Movie Reviews-Rise of the Footsoldier, Salt,Downfall and more

Rise of the Footsoldier

Rise of the Footsoldier, directed by Julian Gilbey, is a pretty gritty British gangster film that centers on the two decade evolution (devolution?) of soccer hooligan Carlton Leach and his buddies from mindless rioters into even more mindless gangsters, extortionists and drug dealers. It has more than few similarities to Goodfellas. The film is based on a true story, the Rettendon Range Murders, which also featured in another good British crime film, Essex Boys. Carlton Leach tells the story in voiceover and freezeframe, which gives it even more of a Goodfellas style. However if anything this film is even more pointed in its depiction of violence and brutality, which is unrelenting throughout. 


The only people scarier than Carlton and his friends are the Turkish Mafia, which is shown to be capable of depravities beyond your normal English thug. There are no sympathetic figures in the movie. Carlton is depicted as less violent than two of his best friends, which is not surprising as I believe the movie was based in part on Carlton's book and input. The most violent and chaotic of Carlton's friends is Pat, who is similar to Goodfellas' Tommy. Don't tell Pat what sort of pizza his girlfriend can or can't have delivered. I enjoyed the film. It was very dark, both in the actual shooting of the picture and the theme.

Salt

This film starred Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Andre Braugher has a brief cameo.

Originally this was to feature Tom Cruise in the lead role but he declined and the movie was rewritten for Jolie. If there's one actress who can make you believe that she has the capacity to fight men and occasionally win it's the statuesque Jolie. I think Jolie is better suited for this than Cruise would have been. I have trouble believing Cruise could win a fight with the paperboy.

Jolie is a deep cover CIA agent (Evelyn Salt) who is interrogating a Russian defector who suddenly states that Jolie is actually a deep cover Russian mole planning an assassination. Jolie refuses to be interrogated in turn and escapes. Mayhem ensues. Schreiber is Jolie's CIA supervisor, who doesn't want to believe she's gone bad. Ejiofor is a counterintelligence officer who does everything by the book even as he starts to notice some anomalies.

The movie is fun but mindless. The director realizes this and attempts to make up for it by plenty of closeups of Jolies' lush lips or pencil skirted legs. Jolie's character even uses her panties to escape lockdown. While this is... interesting,  =) I'm not sure it really balances out a script that has some very obvious logic holes and some misdirection that doesn't quite work. And although one fight scene might be believable it's a bit much to watch Evelyn Salt constantly duke it out toe to toe with men 50 lbs heavier and 6 inches taller.  In its defense though the movie is anything but ponderous and moves pretty quickly. It's just under 90 minutes. In general though I couldn't really care about any of the characters. They didn't quite come across as real.

Downfall

This is a drama about Hitler's last days in the bunker in Spring of 1945 as the Russians close in from all sides.
It is in German of course with English subtitles. Usually I'm not a fan of subtitles but I can't imagine this particular film being shown any other way. German is a fascinating, if harsh sounding language to me and it does have a majestic tone to it. In some circles this film is probably best known for the many youtube parodies that it engendered of Hitler's final classic rant when he discovered that there really was no relief army coming but it should be seen on its own merits.


Bruno Ganz stars as Hitler. The resemblance is disconcerting. It's even more impressive how well the actor captured Hitler's frothing rages, his sudden switches to kindness to women or children, his paranoia and deep hatreds, his physical deterioration from drug abuse, stress and Parkinson's and his manipulative hold on the minds of millions even as the country came apart.
This film is told largely from the POV of Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara), Hitler's final secretary who was personally picked by Hitler just before everything fell apart. Junge is quite happy to get this assignment. 


Although in some respects movies like this could be accused of humanizing a monster the fact remains that Hitler was human. Humans contain the highest angels and the meanest devils within. The other thing which is factual is that up until the very end many Berliners fought the Russians from door to door, not so much to protect Hitler, who had by then made his contempt for the "weak German race" quite explicit, but to protect their lives and their women. It's not often discussed and is only obliquely mentioned in the film but a significant portion of the Russian Army committed atrocities against German civilians-primarily the rape of women-once they crossed into Germany. Such incidents were seized on by Nazi propagandists.

The paragon of Nazi propagandists was of course Goebbels (Ulrich Matthes) who along with his wife Magda (Corrina Harfouch) remained a fanatically devoted Hitler follower. Near the very end shortly before their mutual suicide, Magda commits an act that even her husband can not bring himself to do. The costs of true belief are shown in very ugly detail but they are costs which some Nazis are quite willing to pay. Because the film focuses so much on the leadership it is easy to forget that a nation of millions was paying the price for that leadership. There are some other questions raised around this which may be beyond this review but one of them is, in modern warfare is it moral for civilians to pay the price? Should we mourn for the dead of Dresden or Hiroshima or do we shrug and say they got what was coming to them?


