Welcome Us Back, Mr. Bond: Producers Announce That 'SPECTRE' Will Be The Name Of The Upcoming James Bond Film.

MI6, the James Bond web site, not the British intelligence service, offers a look at the Bond film producers' press release regarding the upcoming James Bond film. The title of the film will be called SPECTRE.

SPECTRE, the Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion, is the international criminal organization created by Ian Fleming in his James Bond novel Thunderball. The organization was run by the mad, evil genius Ernst Stravo Blofeld, who appeared in the next two Fleming thrillers, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and You Only Live Twice. SPECTRE was the principal villain in the early Bond films.   

PRESS RELEASE: James Bond Producers, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli today released the title of the 24th James Bond adventure, SPECTRE. The film, from Albert R. Broccoli's EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and Sony Pictures Entertainment, is directed by Sam Mendes and stars Daniel Craig, who returns for his fourth film as Ian Fleming's James Bond 007.

SPECTRE begins principal photography on Monday, December 8, and is set for global release on November 6, 2015.

Along with Daniel Craig, Mendes presented the returning cast, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Ben Whishaw and Rory Kinnear as well as introducing Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci and Andrew Scott. Mendes also revealed Bond's sleek new Aston Martin, the DB10, created exclusively for SPECTRE.

A cryptic message from Bond's past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organisation. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.

You can read the rest of the press release via the below link:

http://www.mi6-hq.com/sections/articles/bond-24-spectre-title-announcement

You can also read Ryan Smith's piece in the Daily Mail and watch videos of the Bond film announcement via the below link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2860541/Daniel-Craig-set-joined-star-studded-cast-anticipated-James-Bond-movie-Spectre-sleek-new-Aston-Martin-unveiled.html

And you can read my Crime Beat column on the Ian Fleming and the James Bond phenomenon via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2010/06/casino-royale-revisited-film-that.html

Unpublished Raymond Chandler Work Discovered

Michael Schaub at the Los Angeles Times reports on the discovery of a unpublished work by crime novelist Raymond Chandler.

Most fans of Raymond Chandler associate the author with his hardboiled mystery novels and Philip Marlowe, his tough 1940s private detective with a taste for nicotine and alcohol. But it turns out there was another side to the iconic writer.

Los Angeles author Kim Cooper discovered an unpublished comic libretto written by Chandler in the Library of Congress, Sarah Weinman writes at the Guardian. The short text, containing the lyrics to an opera called "The Princess and the Pedlar," has been in the library for almost 100 years.

 

Chandler, who was born in America, raised in England and moved back to the U.S. after college, registered the libretto with the Library of Congress in 1917. That year, America had finally joined World War I, and Chandler traveled to British Columbia to enlist in the Canadian Army. The two events coincide: He enlisted Aug. 14; on Aug. 29, the Library of Congress registered his libretto.     

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

 

http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-unpublished-raymond-chandler-work-discovered-20141203-story.html 

How To Write Sex Scenes, By A Thriller Writer

Jon Stock, the author of the spy thriller Dead Spy Running, offers an amusing and interesting piece on how to write sex scenes for the British newspaper the Telegraph.

I’m still not sure how I came to write my one successful sex scene. Sexual encounters are a nightmare to write and rarely work. If you don’t believe me, take a brief look at the ten entries shortlisted for this year’s Bad Sex Awards. “Vertical cleft”, by any stretch of the filthy imagination, is not a great choice of words if you are trying to build up a head of erotic steam, but it didn’t stop Wilbur Smith, the bookies’ favourite. “The tips of her inner lips protruded shyly from the vertical cleft. The sweet dew of feminine arousal glistened upon them…”

As a fellow thriller writer, I’m not going to dwell on Smith’s literary shortcomings as some snobs have done. Highbrow writers are equally bad at sex scenes (Richard Flanagan, this year’s Booker prize winner, is on the list, too, writing about knicker elastic trenches…)
 

What concerns us here is the nitty gritty of writing these things. Do you have to get in the mood? Write them with your partner while on the job?
 

