Another One Bites The Dust

The World Truly Is A Nicer Place When Justice Prevails

And so now James "Whitey" Bulger is going to spend the rest of his life in jail. After years on the run, it seemed like Bulger would prove to be the one major crime figure who "got away" from law enforcement. He wasn't and he didn't.

Truth be told, however, we shouldn't be surprised. Big time criminals - those of the organized crime and narcotics variety, usually end up being taken down. Sometimes they find themselves behind bars, (John Gotti and Johnny Eng), sometimes they find themselves dead (Pablo Escobar), sometimes they find themselves in exile (Charles "Lucky" Luciano), and sometimes they find themselves hidden away by the government (Frank Lucas).

Nearly always, however, they find themselves far removed from the Olympian heights from which they once resided. In other words, mob bosses usually end up being failures. And that's how it should be. Gangsters are colorful characters, after all. People; especially young, impressionable people, need to see there's a flip side to the seemingly glamorous coin the media presents.

At the moment, the guilty verdict given down to Bulger today by a Boston jury is the top news story in America. It won't be for long. Other, more important matters will be back in the forefront by tomorrow, at the latest. It's nice to see the verdict made the headlines, though. For it will always be remembered as the fitting end to Bulger's bloody tale.

A Sample

The world's greatest cat is keeping her opinion to herself.

Okay, so my script, Hill 391, is out to powerhouse agency, Kaplan-Perrone. These guys have read my stuff before. They've always passed, but they've always been willing to read more. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing they must think there's something to my writing. Why else would they continue to be willing to give my stuff a shot?

Anyway, there's a lot more to getting your work out there than just getting it to the "right places." You've got to give your material some exposure. Which is exactly why I'm making a portion of Hill 391 available on this site today.

The script is a fictionalized account of the Puerto Rican members of the 65th Infantry Regiment - the famed Borinqueneers. Not only did these guys have to face racism, they had to fight like hell against the Chinese army in Korea.

Click on this link to read a sample. In these scenes, Colonel Emanuel Ramon and Major Felix Camacho are forced to deal with prejudice in the middle of an international war zone.

Hope y'all like it!

"The Great Gatsby" vs. "The Sun Also Rises" - Which Masterpiece Is THE Jazz-Age Novel?

Trust me on this...I know how to read.

I know, I know, The Great Gatsby is the quintessential 1920s novel. Only it isn't. That honor goes to Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. 

Look at it this way: The Great Gatsby could pretty much take place anytime, anywhere. It's basically a timeless treasure. The Sun Also Rises, on the other hand, is a novel strictly of its time and place. One can find Gatsby-size parties throughout the globe, for instance. Bullfighting, however, is pretty much restricted to parts of the Spanish speaking world.

What's more, Hemingway's masterpiece focuses on themes relative to the geographic and historic location of its narrative. While disillusionment, aimlessness, and the cloud of war may indeed haunt millions, the theme of Fitzgerald's opus - that of a longing for the past - is universal.

So why the mixup? Why is The Great Gatsby, rather than The Sun Also Rises, widely acclaimed as the jazz-age novel? For one thing, more people read Fitzgerald's classic than Hemingway's. The Great Gatsby is a high school staple. I can't say the same for The Sun Also Rises, although it clearly remains a hugely popular work.

Another problem is Fitzgerald himself. A full fledged celebrity during his youth, the author; along with his wife, Zelda, were the hot couple of the 1920s. By the time the 1930s rolled around, however, the duo was slipping from the spotlight. Fitzgerald was being marginalized by his alcoholism while Zelda was being marginalized by Schizophrenia.

Hemingway, on the other hand, was a celebrity most of his life. Not only was he well known in the 1920s, he was enormously famous until his death in the early 1960s. Most people see Hemingway as an aging man with a gray beard. Fitzgerald, however, appears in the public consciousness as a young, jazz-age success story.

Of course, none of this really matters in the end. Both The Great Gatsby and The Sun Also Rises are literary caviar and well deserving of their fame. If you're going to ornament a novel with a description, however, make sure that description is accurate.

What I've Learned From Being A Political Junkie

The World's Greatest Cat Is Unflappable In Her Political Opinions

Okay, I admit it, I'm a political junkie. What's more, I like being a political junkie. Stuff that in your hipster pipe and smoke it. I may not be in need of detox, like so many talking heads on cable, but I'm deeply interested with what our government is up to...and have been since I was young.

Most people aren't political junkies. That's fine. You don't have to be an addict in order to be a good citizen. You simply have to be informed. Still, being a political junkie really makes you aware of some fundamental truths. Sadly, however, most of those truths are pretty ugly.

Here's a few cold, hard facts I've learned about contemporary politics:

• Politicians Think You're Pretty Stupid. Ask yourself why elected officials regularly accuse people who aren't extreme of being extremists.

• Your Average Media Figure Has The Maturity Of A High School Junior. Ask yourself why favorable news coverage is generally given to the same people and causes that celebrities support on Twitter.

• Being A Politician Is No Walk In The Park. Ask yourself if you'd like to be insulted by aggrieved seniors every time you stepped into a supermarket.

