Way To Go: Michael 'Flathead' Blanchard's Great Obituary

 

The British newspaper the Daily Mail offers a good piece on a unique American character who wrote his own obituary in the Denver Post. 

An outrageously unrepentant obituary has caused a wry smile to emerge on many people's faces across the United States.

Penned before his death, Michael 'Flathead' Blanchard's memoriam makes it clear that he held no truck for water -carriers or time wasters.

In the paid obituary published in the Denver Post, Mr Blanchard is described as a man who enjoyed 'booze, guns, cars, and younger women until the day he died.'

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

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2129627/Michael-Flathead-Blanchard-obituary-internet-sensation-Facebook.html

James Bond: Never Say Die

 

Ron Charles at the Washington Post interviewed William Boyd, the Scottish author will pen the next James Bond continuation novel.

Boyd, whose sexy World War I thriller “Waiting for Sunrise” will be published next week, expects to bring out his Bond novel in 2013 — 60 years after “Casino Royale.”

Boyd said: "I think the first thing to do is to separate the Bond movies from the Bond novels. The “literary” Bond is a far more intriguing and nuanced character than the cinematic version. He is more troubled and flawed, and because he’s in a novel — and not in some cartoonesque action-movie — he seems far more human."

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

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/james-bond-never-say-die/2012/04/13/gIQAijuFFT_blog.html

Prime Suspect In '72 NYPD Cop Slay Had Been Under FBI Investigation

The New York Post reports that the prime suspect in the 1972 murder of an NYPD officer at a mosque was under FBI surveillance for at least seven years before the slaying.

Louis Dupree, who was charged twice in the killing Officer Philip Cardillo, 31, had been in the cross-hairs of at least six federal informants before the mosque shooting, according to bureau files obtained by The Post.

Cardillo, a father of three was gunned down inside a Nation of Islam mosque, 40 years ago this Saturday. No one has ever been convicted of the crime.

The shocking FBI documents reveal that least two of the informant’s identities were so sensitive, the bureau believed releasing their names could compromise national security. Another notes that several of the FBI’s informants within the Nation of Islam had “furnished reliable information in the past.”

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

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/prime_suspect_in_cop_slay_had_been_d8hh9xvmsrMFe4X4n930RN

Note: I recently interviewed Randy Jurgensen, the former NYPD detective who investigated Officer Cardillo's murder and later wrote a book about the murder called Circle of Six. The interview will appear here in the near future.

Jailed Philly Mob Figure Gaeton Lucibello Agrees To Guilty Plea

 

George Anastasia, the Philadelphia Inquirer's veteran organized crime reporter, offers a piece on a Philadelphia mob figure's guilty plea.

South Philadelphia mob figure Gaeton Lucibello, who beat a federal racketeering charge in 1996 by testifying on his own behalf, has apparently decided to fold rather than take a chance on another jury trial.

Indicted along with mob boss Joseph "Uncle Joe" Ligambi and 11 others in May, the 59-year-old former ironworker and reputed gambling operative is scheduled to appear Tuesday in U.S. District Court for a change-of-plea hearing.

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

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20120413_In_switch__jailed_mob_figure_Lucibello_agrees_to_guilty_plea.html

A Look Back At 'Fort Apache,' John Ford's Classic Film Of The U.S. Cavalry

 

Fort Apache, director John Ford's classic U.S. Cavalry tale, is one of my favorite Ford films and one of my favorite films.

John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Ward Bond, Pedro Armendariz and many other actors are all at the top of their game in this great film. I served in the U.S. Navy, not the U.S. Cavalry, but the Ford characters are all familiar to me.

I've seen Fort Apache a dozen times and I want to see it again after reading Lee Pfeiffer's cinemaretro.com review of the Blu-Ray DVD release of the film.

Fort Apache, however, is a far more sinister look at the West, one that was decades ahead of its time in terms of presenting the case of the Native Americans in a sympathetic fashion. It's ironic that people like Marlon Brando, who extolled the cause of Native American rights, would cite Ford's films as having been detrimental to the Indian cause. In fact, Ford was so highly regarded by the Navajo that he was made an honorary member of the tribe, primarily because of his consistent efforts to improve their lives.