Most of the film takes place in the bunker , which gives it a suitably cramped and desperate feel. But on the occasions that the film ventures outside things are even worse as we watch the unending procession of wounded soldiers, frantic doctors, thieves, SS fanatics, murdered civilians, and children or women pressed into combat. Ultimately this is a tremendously sad film because we see what an evil thing war is.  I really do think Americans would be much less jingoistic if war were more than a video game to so many people. Eva Braun (Juliane Kohler) is depicted as a simple-minded seductive individual who never thinks to challenge her husband (they married right before committing suicide) except when she is begging for a relative's life. This is a really really good film.

Faster

This movie's lead is The Rock, or as he now prefers to be known, Dwayne Johnson. Faster also stars Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Gugino, Maggie Grace, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Mike Epps, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and one very nice 1970 Chevelle SS. It is directed by George Tillman, Jr.

It is a revenge flick starring Johnson as the protagonist out on a rampage to deliver some serious hurting to people who wronged him. It's a welcome switch from the kiddy genre to which Johnson was temporarily exiled.

However the movie makes some very very critical mistakes of motivation, pacing and story. Simply put, a revenge motivation is meaningless unless you understand who the hero lost, why the loss is so devastating and you root for the hero to get his own back no matter what. This film has trouble doing that. Also Johnson's character lacks humanity-he has no girl-isn't the hero always supposed to get the girl?? And the film spends WAY too much time on supporting characters at the expense of Johnson's storyline. It feels like the film was hedging its bets. It switches up at the end and almost feels like two different screenwriters were fighting it out.
I don't want to accuse Thornton of just phoning it in but he does look kinda bored here.
The film does have a Revolvers are just Better theme and One Cool Car Those were fun but that was about the extent of it.

How to make an Oscar Winning Movie.
This is not a review I wrote but it is a send-up of what many award winning movies tend to look like these days and I thought it was funny. Hopefully you do too but as always YMMV.

Breaking News: Immigration Reform

In news that is sure to please some supporters of "immigration reform", the Obama Administration announced that it was suspending deportation proceedings against "non-criminal" illegal immigrants in order to focus on the "criminal" element. Link to complete NYT Article.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration announced Thursday that it would suspend deportation proceedings against many illegal immigrants who pose no threat to national security or public safety. The new policy is expected to help thousands of illegal immigrants who came to the United States as young children, graduated from high school and want to go on to college or serve in the armed forces.
White House and immigration officials said they would exercise “prosecutorial discretion” to focus enforcement efforts on cases involving criminals and people who have flagrantly violated immigration laws. Under the new policy, the secretary of homeland security, Janet Napolitano, can provide relief, on a case-by-case basis, to young people who are in the country illegally but pose no threat to national security or to the public safety.
The decision would, through administrative action, help many intended beneficiaries of legislation that has been stalled in Congress for a decade. The sponsor of the legislation, Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, has argued that “these young people should not be punished for their parents’ mistakes."  The action would also bolster President Obama’s reputation with Latino voters as he heads into the 2012 election. Just a week ago the leaders of major Hispanic organizations criticized his record, saying in a report that Mr. Obama and Congress had “overpromised and underdelivered” on immigration and other issues of concern to Latino voters, a major force in some swing states.

As many readers no doubt are aware I don't support either normalizing work status or putting illegal immigrants on a "path to citizenship". I know that's a minority view here but that's fine. I could be wrong. I don't say no to that. If "normalization" or "reform" were truly the will of the American people as expressed by their duly elected Representatives and Senators then I would have no choice but to accept it. I might mumble a bit but I'd accept it.
But this?
This looks like an end run around the law and appears to be another executive encroachment on Congress' role-just like the Libyan war. Aside from the capriciousness and obvious political self-interest of the Administration's decision there are at least four other reasons why I think this should give people pause.

• We have 9.1% unemployment. Unemployment is even higher in the black community. Econ 101 and sheer self-interest indicate that we simply do not need additional workers in the economy now.


• President Obama has once again caved to a particularly loud interest group that threatened to use its leverage. Surely his enemies must notice this but so will his friends. It's not a good look. 


• We don't know who the unlawful residents are. They didn't undergo background checks or any of the other tests and verifications that legal immigrants have to endure.


• People shouldn't ignore the law. It's the law it's not a suggestion. There are laws which I don't like but they are part of being an adult citizen. People obey these laws not only out of an internal belief that they are correct or at least guarantee the past of least resistance but also from the fact that breaking the law carries unpleasant consequences. But now we see that one group of people (of whom it bears repeating are not citizens and can't vote) have consistently refused to obey the law-not because they have any logical cogent rationale about why the law is unjust but because they find it inconvenient. Ok. Does that mean that a right-wing citizen who doesn't want to pay his income taxes (as many illegal immigrants do not) or purchase health care insurance, can refuse to do these things, if he or she finds enough likeminded people to raise a stink? We consent to be ruled by law in the belief that all are subject to it equally. That is of course an ideal not reality. But once anyone can pick and choose which laws she wants to obey, everyone else will clamor to do the same. The center won't hold.

