My Washington Times Review of 'Land Of Wolves'

The Washington Times published my review of Craig Johnson’s Land of Wolves. 

I first became acquainted with Craig Johnson’s fictional modern-day Western sheriff by watching the A&E TV series “Longmire,” which is based on Mr. Johnson’s novels. (The show is now on Netflix).

Australian actor Robert Taylor portrayed Walt Longmire and Katee Sackhoff portrayed his deputy, Victoria “Vic” Moretti, a transplanted South Philly Italian-American and former Philadelphia cop. Lou Diamond Phillips portrayed Henry Standing Bear, Longmire’s best friend, and the series also offered a good number of other fine cast members.

I liked the Walt Longmire character, a big man who is tough, taciturn, intelligent, fair, and possesses a dry sense of humor. I also liked the rural crime stories, so I began reading the series of novels.

In his last outing in the novel “Depth of Winter,” Walt Longmire, the sheriff of Absaroka County, Wyoming, headed to Mexico to take on Tomas Bidarte, the head of a vicious drug cartel, who had kidnapped the sheriff’s daughter. He rescued her and killed the drug lord in a brutal fight, which left the sheriff’s body, as well as his mind, scarred.

In “Land of Wolves” we find a thinner, weaker and more reticent sheriff, who loses himself in moments of staring off into space. But the hanged body of a migrant Chilean shepherd, Miquel Hernandez, which may be a case of suicide or murder, moves the sheriff and his deputies to investigate. 
  
… “When you see a wolf, you can’t help feeling impressed,” Walt Longmire, the novel’s narrator tells us. “Maybe it’s because we’re so used to being around their more domesticated cousins, but this animal is something else. Aside from all the crap that you see on TV and in the movies or even in badly written books, they’re not the slathering beasts just outside the glow of the campfire; there’s only one word that comes to mind when I’ve ever seen one in the wild: empathic.

“It’s like they’re reading your mind, because they have to know what you’re thinking to simply survive.”

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

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/sep/11/book-review-land-of-wolves/

Pentagon Flag On The Anniversary of 9/11

In the above photo an American flag is displayed over the west wall of the Pentagon at the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial at dawn on the 18th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., Sept. 11, 2019. 

The U.S. Navy photo was taken by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Paul L. Archer.

My Washington Times Piece On The Defense Of Border Patrol Agents

The Washington Times published my piece on the defense of Border Patrol agents.

While visiting San Antonio, Texas, a few years back, I had a couple of drinks with an off-duty Border Patrol agent in a local bar.

I mentioned that as a young sailor long ago I had often crossed over the border from San Diego to Tijuana and I had witnessed the Border Patrol agents at work.

Like many of the cops and agents I’ve known over the years, the agent was an entertaining and enlightening storyteller. At first, he talked about his odd and amusing experiences, but later he became solemn and talked about the tragedies he had witnessed on the border, and the dangers he and his fellow agents faced every day, especially with the increase in illegal border crossings.

I thought of the Border Patrol agent when I came across a July 4 statement from the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) executive committee that stated Border Patrol agents were being unfairly criticized.

The NBPC, an organization that represents and supports non-supervisory Border Patrol agents and support personnel, stated, “The men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol have been unfairly scrutinized, criticized and attacked by radical members of Congress, Immigrant Rights groups, the Fake News Media and the general public.

“These groups have made some ridiculous allegations against Border Patrol agents, going as far as saying that Border Patrol agents make detainees drink water from toilets, that Border Patrol agents engage in child abuse with detainees, and that Border Patrol agents engage in inhumane behavior with those that come into our custody.

“These allegations are without merit and are not based in fact. To attack Border Patrol agents without evidence does a disservice to the American Public, the rule of law, and law enforcement nationwide. Border Patrol agents work tirelessly to keep our country safe and are honorable, decent and hardworking public servants that risk their lives day in and day out. These groups should be ashamed for trying to demonize us, dehumanize us and for attempting to turn public sentiment against us.”

