Paul Davis On Crime

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

My American Crime Column: Gangster Chic With Crazy Joe Gallo and the Mad Ones

GreatHistory.com published my column on Tom Folson's new book on New York mobster Crazy Joe Gallo today.

Gallo, an extortionist and murderer who was cultivated and admired by entertainers, was the source of Jimmy Breslin's great satirical novel, The Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight.

You can read my column here

My On Crime & Security Column: Scareware: The FBI Issues a Warning About Those Pop-Up Bogus Security Warnings

The national online small business magazine Businessknowhow.com published my latest On Crime & Security column today.

The column deals with the FBI's warning about pop-up security warnings. The bogus security warnings pose a serious threat to your computer, as they may contain viruses.

My column, which also passes on the Federal Trade Commission's tips on how to handle the pop- ups, can be read here

Fond Memories of Another Christmas Season with the Children's Ballet Theatre's Production of The Nutcracker

As the 2009 Christmas season comes to a close, I heard a song on the radio from The Nutcracker, which rekindled my fond memories of when my daughter was a member of the Children's Ballet Theater in South Philadelphia.

For many years Christmas in my family meant the Children's Ballet Theatre's annual full scale production of The Nutcracker at the Merriam Theatre. My daughter, a college student today, performed in the annual Christmas productions for many years while she was growing up.

Above is a piece on the Children's Ballet Theatre that appeared in The South Philadelphia American, where I had a regular column, in 1996. The second piece is from The Philadelphia Daily News.

Angela Corosanite, the former artistic director of the Children's Ballet Theatre, is today the CEO and founder of the Philadelphia Performing Arts Charter School in South Philadelphia.

You can access my web profile, links to my online columns and crime fiction, as well as clips of my magazine and newspaper pieces here

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Thanks for the Memories: Bob Hope's Final Vietnam USO Christmas Show

Following up on my last post about Bob Hope's Vietnam USO Christmas shows, which can be read here, above is a photo of Bob Hope during his 1969 Christmas show aboard the USS Saratoga.

You can also watch a video from Hope's TV special about his final Vietnam Christmas show in 1972 here

I submit once again that I believe Bob Hope was a great comedian, a great comic actor and a great American.

He is remembered fondly by the many thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines that he entertained from World War II to Vietnam.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Remembering Bob Hope's Vietnam USO Christmas Shows

The Weider History Group's online publication, http://www.historynet.com/ has a good piece that fondly remembers comedian Bob Hope's Vietnam USO Christmas shows.

He entertained the troops in Vietnam from 1964 to 1972, continuing a tradition he began in World War II. Hope always brought beautiful women with him, including Raquel Welch (seen above in the photo with Hope).

Hope did not visit my carrier, the USS Kitty Hawk, during Christmas 1970, as we were too far north in the Gulf of Tonkin. I know that 5,500 sailors were sad about that.

Bob Hope was a great comedian, a great comic actor and a great American.

You can read the piece on Hope and his Vietnam shows via the link below:

http://www.historynet.com/bob-hopes-vietnam-christmas-tours.htm

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Baby, It's Cold Outside. Forever Cool Dean Martin Sings For Us During a Snow Storm

With a snow storm falling on Philadelphia and the Northeast, I thought Dean Martin's Baby, It's Cold Outside would be the perfect song for today.

To listen to the song, go here

Dean Martin, as his album duly noted, is forever cool.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

First Memorial to Honor Fallen Navy SEALs and UDT Frogmen

The nation's first memorial dedicated to fallen Navy SEALs and Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) frogmen is being planned at the National Navy SEAL-UDT Museum in Fort Pierce, Florida.

The planners hope that the memorial (seen in the above photo) will be unveiled on Memorial Day.

My late father, as I've noted here before, was a Navy chief and UDT frogman in World War II. He trained at Fort Pierce prior to hitting the Japanese-held beaches in the South Pacific.

Thankfully, he survived. This memorial will honor those UDT frogmen and Navy SEALs who died in combat in America's wars from World War II to the present.

You can read about the plans for the memorial here

Paul Davis

Paul Davis is a writer who covers crime. He has written extensively about organized crime, cybercrime, street crime, white collar crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, the military, espionage and terrorism. He is a contributor to the Washington Examiner and Counterterrorism magazine, and he writes the magazine's online 'Threatcon' column. His 'Crime Beat' column, which covers crime news, crime issues and crime prevention in South Philadelphia, appears weekly in the South Philly Review, and his 'On Crime' column, which covers crime in the Greater Philadelphia region, appears weekly at Philly Daily and Broad and Liberty. His crime fiction appears in American Crime Magazine. His work has also appeared in the Washington Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, Philadelphia Weekly and other publications. As a writer, he has attended police academy training, gone out on patrol with police officers, accompanied detectives as they worked cases, accompanied narcotics officers on drug raids, observed criminal court proceedings, visited jails and prisons, and covered street riots, mob wars and murder investigations. He has interviewed police commissioners and chiefs, FBI, DEA, HSI and other federal special agents, prosecutors, judges, public officials, WWII UDT frogmen, Navy SEALs, Army Delta operators, Israeli commandos, military intelligence officers, Scotland Yard detectives, CIA officers, former KGB officers, film and TV actors, film writers, directors and producers, journalists, novelists and true crime authors, gamblers, outlaw bikers, and Cosa Nostra organized crime bosses. Paul Davis has been a student of crime since he was a 12-year-old aspiring writer growing up in South Philadelphia. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy when he was 17 in 1970. He served aboard the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Kitty Hawk during the Vietnam War and he later served two years aboard the Navy harbor tugboat U.S.S. Saugus at the U.S. floating nuclear submarine base at Holy Loch, Scotland. He went on to become the civilian administrative officer of a Defense Department command in Philadelphia, where he oversaw security, safety and other programs for the command's military and civilian employees, and served as an investigating officer. He also worked part-time as a newspaper crime reporter and columnist during this time. He retired in 2007 after more than 37 Navy/DOD years of service and became a full-time writer. From 1991 to 2005 he was a producer and on-air host of "Inside Government," a public affairs interview radio program that aired on Sunday mornings on WPEN AM and WMGK FM in the Philadelphia area. You can read Paul Davis' crime columns, crime fiction, book reviews and news and feature articles on this website. You can read his full bio by clicking on the above photo (by Brittany Davis-Pearson). And you can contact Paul Davis at pauldavisoncrime@aol.com.