But again, perhaps I am being melodramatic. Your call.

QUESTIONS
1) Do you think this is a good/moral move by the Administration? Why or why not?
2) Will this help the Administration with Hispanic voters? Hurt them with others?
3) What is the solution to unlawful entry/residence in the US?
4) If we are no longer going to deport people unless they are felonious, why bother with borders at all? Let's just let non-citizens decide how many people the US needs.

Movie Reviews-Ironclad, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Warrior's Way and more

Ironclad
written and directed by Jonathan English. 

Ironclad depicts the 1215 siege of Rochester Castle. King John was extremely angry at being forced to sign the Magna Carta. If a King's authority could be limited by men but the King received his authority from the Church and God, then the Magna Carta was not only treasonous but blasphemous. That was King John's (Paul Giamatti) opinion anyway, and he was sticking to it. Giamatti really chews up the scenery here and spits it out but the viewer will buy into his anguished and murderous outrage.

King John hires numerous Danish mercenaries. With his new best friends King John travels across Britain for friendly chats with the various barons or priests who forced him to sign the Magna Carta. When he meets them he just completely ruins their day. When the King inquires if that's your signature on the document, the correct answer to give is no. DO NOT respond with the 13th century equivalent of  "Yeah I signed it so whatchu gonna do about it, son?"  Not wise.

Rochester is the final castle that King John must subdue. The King is opposed by Baron Albany (Brian Cox) and a small group of big bad mofos (sort of a Magnificent Seven) that Albany recruits around England in a Blues Brothers "We're putting the band back together" montage. These roles aren't well fleshed out but they don't need to be. The group includes a young naive unblooded squire, a rambunctious brawler, a vicious fellow who claims to only be in it for the money, a ladies man, an older family man ready for One Last Assignment, a skilled archer, etc.

The deadliest warrior and pack Alpha Male is a Knight Templar named Marshall (James Purefoy). Marshall doesn't say much (at film's beginning he is under a vow of silence) and is haunted by atrocities he saw or committed on crusade. The film does not explicitly mention it but King Richard the Lionheart (King John's older brother) massacred over 3,000 Muslim prisoners at Acre. Marshall is undergoing a crisis of conscience because of his unparalleled skill at violence which violates both Christian scripture and perhaps his own nature.

The heroes reach Castle Rochester. They organize the castle to resist until the French cavalry arrives, over the pragmatic Castellan Cornhill's (Derek Jacobi) objections. Cornhill has a loveless marriage with his shapely young wife Isabel (Kate Mara) who immediately shows carnal interest in the celibacy sworn Marshall. Megan Fox was originally supposed to play this role. I enjoyed Mara in it more than I would have Fox. Fox is a caricature of desire while Mara is attractive but not cartoonish. She doesn't have a lot to do but she does it well.

King John's forces arrive. The REAL bloodletting begins. We've seen hints of Marshall's abilities but he takes it to that other level. This is an extremely brutally violent movie. I have new respect for the destructive capacity of a five and half-foot Templar sword. This film utilizes a hand-held "Saving Private Ryan" jittery shooting style for many battle scenes. These heroes aren't supermen. They get tired, hungry, irritable and make mistakes. Chances are excellent they won't all survive the siege. Ironclad employs tension effectively from beginning to end. Purefoy addressed the violence: 

"The first time I saw this film, I was really shocked by the violence in it, but I didn’t find it sexy or cool or glorified, in any way. I just found it real. It is sickeningly real, in many ways, and that’s the way violence really should be. Violence is a very ugly thing. Violence is often so casual on film, and made to look so cool and so sexy, but violence is a repulsive, repugnant act that human beings inflict on each other. It shouldn’t seem to be cool and sexy, ever really. That’s one of the reasons I liked it."

Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister for Game of Thrones fans) has a small role as Archbishop Langton, who supports the Magna Carta despite threat of excommunication. The film's dialogue is not great. There are a few acerbic one liners. The best lines belong to the choleric King John, who in a magnificent monologue of spittle specked spite explains exactly what divine right is and why it is so important that he keep it. Ironclad is lower budget but well crafted. With heavyweight actors like Cox, Giamatti, Jacobi, Purefoy and Dance involved we see that good actors and good directing win out every time. Despite some glaring historical inaccuracies I liked this movie. However I'm a genre fan. YMMV. If you like "last stand" or "siege" type movies this is worthwhile. If violence sickens you, stay away from this film. Now where did I leave my two-handed sword...
Trailer

The Lincoln Lawyer

This was a so-so drama starring Matthew McConaughey as the titular Mick Haller. Mick's a defense lawyer who doesn't mind stretching the rules to defend his client. He often does business from his Town Car backseat. Mick demands cash upfront. He has an on-again off again relationship with his ex-wife (Marisa Tomei) and spreads around cash and favors to court workers to recruit clients, get info or move his cases ahead of schedule.

