Bond Is Back, In William Boyd's New Novel 'Solo'

ABC News offers a piece on the William Boyd's new continuation novel featuring Ian Fleming's iconic character, James Bond.

William Boyd has left James Bond stirred, if not shaken.

The British writer has taken on the fictional spy in "Solo," a new 007 novel that balances fidelity to Ian Fleming's iconic character with subtle changes.

 

Bond fans will find much they recognize, along with some surprises — one of which is that in Boyd's mind, James Bond looks like Daniel Day-Lewis.

 

Boyd says Fleming once described the spy as "looking like the American singer-songwriter Hoagy Carmichael. Daniel Day-Lewis looks like Hoagy Carmichael."

 

"Solo" is set in 1969, and takes the suave British spy from London's plush Dorchester Hotel to a war-ravaged West African country and on to Washington on a perilous lone mission.

 

Boyd steers Bond away from his big-screen action-hero image and back toward the complex and conflicted character of Fleming's novels.

 

"Even though he's this handsome superspy, when you read the books you realize that he's haunted," Boyd told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

 

"He's not a cartoon character. Fleming gave him all his traits, his tastes, his likes and dislikes — and his complexes. Bond has a dark side. He's troubled sometimes. He weeps quite easily. And he makes mistakes. That's what's so interesting about him."  

 

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/bond-back-20365908 

 

Note: I agree that a younger Daniel Day-Lewis fits Ian Fleming's description of the Bond character, certainly far better than Daniel Craig, but at 54, he is perhaps a bit too old to slap on the Walther PPK.

Still, he is a great actor and I'd like to see him portray Bond.

 

Also, Vesper Lynd in the novel Casino Royale tells Rene Mathis that Bond resembles Hoagy Carmichael, and he tells Bond. Bond later looks in the mirror and mutters to himself, "Not much Hoagy Carmichael there."  

Fort Hood Hero Kimberly Munley Says President Obama Betrayed Massacre Victims: Members Of Congress Demand Administration Classify Fort Hood Massacre An Act Of Terrorism

ABC News reports on the claims of betrayal by Fort Hood massacre victims, including former Fort Hood hero police officer Kimberly Munley (seen in the above White house photo with President Obama).

Former Officer Kimberly Munley, one of the heroes in the Fort Hood massacre, is coming out strongly against President Obama, telling ABC News that he has broken his promise to make sure the victims of the shooting would be taken care of. The ABC interview also featured video not previously released of the gruesome Fort Hood scene right after the massacre.

“Betrayal would be a good word. Not to the least little bit have the victims have been taken care of … In fact, they’ve been neglected very badly,” Munley said in the interview.

She and other Fort Hood victims are suing the military, claiming the government’s classification of the massacre as workplace violence is nothing short of political correctness, and it means less medical care and benefits for them.

... The letter recommends that members of Congress view the ABC News report, "which highlights the broken promises made to the victims of that attack by the Obama Administration. The video contains never-seen-before footage of the terrorist attack and moving interviews with several of the survivors."

You can read the rest of the piece and watch the ABC News video via the below link:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/members-congress-demand-obama-administration-classify-ft-hood/story?id=18493746 

Blame Bush Department: Jake Tapper At ABC News Notes That President Obama Falsely Claims Fast And Furious Program "Begun Under The Previous Administration"

 

Jake Tapper at ABCNews.com reports that President Obama blamed former President Bush once again for his failure.

Asked about the Fast and Furious program at the Univision forum on Thursday, President Obama falsely claimed that the program began under President George W. Bush.

“I think it’s important for us to understand that the Fast and Furious program was a field-initiated program begun under the previous administration,” the president said. “When Eric Holder found out about it, he discontinued it. We assigned a inspector general to do a thorough report that was just issued, confirming that in fact Eric Holder did not know about this, that he took prompt action and the people who did initiate this were held accountable.”

In actuality, the Fast and Furious program was started in October 2009, nine months into the Obama presidency.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/president-obama-falsely-claims-fast-and-furious-program-begun-under-the-previous-administration/

Mafia Is Italy's Largest Business, Biggest Banker, ABC News Reports

Phoebe Natanson at ABC News offers a report on organized crime in Italy.

While Italy's new prime minister sweats to fix Italy's dire economic situation and Italians are hit with increased taxes, there are some in Italy who are doing just fine in the country.

A report released today by an Italian employers association states that organized crime is the biggest business in Italy generating an annual turnover of 140 billion Euros (over $204 billion.)

You can read the rest of the report via the below link:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/mafia-italy-biggest-business-biggest-banker/story?id=15329463