Sadly not. Like any other scene, they have to be worked on in the cold light of day, as you stare at an empty laptop screen and try to hit your daily word count. I did try once to pen a scene late at night, where the only criteria was whether it was turning me on, but the results were disastrous. It’s a bit like trying to write under the “creative” influence of alcohol. You race along, the words seemingly flowing like honey (steady), and then you read it back in the morning, cringe and delete all.    

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

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/11261177/How-to-write-sex-scenes-by-a-thriller-writer.html

You can also read the Telegraph's piece on the Bad Sex Prize via the below link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookprizes/11225846/Booker-winner-Richard-Flanagan-nominated-for-2014-Bad-Sex-Prize.html 

Lawyer For South Philly Man Accused In Murder-For-Hire & Insurance Fraud Cases Bows Out

Veteran organized crime reporter George Anastasia (seen in the above photo) offers a piece on South Philly auto repair owner who is accused of murder-for-hire and insurance fraud for Bigtrial.net.

Wannabe wiseguy Ron Galati, the South Philadelphia auto body shop owner with a Godfather fixation, wants to keep fighting. But it looks like he'll have to do battle without the services of topnotch criminal defense attorney Anthony Voci Jr.

Voci has filed motions to withdraw as Galati's attorney in a pending murder-for-hire case and a massive insurance fraud conspiracy case. Both are listed for trial in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court.

"My client does not have sufficient funds to allow me to continue," Voci said in a brief comment today when asked about the withdrawal motions. Voci, a former Assistant District Attorney, represented Galati in another murder-for-hire case in federal court in Camden earlier this year.

In that case, Galati was convicted of hiring two hitmen to murder the boyfriend of his estranged daughter. The boyfriend survived the hit and was one of several key witnesses. The two hitmen, a third conspirator and Galati's daughter Tiffany also took the stand for the government. 
 You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://www.bigtrial.net/2014/12/galatis-lawyer-bows-out.html#more 

Stolen Valor: Fake Soldier Confronted And Exposed By Veteran On Video

Have you seen this man?

Sam Wood at Philly .com reports that the man was wearing the uniform of a U.S. soldier at a mall and was raking in the respect and pride of a grateful nation, as well as taking advantage of store discounts for military people, but a sharp Army veteran named Ryan Berk called him out and captured the encounter on video.

A trip to the Oxford Valley Mall turned into a National Day of Shaming for a shopper dressed in camouflage fatigues on Black Friday.

But today, the shame turned an even darker shade for the shopper who now is being accused of falsely posing as a U.S. Army Ranger in order to obtain special military discounts at mall stores.

On Monday, U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks) asked the U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia to determine if there was evidence of a federal crime, according to the Bucks County Courier Times.

The man’s nightmare began Friday and was captured on a video later posted to YouTube, where it has been viewed nearly 1.5 million times. He had just stepped out of a shoe store when he was approached by a real highly-decorated veteran.

Something about the man’s uniform didn’t look right to Ryan Berk, a recipient of the Purple Heart who served in Afghanistan as a member of the 101^st Airborne Division.

Berk stopped the pudgy uniformed man on the pretext of introducing him to his young son. Berk pulled out his cell phone and hit “record.”

The man, who wore a name ribbon identifying himself as “Yetman,” was happy to meet the boy – at first. He did not remain in good humor for long.

Berk peppered Yetman with questions. The man claimed to be a U.S. Army Ranger, one of America’s elite fighting soldiers, and said he had served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

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

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/Fake_Army_Ranger_in_viral_video_may_face_federal_charges.html

NCIS Director Focusing On Economic Crimes And Special Response Teams

Naval Criminal Investigative Service Director, Andrew Traver (seen in his official NCIS photo), was interviewed by Meghann Myers at the Navy Times. The Navy Times is an independant newspaper that covers the Navy.

HEADQUARTERS, QUANTICO, Virginia — Naval Criminal Investigative Service Director Andrew Traver assumed command in October 2013 — weeks after the Navy Yard shootings — with a clear mandate: Take an agency known for sleuthing and prepare it for dangerous confrontations.