Mick is hired to defend a wealthy young man (Ryan Phillipe) accused of attempted rape. The case is complex. Mick finds himself simultaneously trying to solve old crimes, defend his client, uphold justice system ethics, protect his family, stay alive and stay out of jail. Interesting but most story twists were telegraphed in advance. No real surprises. The movie ran a little long but it wasn't the worst way to spend 2 hrs. One thing which I didn't care for was that the film's only black character was Mick's driver who evidently has criminal contacts (as does Mick) and calls Mick "boss" all the time. Not "Mick"-not "Mr. Haller"-just "boss". Ok Rochester. This film also featured Michael Pena, William Macy, John Leguizamo, and Trace Adkins.

The Warrior's Way

This tells an old story which has been told millions of times before and will likely be told just as many times again, long after everyone reading this is dust. There are some basic themes which just work. Or they would work if people executed them properly. In this case, sad to say, the director and writer(s) didn't. So what should have been a solid revenge or moral rebirth movie, complete with some really astonishing visuals and vivid colors, just fell flat. This could have been a zany hit or underground cult flick. The direction and cinematography is as if Fellini, Woo, Coppola and Sergio Leone all got drunk and made a film together. But this movie just doesn't work.

There are a few reasons for this. In most stories, the hero gets the girl. That is often the primary motivation and definition for being the hero. Men and women suffer for each other (the vicious beatings of Clarence and Alabama inTrue Romance) and/or protect each other (Trinity arguably resurrects Neo in The Matrix). Of course there are stories where the man and woman pass in the night (much of film noir) but you need a good reason for deviating from this trope. This film doesn't give such a reason leaving me with a suspicion that the color difference between the lead actor and lead actress might have been a consideration. Dunno. Regardless, this was a disjointed film. It needed a better villain. The protagonist did not impress.


Yang (Jang Dong-Gun), a swordsman/assassin of unearthly skill and indeterminate nationality has successfully killed his clan's last rival. However the enemy had a small baby. Yang's orders are to kill all of that clan. He balks at killing a child. He takes the infant and flees to America. Yang arrives in a western town populated solely by a circus troupe populated by lovable losers. This troupe is watched over by a black dwarf named 8-ball (Tony Cox) (so funny I forgot to laugh) and an attractive tomboyish young woman named Lynne (Kate Bosworth).


A outlaw gang led by The Colonel (Danny Huston) routinely shows up to kill people and rape women. Via flashback we see that years before The Colonel attempted to rape the then underage Lynne. When her family tried to protect her The Colonel murdered her family and left Lynne for dead. Lynne wants revenge. When Lynne discovers that Yang is a sword expert she pesters him to teach her. Karate Kid scenes (mixed with tentative romance) ensue. Yang seeks to overcome his violent past. However Yang's former friends are tracking him. And The Colonel is due to show up soon. I liked the film's visual style. Bosworth is easy on the eyes. But the film could not effectively either use or transcend the Western and Martial Arts cliches.

Big Night
directed by Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott

This is a quiet film about the love of family and good food. In fifties era New Jersey two Italian-American brothers and restaurant owners have reached a personal and business crossroads. The older brother Primo (Tony Shalhoub) is the very incarnation of Old School. Primo is the chef. He doesn't serve food until HE knows it's right. And he insists on making real Italian food, not Americanized versions with more cheese and fat. And if the customers don't like it well then they should go elsewhere. Primo will happily show them the door. 


The younger brother Secondo (Stanley Tucci) is the maitre'd and manager for the restaurant. He has to soothe customers outraged when the prideful Primo insults their understanding of Italian cuisine or takes too long to deliver an order. As manager, Secondo knows that the restaurant can't last much longer. He's already ducking creditors.


The brothers' situation is made worse because their rival, the jovial Pascal (Ian Holm) owns a nearby restaurant. Pascal doesn't mind catering to more pedestrian tastes. He's doing well financially and looking to expand. Pascal has offered to hire the brothers, something that both Primo and Secondo decline. Undeterred, he tells them that they need a "big night" to bring in more customers. Pascal offers to have Louis Prima show up at their restaurant. Excited, the brothers mortgage everything that isn't already mortgaged in order to raise funds for one last shot at the big time. Secondo is aided by his girlfriend Phyllis (Minnie Driver) who wants him to commit. Secondo doesn't want to do that until he's successful.