...The story clearly takes its origins from the legend of General Custer, with Henry Fonda portraying Lt. Colonel Owen Thursday, a strutting martinet who is assigned as commanding officer of Fort Apache, a remote U.S. cavalry outpost deep inside territory that has been characterized by raids led by the legendary Apache chief Cochise. It isn't long before Thursday locks horns with his second in command, Capt. Kirby York (John Wayne). York tries to convince Thursday that his heavy-handed philosophies might be appropriate for West Point, but are hopelessly out of touch with commanding an outpost in this region. Thursday will have none of it. He runs a tight ship, tolerates no dissent from his edicts and alienates any hope of striking a truce with the Apaches by intentionally breaking his word and personally insulting Cochise.

...There are also all those wonderful Ford "stock company" actors including Ward Bond, Guy Kibbee, Victor McLaglen, Jack Pennick, Anna Lee, Pedro Armendariz, as well as George O'Brien.

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

http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php?/archives/6674-BLU-RAY-REVIEW-JOHN-FORDS-FORT-APACHE-1948-STARRING-JOHN-WAYNE-AND-HENRY-FONDA.html

Tweet On The Street: Philly Cops To Experiment With 'Tweeting' From Officers On Duty

 

Mike Dunn at cbslocal.com reports on the announcement from Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey that Philadelphia police officers on duty will post updates on Twitter.

We’ve got to use everything available to us,” Ramsey told council members Wednesday. “We’ve got to leverage technology to be a force multiplier to help us.”

 

And that includes tweeting.

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

http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/04/11/philadelphia-cops-to-experiment-with-tweeting-from-officers-on-duty/

You can also read a report about Philadelphia Detective Joseph Murray, who tweeted on his own prior to the commissioner's announcement, from Elizabeth Fiedler at NPR News via the below link:

http://www.npr.org/2012/04/10/150355105/philly-cops-bust-crime-in-140-characters-or-less

And below is the link to the Philadelphia Police Department:

http://www.phillypolice.com/news/phillypolice-goes-mobile/

Military Judge Hears Arguments On USS Cole Defendant's Motions

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

FORT MEADE, Md., April 11, 2012 - A military judge ruled today that a defendant in the USS Cole bombing may meet with his defense attorneys unfettered.

Army Col. James L. Pohl deferred several other defense motions in the case of Abd al-Rahim Hussein Mohammed Abdu al-Nashiri at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Today's ruling made moot testimony from Nashiri on the effects he felt from his imprisonment prior to arriving at the detention facility in Cuba. That testimony could have contained classified information.

Lawyers also argued on constitutional motions, with the defense arguing that neither terrorism nor conspiracy is a crime under accepted international law. They said Nashiri – who is alleged to have masterminded the plot that killed 17 sailors aboard the USS Cole during an act of terror in Aden, Yemen, in 2000 – cannot be charged with those crimes because they don't exist.

Pohl indicated he would rule on these motions later. More arguments on other motions will take place tomorrow.

Nashiri is charged with perfidy, murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder in violation of the law of war, terrorism, conspiracy, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects and hazarding a vessel.

This is a capital case.

The charges arise out of an attempted attack on the USS The Sullivans in January 2000, the actual attack on the USS Cole in October 2000, and an attack on the motor vessel Limburg in October 2002.

Nashiri is a Saudi-born member of al-Qaida. U.S. officials allege he was under the personal supervision of Osama bin Laden, and that bin Laden personally approved the attacks on the U.S. Navy ships.

New York lawyer David Schultz also spoke to the court today, arguing that the peoples' right to know trumped security concerns in this trial. Schultz, who represented 10 media organizations including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Fox News, NPR and the Miami Herald, based his argument on the 1st Amendment to the Constitution.

He noted that lead prosecutor Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins has been explaining to audiences around the United States how the reformed military commissions system is the best way to advance the rule of law in these cases. Under U.S. law, public attendance of criminal prosecutions is imperative to fairness, he said.

He reached back to the trial of the Lincoln assassination conspirators in 1865 and the Nuremberg trials after World War II to show that military commissions also honored this idea.

He admitted the government had a right to not reveal classified data during a trial, but argued that there are ways to ensure openness while still protecting the information.

Schultz' testimony was the first time outside lawyers have argued in front of the panel at Guantanamo.

Pohl did not disagree with Schultz. He maintained that the default setting in his court is a public hearing. He said proceedings should be closed only when the least restrictive measures cannot be imposed.