A year later, training is about to begin for the first class of NCIS agents who will comprise the Regional Emergency Reaction Counter Threat teams that can serve high-risk warrants or act as first responders in the case of on-base emergencies, like active-shooter crises.

NCIS also has its eye on tackling the large number of sexual assault complaints it investigates every year from the Navy and Marine Corps, as well as economic fraud against the Navy Department that is an increasing priority for leadership.

Traver sat down with Navy Times on Nov. 20 for a wide-ranging interview.

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

http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2014/12/01/ncis-director-andrew-traver-priorities-2015/70047812/

You can also read my interview with a previous NCIS director, Mark D. Clookie, for Counterterrorism magazine via the below link:

http://www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2010/11/interview-with-mark-d-clookie-director.html

NORAD Prepares To Track Santa's Flight

The North American Aerospace Defense Command released the below information:

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo., Dec. 1, 2014 - The North American Aerospace Defense Command's NORAD Tracks Santa website, http://www.noradsanta.org/ , launched today featuring a mobile version, a holiday countdown, new games and daily activities and more.

The website is available in eight languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Chinese. Official NORAD Tracks Santa apps are also available in the Windows, Apple and Google Play stores, so parents and children can countdown the days until Santa's launch on their smart phones and tablets. Tracking opportunities are also offered on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google+. Santa followers just need to type "@noradsanta" into each search engine to get started.

North Pole Elves

Also new this year, the website features Santa's elves in the North Pole Village. NORAD Tracks Santa is introducing the newest elf and asking the public to help choose the perfect name for him. Details can be found via NORAD Tracks Santa social media or in the "Name the Elf" video in Santa's North Pole Movie Theater at www.noradsanta.org.

Starting at 12:01 a.m. MST on Dec. 24, website visitors can watch Santa make preparations for his flight. NORAD's "Santa Cams" will stream videos on the website as Santa makes his way over various locations. Then, at 4 a.m. MST (6 a.m. EST), trackers worldwide can speak with a live phone operator to inquire as to Santa's whereabouts by dialing the toll-free number 1-877-Hi-NORAD (1-877-446-6723) or by sending an email to noradtrackssanta@outlook.com. Any time on Dec. 24, Windows Phone users can ask Cortana for Santa's location, and OnStar subscribers can press the OnStar button in their vehicles to find Santa.

Santa-tracking is Global Experience

NORAD Tracks Santa is a global experience, delighting generations of families everywhere. This is due, in large part, to the efforts and services of numerous program contributors.

This year's contributors include: the 21st Space Wing, Acuity Scheduling, Alaska NORAD Region, America Forces Network (AFN), Analytical Graphics, Inc., Avaya, BeMerry! Santa/Noerr Program, Bing®, Canadian NORAD Region, The Citadel Mall, Colorado Springs Business Alliance, Continental NORAD Region, CradlePoint, Defense Video & Imagery Distributions Systems, DoD News, Federal Aviation Administration, Globelink Foreign Language Center, Harris, Hewlett Packard (HP), iLink-Systems, Kids.gov, Level 3 Communications, Marine Toys for Tots, Foundation, Meshbox, Microsoft®, Microsoft® Azure, Naden Band of Maritime Forces Pacific, National Tree Lighting Ceremony, Naturally Santa's Inc., Newseum, OnStar, PCI Broadband, Portable North Pole/ Ugroup Media, Pueblo Riverwalk, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Colorado, Space Foundation, Spil Games, SriiusXM®, Strategic Air & Space Museum, Unity, U.S. Allegiance, U.S. Air Force Academy Band, U.S. Air Force Band of Liberty, U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West, U.S. Air Force Band of the West, U.S. Air Force Band, U.S. Air Force Heartland of America Band, U.S. Army Ground Forces Band, U.S. Coast Guard Band, U.S. Department of State Family Liaison Office, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, U.S. Band of MidAmerica, Verizon, Visionbox, West Point Band, and Xtomic.

NORAD Tracks Santa started in 1955 when a local media advertisement directed children to call Santa direct -- only the number was misprinted. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone rang through to the crew commander on duty at the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center. Thus, began the tradition, which NORAD has carried on since it was created in 1958.