This movie mixes drama and comedy which is not the easiest thing to do. It has some appealing things to say about the conflict between art and commerce as shown by the differences between the two brothers. And anyone who really likes food and enjoys preparing it will probably enjoy this movie. Tucci and Shalhoub are quite demonstrative and expressive performers. Marc Anthony, Liev Schreiber and Isabella Rossellini also star.


Splice

This film departed from the sadistic hyperviolent torture flicks that dominate the modern horror/sci-fi genre. Splice is not as action packed or as violent as the trailer indicates. With a few notable exceptions, Splice doesn't depict much violence or use jumpy camera shots until the movie's final 20 minutes.
Two young genius scientists (and lovers) who are searching for a protein to heal animal (and human) diseases decide for reasons both scientific and personal to splice human DNA into their latest batch.

The Frankenstein theme is obvious (the two taboo breaking scientists ,Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley, are named Clive and Elsa while their creation, Dren is a dead ringer for Elsa Lanchester in Bride of Frankenstein) but MUCH more than Frankenstein it's Freud that provides the film's true horror. (Of course one could argue that Frankenstein itself is Freudian but that's a different post)

It's the implications of parenting and familial separation that create the scares, not the special effects. The ultimate horror can be betrayal by or becoming like one's parent. Splice explores the corporate driven amorality of patenting life. I'd be surprised if the film's director and/or writers were not at least sympathetic to animal rights arguments. This film echoes those debates. Pets or children didn't ask to exist and deserve protection, not exploitation.

Splice's true fright isn't the "monster" created but in the motives and moral blind spots of her "parents". Clive and Elsa are the bent ones here. Their uneven and dishonest relationship with each other colors everything that happens.  Freudian horrors abound.

Wisconsin - The Face of Democracy: Recall Elections

Democracy at Work

Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible people have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal (and more or less direct) participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law.

Scott Walker marched into the Wisconsin Capitol on January 3, 2011 with an anti-Wisconsin agenda - dismantle the unions, abolish women's rights and put the state of Wisconsin on a path backwards. Swept into office on the Republican wave, Walker was said to be a moderate republican, who would reduce taxes, cut spending, create jobs and grow the Wisconsin economy. This all sounded great to the voters of Wisconsin, so they elected him Governor with 52% of the vote. Unfortunately, voters were unaware of Walker's plan to balance the budget on the backs of government employees with the exception of law enforcement personal and firefighters. With control of Republican State Senate and legislative maneuvers Scott Walker was able to pass his anti-union bill and sign it into law on March 11.

The people of Wisconsin did not sit around and accept the bad cards they were dealt, they galvanized and took democracy into their hands. Using the Wisconsin Constitution, the put into play a series of unprecedented recall elections. Since 1908, only 20 recorded state legislative recall elections have taken place.

Recall Races

(District 2)

(R) Robert Cowles vs. (D) Nancy Nusbaum

(District 8)

(R) Alberta Darling vs. (D) Sandy Pasch

(District 10)

(R) Sheila Harsdorf vs. (D) Shelly Moore

(District 14)

(R) Luther Olsen vs. (D) Fred Clark

(District 18)

(R) Randy Hopper vs. (D) Jessica King

(District 32)

(R) Dan Kapanke vs. (D) Jennifer Shilling

Per The Associated Press:

Republicans held onto control of the Wisconsin Senate on Tuesday, beating back four Democratic challengers in a recall election despite an intense political backlash against GOP support for Gov. Scott Walker's effort to curb public employees' union rights.

Fueled by millions of dollars from national labor groups, the attempt to remove GOP incumbents served as both a referendum on Walker's conservative revolution and could provide a new gauge of the public mood less than a year after Republicans made sweeping gains in this state and many others.

Even though the Democrats failed to capture the majority in the State Senate through these recalls, I think they set the tone for 2012 and have given Americans a bigger picture - democracy at work. I don't see this as a loss. This is a sign of bigger things to come and more work to be done.

Did Citizens United play any role in the outcome of the recall elections?

Do yesterdays recall elections set the tone for 2012?

Did Democrats loose the War or did they win the Battle?

Will the recall elections impact the likelihood of Scott Walker being recalled in January 2012?

Book Reviews-The Outfit, Hard as Nails, Deathstalker Legacy and more

The Outfit

by Gus Russo

The classic era of American organized crime was from the thirties through the seventies. During this period the Chicago Syndicate aka "The Outfit" was close in power to all of the NY Five Families combined. Chicago famously enforced an edict that stated "Anything west of Chicago belongs to Chicago!". The Outfit controlled or oversaw satellite families or crime organizations in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Los Angeles, Memphis, Milwaukee and other areas. It shook down Hollywood studios, kept a heavy hand in labor unions, and maintained a presence in Las Vegas. Although it had to share the Teamsters Union with the Midwest and East Coast Families, the Outfit was the primary organization that used Teamsters Pension Fund monies to invest in a wide variety of legal and illegal activities.