• Most Politicians Aren't Evil.  Ask yourself if the vast majority of our elected officials really have no concern for the common good.

• Politicians Tend To Be Weak. Ask yourself why so many elected officials conveniently evolve on the issues. 

• We Really Need Congressional Term Limits. Ask yourself how much better off America would be if our leaders could actually stick to their beliefs. 

• Politicians and Media Types Love Power Words And Catch Phrases. Do we really need to have a comprehensive, balanced, national conversation about this?  

Too Much Of A Not-So-Good Thing

Maybe "Die Hard" is on again.

It's finally happened...movies have actually gotten too big. Don't believe me? Try checking out this summer's Man Of Steel. The entire last act has to do with buildings being destroyed. That's an entire act I'm talking about here - not a few effective scenes, a la Independence Day - an entire act. After a certain point I just wanted the flick to end. It kept on going, though, building after computer generated building.

Still, the public at large seems to love it. The movie is a huge hit, after all, just like all the insanely destructive Transformers flicks are. That doesn't mean these over the top movies are any good, though. It just means they're popular. The question, of course, is why?

One brave soul actually wrote online recently that he (or she) likes to pay to see garbage in the theater. What's more, this particular movie fan apparently accepts nothing less (or in this case, more) than over-the-top imagery, loud noises, and zero story. And you can pound sand if you don't like it.

Is this person, you may ask yourself, really in the majority?

Sadly enough, the answer may well be "yes." The fact of the matter is I have no idea why people prefer unending destruction in their movies these days. I myself was weaned on the likes of Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, two dudes who knew what it meant to destroy. Yet, big as they were, the action scenes of the 80s and 90s were scenes, not entire acts – and rarely were they presented as cataclysmic incidents.

And that's the point. The apocalypse is supposed to be a once in a universe event, not something which occurs two-to-four times in most every film. Excessiveness drains impact. Everyone used to know know that. Now only those of us who pretty much avoid the cinema seem to be aware of the truth.

Looks like I'll be watching cable again this weekend. 

Another Day, Another Genius Emerges

It's true - the world's greatest cat has more common sense than some writers out there.

Another day, another genius emerges from the woodwork. One Meghan Laslocky has appeared on CNNs website to argue that we should all pretty much stop thinking that monogamy is a good thing. Seriously. You can check out her piece right here.

Her arguments are fairly simple:

1. Humans - who are living to older and older ages these days - need variety!
2. Animals run around having sex with each other, so why shouldn't we?

I'm afraid her second argument isn't a joke. She actually points to the sex lives of various critters in order to show us the validity of her argument.

Here's what's really scary: although Ms. Laslocky's viewpoints might seem laughable at the moment, they're apt to pick up steam in our society over time. People love, love, LOVE it when some "trusted" source tells them it's okay to be less responsible. It's only natural to sigh and smile when someone tells you to take it easy, after all.

Problem is, there's some things out there one simply shouldn't be lax about. And monogamy is one of them. While it's true many relationships don't work, a successful relationship should always be the goal of both partners. Don't believe me? Ask the children of those bright individuals who have decided to leave monogamy behind in order to be "free," like the creatures in the forest.

Life isn't all about the self. Our decisions affect others.

Unless, of course, your name is Meghan Laslocky. Then, apparently, anything goes.  

Paula Deen And The New American Morality

Does liking a Paula Deen Recipe Make One A Racist?

Perhaps I'm just too easy going. I'm a die hard animal lover (my wife and I own the world's greatest cat, after all) yet I felt that Michael Vick should be free to play in the NFL after he finished serving his prison sentence. Many disagreed with me, of course, but, the way I saw it, he did the time for doing the crime and he deserved the opportunity to move on.

Now more than ever, though, Americans want their pound of  flesh. Paula Deen said some terrible things a long time ago, things she clearly regrets saying, but this country is simply not going to forgive her. Apparently it's better to give the woman a career death sentence than to just get on with life.

There's no two ways about it, we're living in the era of the New American Morality. This morality stands in stark contrast to, say, the the Judeo-Christian morality of old. For instance, when it comes to the New American Morality, one size does not fit all. Acceptable behavior generally depends on things like the individual's wealth, ethnicity and  political leanings. What's wrong for one person is right for another.

Also, the old adage of forgiving and forgetting is definitely out the window. There is no more heaven or hell for sinners. There is only hell. If you're on the wrong side of the social and political winds, you're held accountable for all past transgressions, no matter how you may feel about them now.

In case you haven't noticed, I find the New American Morality to be sheer idiocy. This is mainly because it has nothing to do with morality and everything to do with the dominate opinions of a particular time. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for instance, can threaten every Jew on the planet and still be invited to speak at our best universities. Ms. Deen, on the other hand, can expect to be treated as a pariah in her own country.

It's utter bullshit and you and I both know it.

The New American Morality may be embraced by our leaders and trendsetters, but it should be rejected by those of us who make up this country's populace. Ideas and norms thrive or die among the everyday people in this country, not among its most wealthy, popular and powerful. If we, the people, reject a philosophy, then that philosophy holds no weight whatsoever. Period.

It's time to make the New American Morality a thing of the past.