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

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/sep/10/in-defense-of-the-border-patrol/

A Look At The Pentagon 9/11 Memorial

As tomorrow is the anniversary of the horrific 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, readers might be interested in viewing the Pentagon 911 Memorial.

On Sept. 11, 2001, American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon, killing all 64 people on the plane and 125 people in the Pentagon. The Pentagon Memorial is the first national memorial dedicated to honoring the 184 people whose lives were lost at the Pentagon that day, their families, and all those who sacrifice so that we may live in freedom.

The Pentagon Memorial captures a specific moment in time - 9:37 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, when 184 souls were lost. The $22 million memorial sits on two acres of land right outside where the jetliner struck the building.

There are 184 memorial benches dedicated to each of the victims, and they’re organized in a timeline of their ages, from the youngest victim, 3-year-old Dana Falkenberg, to the oldest, 71-year-old John Yamnicky. 

You can read more about the memorial and view photos and videos via the below link:

https://www.defense.gov/Experience/Pentagon-Memorial/source/GovDelivery/

You can also read my Counterterrorism magazine piece on the attack on the Pentagon via the below link:

www.pauldavisoncrime.com/2012/09/a-look-back-at-911-attack-on-pentagon.html 

A Little Humor: A Stingy Man

A stingy man worked all his life and had saved all of his money. 

He was a real miser when it came to his money. 

He loved money more than just about anything, and just before he died, he said to his wife, “Now listen, when I die I want you to take all my money and place it in the casket with me. I want to take all my money to the afterlife.”

So he got his wife to promise him with all her heart that when he died, she would put all the money in the casket with him. 

The day he died, while he was stretched out in the casket, the wife was sitting there in black next to their best friend. 

When they finished the ceremony, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said, “Wait a minute!”

She had a shoebox with her. She came over with the box and placed it in the casket. Then the undertakers locked the casket and rolled it away. 

Her friend said, “I hope you weren’t crazy enough to put all that money in there with that stingy old man.” 

She said, “Yes, I promised. I’m a good Christian, I can’t lie. I promised him that I was going to put that money in that casket with him.”

“You mean to tell me you put every cent of his money in the casket with him?”

“I sure did,” said the wife. “I got it all together, put it into my account and I wrote him a check.” 

Note: The above photo is of the late, great comedian Jack Benny, who portrayed a stingy man in his act.

Defense Contractor Sentenced To Three Years In Prison For Conspiracy To Defraud U.S. Department Of Defense, Conspiracy To Violate Arms Export Control Act, And Income Tax Evasion

The U.S. Justice Department released the below information:

The owner of two defense contracting firms was sentenced to 36 months in prison for providing non-conforming parts for military equipment, illegally sharing sensitive technical information and evading income taxes Assistant Attorney General John Demers and U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced today.

Roger Sobrado, 49, of Marlton, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman to an information charging him with one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act, and income tax evasion. Judge Hillman imposed the sentence on Sept. 4, 2019, in Camden federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Sobrado was the owner of two companies: Tico Manufacturing Inc. (TICO), a purported manufacturing company, and Military and Commercial Spares Inc. (MCS), a defense contracting company, both in Berlin Township, New Jersey.

Sobrado admitted that between January 2011 and December 2015, MCS obtained contracts with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) by falsely claiming that the military parts it contracted to provide would be exactly as described and provided by authorized manufacturers. The DoD contracts specified that the parts were critical application items for military equipment, including fighter jets and helicopters. Sobrado recruited various family members to participate in the scheme by establishing companies that contracted with the DoD.  Those companies also obtained contracts with the DoD by falsely claiming that the military parts they contracted to provide would be the exact product described and would be provided by authorized manufacturers. In fact, Sobrado used TICO to contract with local manufacturers to supply non-conforming parts to MCS and his family members’ companies at a significantly reduced cost. The non-conforming parts supplied by Sobrado were shipped from New Jersey to various DoD locations around the country.

DoD paid Sobrado and his family members’ companies for the non-conforming parts. The family members then paid Sobrado for the non-conforming parts. Sobrado admitted that he deposited some of his business receipts into his personal bank account and that he paid for personal items from his business account without telling his accountant. For tax years 2011 through 2014, Sobrado reported a total taxable income of $1,608,372. He failed to report additional income of $1,182,405, which caused a loss to the United States of $509,962.