Gus Russo details this story. After Capone went to prison, the new leaders of the Outfit met to set up a structure that would endure for seven decades.

The differences between the Chicago Outfit and the NY Families were:

1. The Outfit was organized more along the lines of a corporation instead of a Mafia Family
2. The Outfit had eliminated or subsumed all serious competition within Chicago
3. The Outfit made more use of "front bosses" 
4. The Outfit seemed to have a few more open psychopaths
5. The Outfit allowed non-Italians to rise to positions of authority and dominance, although the ultimate leadership remained Italian

One of the more interesting gangsters profiled and a possible real life model for the fictional Tom Hagen was Curly Humphreys, a man of Welsh descent, who as a young hoodlum had hijacked one of Capone's liquor shipments. Hauled before Capone, Humphreys not only talked himself out of the usual sanction for such a crime but also managed to get a job with the Outfit. Humphreys became the organization's preeminent fixer, legal advisor, business contact and labor extortionist. He would later sit on the leadership council of the post-Capone Outfit until his death by natural causes. As Capone himself said of Humphreys , "Anybody can use a gun. The Hump uses his head. He can shoot if he has to but he likes to negotiate with cash when he can. I like that in a man".  Humphreys was the first mobster to come up with the 5th Amendment privilege tactic when questioned by Congress. 

Humphrey's fellow ruling council members and later Outfit Bosses were Paul Ricca, the real leader in the immediate post-Capone years and a man described by sixties era boss Sam Giancana as a "wild shifty dog" and  "a real heartless b*****d"   (given that Giancana himself was widely considered by mobsters and law enforcement to be an unstable homicidal maniac that's saying something) and Anthony Accardo, Ricca's friend and a former Capone driver/enforcer who was given the nickname "Joe Batters" by Capone for his savage prowess with a baseball bat.

These men and a few others would take over and lead the Outfit for decades. Russo pulls no punches. The book is extremely detailed and sourced. With books like this though you still have to take things with a grain of salt as the primary people of interest generally didn't keep diaries or talk to biographers. However if you are interested in the classic era of organized crime in America, give this a read.

Hard as Nails

by Dan Simmons

Hard as Nails is the third Joe Kurtz novel by the eclectic author Dan Simmons. The previous two were Hard Freeze and Hard Case but this one stands alone.

The protagonist, Joe Kurtz, is a Buffalo area former PI who has more than a little in common with such fictional heroes as Marlowe, Marv (from Sin City), Mike Hammer, or Burke. He is a former PI because as an ex-con he can't have a PI license. He is an ex-con because he did 11 years in Attica for killing a Mafia ranking member who murdered his partner. Once in prison he managed to make enemies of Black Muslims, white power types and of course organized crime adherents. But Kurtz is not so easy to kill.

As the book opens Kurtz is walking his parole officer to her car when both of them are shot. As Kurtz and his parole officer have any number of enemies with long memories the list of suspects is pretty large. And since Kurtz doesn't exactly have a pleasing personality there's not a lot of people willing to help him figure out who tried to have him murdered.

The list of possible suspects includes the feuding heads of two upstate NY mafia families, each of whom assure Kurtz that if they wanted him dead he would have been. Like any good noir hero Kurtz has his share of femme fatales, including a former girlfriend /police detective who wants to either arrest him or marry him and the aforementioned head of one of the Mafia groups (think Lucrezia Borgia as a young woman). Silly but fun, this book wasn't quite as good as the first two. 

Deathstalker Legacy, Deathstalker Return and Deathstalker Coda

by Simon Green

The British author Simon Green was a favorite author of mine but he's about run the string out here. He writes the literary equivalent of comfort food. You always know what you're going to get. It's fun but it's not overly challenging. In this trilogy he's become a little too repetitive. 

Green writes space opera. It's set millions of years in the future in which humanity is united under a single government (British derived of course) and has spread across the universe. There is peace, largely because a now legendary hero, Owen Deathstalker (subject of a previous and much better series) , led a great rebellion in which the corrupt Empress was overthrown. 

Now 200 years after Owen disappeared fighting an alien threat to humanity, his descendant Lewis is outlawed, at least in part because he's stolen the wife of his best friend and current King, Douglass. Unknown to Douglass, a man who was jealous of Lewis' position has set into motion plans to overthrow Douglass and take control of the Empire himself. And oh yes there is another threat to all life (human and alien) in the universe that only the disappeared and presumed dead Owen can deal with.

