at the bank.)
Salvador Rizzo, "Judge is Admonished For Aiding a Girlfriend: Sought favors using judiciary letterhead," The Record, February 20, 2014, p. A-3. (Joseph Isabella, who married into the Manza crew, reprimanded for seeking "a little favor" by using his judicial letterhead. This man served on the Hudson County Ethics Commitee. Do you speak to me of "ethics" in New Jersey's corridors of power? "New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System.")
Jim Norman, "Man Accused of Pimping Teenage Girl: Faces prostitution, drug charges," The Record, February 20, 2014, p. L-2. (Miguel Hernandez -- any relation to Armando Hernandez, Esq.? -- charged with promoting prostitution and is seeking to use Senator Menendez as a character reference, allegedly. "The blind leading the blind." There is rumored to be an investigation into whether this individual was "protected" by local authorities.)
Hannan Adeley, "Tracing Path of a Child Predator: Eyed in unsolved killings since parole," The Record, February 27, 2014, p. A-1. (Charles T. Williams, 62, is believed by the authorities to be responsible for a series of child rapes and murders in New Jersey. Along with alleged traffickers from the Clifton-Passaic area, Mr. Williams may number Diana Lisa Riccioli among his many acquaintances: "Diana's Friend Goes to Prison!" and "Marilyn Straus Was Right!")
John Petrick, "Couple Accused of Human Trafficking: Police say they used girl, 16, as prostitute," The Record, February 27, 2014, p. L-1. (FRANKLYN SANCHEZ-GAVINO, 25, a contributor to Mr. Menendez's campaigns, allegedly, and Arline Souza Silva, 18, employed a girl of sixteen to work in a so-called "protected" massage parlor in Passaic. Clifton and Passaic are Diana's territory, allegedly.)
It may be that child sexual exploitation is New Jersey's most protected and lucrative industry. "Protected" insiders sell the "services" of children as prostitutes. ("Neil M. Cohen, Esq. and Conduct Unbecoming to the Legislature in New Jersey.")
Is Diana Lisa Riccioli still "protected"? Did Diana claim to be "protected" from criminal charges in New Jersey? How is it working out for you, Diana? ("New Jersey's Child Sex Industry" and "Is Menendez For Sale?" then "Menendez Consorts With Underage Prostitutes" and "Judges Protect Child Molesters in Bayonne, New Jersey.")
I wonder when and how Diana Lisa Riccioli first met Marilyn Straus? Can you shed any light on this mystery, Alexander Booth, Esq.? Was or is Diana Lisa Riccioli really a "therapist" as she claimed to be? Estela De La Cruz, what is your connection with Diana Lisa Riccioli? Just sex with Diana, Estela? What name did you give to Marilyn Straus, Estela De La Cruz? ("New Jersey Welcomes Child Molesters" and "New Jersey is the Home of Child Molesters.")
"PASSAIC -- A city couple were charged Wednesday with human trafficking in connection with their alleged employment of a 16 year-old girl at a massage parlor, where she allegedly had sex for money with clients booked by the couple."
At least one other young woman may have been so employed by these fine "ethical" people. This type of operation ("mom and pop," as it were) was probably paying protection both to local cops and the mob (Diana?) in exchange for "assistance" in avoiding arrest. ("Mafia Influence in New Jersey Courts and Politics.")
The defendants' difficulties may indicate, either competition for the territory or that sufficient humiliation for New Jersey's soiled institutions has, finally, generated some action to control the cesspool of child exploitation in the area. The new kids on the block got tagged.
These arrests constitute only a tiny portion of the disgusting child violating activity in a jurisdiction that has been called "America's legal toilet." ("Edward M. De Sear, Esq. and New Jersey's Filth" and "New Jersey Superior Court Judge is a Child Molester.")
"The girl was solicited by another underage female" -- who may be working for more than one employer as a "recruiter" -- "to work for the couple, according to authorities." ("Trenton's Nasty Lesbian Love-Fest!")
Control is exerted through psychological and physical violence often against very young women who have escaped -- or may be trying to escape -- from horrendous home situations that also involve physical and sexual abuse. ("Protecting Sex Workers" and "New Jersey's Child Sex Crisis.")
"The defendants have been charged with human trafficking, promoting prostitution and endangering the welfare of a child." (Wedding Bells Ring For Menendez!" and "Senator Bob, the Babe, and the Big Bucks" then "Slavery Today.")
People doing this recruiting for individuals "pimping" children in North Jersey like to come to New York for their targets. We prefer that they stay in New Jersey and avoid all the traffic jams. ("Christie's Bridge of Sighs.")
"Human trafficking carries a mandatory 20-year state prison sentence before eligibility for parole. Promoting prostitution carries a minimum of 20 years, and endangering the welfare of a child carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years."
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