Sobrado also admitted that in August 2005 and in November 2010 he submitted to the DoD a fraudulent application for access to export controlled drawings and technical data on behalf of a family member’s company. Sobrado acknowledged that access to the controlled drawings and technical data was limited to citizens of the United States and to those lawfully in the United States. Sobrado said he submitted the application because his family member told him that he needed access to drawings and that he could not get them because he was not a U.S. citizen.

Sobrado agreed that on July 28, 2011, and at various times between January 2013 and November 2015, the family member, who is illegally in the United States, accessed or downloaded hundreds of drawings that were sensitive in nature and that required special access.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Hillman sentenced Sobrado to three years of supervised release and ordered him to pay $8,043,977 in restitution.

Assistant Attorney General Demers and U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Criminal Investigative Service Northeast Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leigh-Alistair Barzey; special agents of the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian Michael; special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge John R. Tafur; special agents of the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge John S. Grasso; and special agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.

The government is represented by Senior Trial Counsel Jason M. Richardson of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden and Trial Attorney David Recker of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

My Washington Times Review Of 'The Sentence Is Death'

The Washington Times published my review of Anthony Horowitz’s The Sentence Is Death.

In Anthony Horowitz’s previous novel, “The Word Is Murder,” readers were introduced to a character named Anthony Horowitz.

The fictional Anthony Horowitz shares the British writer’s background as a screenwriter and novelist who has written the Alex Rider mystery series for children, several British TV mystery series, including “Foyle’s War” (a favorite of mine), and two James Bond continuation novels and two Sherlock Holmes continuation novels.

In “The Word Is Murder” the fictional Anthony Horowitz acted as a modern-day Watson to a modern-day Holmes, a former Scotland Yard detective-turned private detective named Daniel Hawthorne, a brilliant, unconventional and immensely unlikable investigator.

Like Doctor John Watson, who was Sherlock Holmes’ assistant and biographer, fictional Anthony Horowitz became a somewhat reluctant chronicler and assistant to Daniel Hawthorne when he agreed to write a biography of the detective.       

In “The Sentence Is Death,” Mr. Horowitz once again follows the detective as he investigates another unusual murder in London.

The novel opens with Anthony Horowitz on the set of “Foyle’s War” as the TV mystery series is filming on a London Street. This season of the program was set in 1947 and Mr. Horowitz explains to the readers the difficulties of filming a period piece on the streets of London.

“Shooting in London is always a horrible business, prohibitively expensive and fraught with difficulties. It often seems that the entire city is deliberately doing everything in its power to stop the cameras turning. Planes will fly overhead. Pneumatic drills and car alarms will burst into angry life. Police cars and ambulances will race past with their sirens blaring,” writes Mr. Horowitz.

Despite these difficulties, the TV crew was filming when a 21st century taxi rolled onto the set with a Justin Timberlake song blasting from the vehicle. Cut!

A man stepped out of the taxi, seemingly unconcerned by the crowd of people around him, many of whom where in period dress.

“He had a sort of cheerful self-confidence that was actually quite cold-blooded, utterly focused on his own needs at the expense of everyone else’s. He was not tall or well built but he gave the impression that, by whatever means necessary, he would never lose a fight. His hair, somewhere between brown and gray, was cut very short, particularly around the ears. His eyes, a darker brown, gazed innocently out of a pale, slightly unhealthy face. This was not someone who spent a lot of time in the sun,” Mr. Horowitz writes. “He was dressed in a dark suit, a white shirt and a narrow tie, clothes that might have been deliberately chosen to say nothing about him. His shoes were brightly polished. As he moved forward, he was already searching for me and I had to ask myself — how had he even known I was here?”

The man called out to Anthony Horowitz and the director asked the writer if he knew the man.

“Yes, I admitted. His name is Daniel Hawthorne, He’s a detective.”

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

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/sep/4/book-review-sentence-death/