It's fun writing if you've never read Green before. The heroes are snarky and ironic. They ALWAYS have some fantastically and implausibly cool line to reel off to an enemy just before they wreck his day. The bad guys are suitably despicable. Green ALWAYS has rational male heroes and slightly more powerful, slightly more dangerous female heroines. 

He writes more strong female characters than any other male sci-fi/fantasy author I can cite. There are plenty of last stands, derring-do, plots within plots, double crosses, triple crosses, close calls and battles to the bitter end. You can virtually see the bad guys twirling their mustaches and hear them laughing evilly. Green writes books like old time radio serials. It's pulp fiction without all of the ugly associated racism, sexism or pro-colonialism. But if you've read Green before this will all seem recycled. And if heroes won't stay dead and can do thoroughly impossible things, how heroic are they really? 

If 6 were 9
by Jake Lamar

The title tries to capture the absurdity of much modern life in America, particularly when it comes to race. Jake Lamar is an author who knows how to do this in his sleep. This is a short novel that satirizes racial relations, the OJ trial, college professors, the media, black conservatives, law enforcement, liberals, and many other subjects.

Professor Clay Robinette gets a late night call from former friend and mentor, once militant but now ultra conservative Professor Reggie Brogus (think a mix of Eldridge Cleaver and Clarence Thomas) who needs Clay's help. There's a dead body in his office and he swears he has no idea how it got there. Against his better judgement, Clay decides to go see what's going on. As it turns out it's not just a dead body. It's a dead white woman. And not just any white woman, but Jennifer Wolfsheim, a former student of Clay's and his former mistress.
Brogus thinks he's been set up. Clay wonders just who's setting up whom. Nevertheless he helps Brogus cover things up and gives him a ride out of town. He will later regret this.

Of course things don't end there and almost immediately the ensuing investigation starts to pick up links between Jennifer and Clay. So Clay needs to find the "real killer" before the police-led by a woman of disturbing intelligence and indeterminate race whose presence drives Clay to distraction- decide he's the best suspect. The detective, Patsy DeFestina, doesn't miss much and is prone to blurting out things to the visibly nervous Clay like "Who knows? Maybe our killer was wearing a coat like yours."

Clay's investigation requires understanding the journey that Brogus took in life-from being a sixties black militant so scarily uncompromising, hateful and rhetorically violent that he was kicked out of other militant groups to becoming a lapdog black conservative who hawks barbeque sauce on late night ads. This is a bitterly funny book.

Hadrian's Wall

by William Dietrich

I liked The Scourge of God so I thought I'd give Hadrian's Wall a try. It's set a few years before the events in The Scourge of God but in the same setting-the late Roman empire. Dietrich is a good writer who's done his research and it shows. The book is chock full of interesting details about what the Romans and Celts and other peoples of the time were like-what they ate, how they worshipped, how their cultures and values differed. Hadrian's Wall was the fortification between Roman occupied Britainnia and the unconquered North of Scotland (Caledonia)

This story however didn't quite grab me as much. It's told from two points of view-that of a Roman "detective" for lack of a better word, who has come to Brittania after the book's events to find out what took place and the perspective of a Roman woman of astounding beauty, Valeria.

The Wall is under the new command of the harsh but fair Roman commander Galba. Galba has worked his way up through the ranks for the past two decades. He has fought everywhere along the Roman frontier. Just as he is formally promoted to command, Galba is told that he will not actually be in charge. Because of political requirements, actual command will pass to a true Roman noble, Marcus, who is richer and better connected than Galba, and more importantly a native Roman, unlike the Greek born Galba.  Marcus' career is ascending though he barely knows one end of a spatha from the other. To celebrate his new command, Marcus will marry Valeria, a Senator's daughter. The embittered Galba is advised to ensure that Marcus succeeds.

Valeria's arrival and marriage is noted by the Celtic clan leader Caractacus, a former Roman mercenary who has returned to his native land. Caractacus dreams of freeing all of Britain from Roman rule. He also has more carnal dreams when he is told of Valeria's beauty and promptly kidnaps her. Here the book starts to slide uncomfortably close to both romance novel and Dances With Wolves territory as the naive and biased Valeria finds that the Celts are not the brutal barbarians she thought they were and actually treat women much better than the strongly patriarchal Romans. The Celts have women warriors. The Celts keep no slaves. They free Valeria's handmaiden. They do not harm Valeria. She eagerly immerses herself in Celtic culture.

Though at first she is a captive of Caractacus it's soon very clear that the only bonds holding them together are those of love-at least on Caractacus' part. Valeria is more conflicted since she has feelings for Marcus, Caractacus, and to a certain extent Galba. Besotted by love or not though, Caractacus still intends to take the tribes to war. Valeria will need to decide which side is she on. I liked the opening and middle of this book.YMMV.  

NJ Gov. Chris Christie: Enough with the Sharia Law Crap Already!!! (VIDEO)

In this country of ours, we have this document known as the Constitution.  You might have heard of it.  It guarantees that, in this country, we will always have a republican form of government where the people - and not monarchs, religious rulers, or even religion itself - are in control of what happens here.  This is spelled out quite plainly in Article IV of our Constitution for anybody who cares to read it.  But who are we kidding - Americans don't read the Constitution!!!  Especially the staunch conservative Bible-belt Americans who love to drone on about how Muslims are plotting to take over our country by using "Sharia Law."  Republican Presidential Candidate Herman Cain has even gone so far as to say he would absolutely not appoint a Muslim judge to any court because he is afraid they will attempt to implement Sharia Law in America.

The Republican Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, apparently fed up with hearing about this Sharia Law propaganda from within his own party, hit back recently in response to his decision to appoint a Muslim judge to the bench:

Per yahoo news:

"Sharia law has nothing to do with this at all. It's crazy. It's crazy," Christie said at a press conference Wednesday. "The guy's an American citizen who has been an admitted lawyer to practice in the state of New Jersey, swearing an oath to uphold the laws of New Jersey, the constitution of the state of New Jersey, and the Constitution of the United States of America . . . .This Sharia law business is crap. It's just crazy. And I'm tired of dealing with the crazies."

QUESTIONS:
What are your thoughts on what Christie said?
What are your thoughts on the Sharia Law debate in general?

Hypocrisy at its Finest!

I am not a parent, but I understand the parent to child relationship to be a sacred one. I have god children, nieces and a nephew, whom I care about dearly and feel strongly enough for, that I would lie down on train tracks for them, if it meant they wouldn't have to suffer or be in harms way. I also know first hand the consequences of having a parent who didn't care enough about me and made reckless and selfish decisions, for their own self interests. I know first hand the ordeal that one parent must face, when the other decides to be irresponsible and not provide for the children. The job of a parent is to put their child or children FIRST at all times. Nothing should prevent you from being the best parent you can be and nothing should prevent you from going above and beyond for your child or children - BOTTOM-LINE! I have no sympathy and zero tolerance for deadbeat parents, in this case a dead beat dad. Pay your child support and if you can't do so, move mountains to make sure that you can.

US Congressman, Joe Walsh had these words for President Obama regarding the debt-ceiling debate.

"I won't place one more dollar of debt upon the backs of my kids and grandkids, unless we structurally reform, the way this town spends money."

So here we have Rep. Joe Walsh worried about the debt as it would apply to his children and future grandchildren. This is interesting coming from Rep. Walsh, since he owe's his wife more than $117K in child support, from a period where he claimed to be umemployed with no income or money to aide his ex-wife in supporting their children, but ironically had $35K to loan his campaign to run for congress.

Joe Walsh is a member of the Freshman Class of Tea-Party Republicans, who were swept into Congress to "restore fiscal sanity" to Washington. These members of the Republican Party, ride a platform of family values and often cite their children and grandchildren as reasoning for policy decisions. It seems that Joe Walsh is not qualified to define what fiscal sanity is and knows nothing about family values. According to a law suite filed by Walsh's ex-wife Laura Walsh, Joe owes her more than $117K in child support for a period dating November 2005 to December 2010. During this time, Walsh made partial or no payments. Prior to his election to Congress, Walsh states that he was unemployed and unable to make the agreed upon child support payments in full. According to Congressional Financial Disclosures, Walsh loaned his 2010 congressional campaign $35K and also paid himself back $14k for the loan. Where did Mr. Walsh get the $35K to loan his campaign and why did a congressional campaign take precedence over his children. Walsh also took a vacation with his companion to Italy and Mexico.

In court filings Laura Walsh's Attorney said:

"The apparent availability of large sums of money from either his employment, his family or his campaign has allowed him to live quite a comfortable lifestyle, while at the same time, due to his failure to pay child support or any of his share of the education costs or medical expenses, Laura and his children were denied any of these advantages."

The people of Illinois 8th Congressional District should be grateful, that Mr. Walsh has given them an accurate portrayal of his morals and character. Constituents across the country should also take a lesson and connect Mr. Walsh to his tea-party colleagues in Congress. The hypocrisy spreads across the tea-party caucus and should be taken seriously. How can we trust a member of Congress to represent their constituents and put the interests of the constituents above their own, when they won't even do the same for their children? My heart goes out to Laura Walsh, it's difficult to raise children without the help of the other parent.

If you were unemployed and behind on child support payments to your former spouse and had access to funds from other sources, would you finance a congressional run or give the money to your former spouse for your children?