Los Angeles, CA -My DJI Inspire 1 drone cost well over $3,000.00 extra batteries are well over $200.00 each.  Realistically you need several additional batteries if you plan to do any extended flying.   One of the batteries I purchased was only recharged seven times and somehow gave a "damaged cell" warning.  The battery is absolutely unusable.   Three DJI technical support calls later they told me to send it in with photos of all six sides of the battery with proof of purchase and I'd get a replacement.  Sounds simple!  Not so fast!  The date on the receipt Oct 2015 was not readable.  So they refused to send me the replacement.  Without a better copy of thr receipt I'm out of luck!  So now I'm supposed to kiss enough ass to get a better copy of the receipt from my dealer.  He's closed today so it will delay replacement assuming the dealer will generate another copy. My drone dealer is top notch in every way ...

LosAngeles, CA --instead of having a contest about the art of filmmaking, acting and soundtracks we now have a disgraceful political exercise, The Oscar Awards . The Olympic Games began as a way to unite people everywhere.  The common enjoyment of sports connected people with the  singleminded goal of excellence.   Instead of creating dividing issues with race, politics and religion the Olympics have brought people together. Likewise the art of entertainment should be a uniting force.  However the evil of division, hate and distrust has turned the Oscars into a political freak show. The participants now wear ribbons and bracelets and campaign for political crap that has nothing to do with art or entertainment.   Nobody benefits from divisive, abrasive or offensive political rhetoric, boycotts or blacklisting.  Those being offended the most are the ticket buying audience.  The only thing that should count at the Oscars are compelling stories told by t...

Los Angeles, CA- -As the final preparations are being made for Sunday's Oscar Awards Gala terrorism is a real possibility.  Terrorists love to create havoc during events that draw worldwide publicity. Having untrained minimum-wage earning workers in pseudo police garb is beyond silly.  Thankfully the LAPD will be out in force with every possible resource to deal with these issues.  I keep wondering when terrorists will employ mortars for assassination and terror within the USA? That may be old technology but teemed up with small computers those things would have amazing accuracy.  Air surveillance by helicopters or drones is  now more important than ever.  Our large shopping malls are perfect soft targets because they phased out armed security over 40 years ago.  Before everyone had a cell phone there was an advantage to mall guards with radios.  They could notify their office to call police to deal with problems.  Now anyone can make the ca...

I Los Angeles, CA --Last night I attended a screening of RACE at the Director's Guild Theater in Beverly Hills.  I was waiting and waiting to see my personal favorite actress, Carice van Houten playing Adolf Hitler's cinematographer, Leni Riefenstahl .     Riefenstahl was more than a filmmaker, she was an amazing artist that invented film equipment like jibes and cranes that are still in use today.  RACE was about the Berlin 1936 Olympic star athlete, Jessie Owens wonderfully played by a fine young actor, Stephan James.   The script by Anna Waterhouse and Joe Shrapnel was a historically correct, spellbinding masterpiece.   Actor, Jason Sudeikis rocked as Owen's coach, Larry Snyder .  The issues of racial differences and bigotry were overcome here by a simple conspiracy to make Owens the fastest man alive.  In 1936 while World War Two was still unthinkable the Nazis were rounding up and deporting Jews.  That atroc...

Los Angeles, CA --Kill them?  Not really but their jobs are meaningless.  They are overpaid, underworked and rarely are actually involved in creating news content.   The anchor smiles, personalities and emotional response to news content serves no purpose other than to create a subtitle propaganda influence on each story.  Celebrity anchors help shape the simple minds of viewers and the audience votes.  I don't think there's anyone that can't live without those rehearsed, TelePrompTer reading familiar news faces.  One of the silly games played are those phony anchor questions, tossed to the field reporters.  They are designed to sound candid but they're written by the reporters in a rather poor attempt to make the anchor sound involved with or at least interested in the story.  News, both broadcast and print is rapidly drowning in red ink.  The Internet is currently the real source for finding news content.  It's quick, easy and always o...

Los Angeles, CA--A judge here ordered Apple to aid the FBI in their investigation of the San Bernadino Terror case.  So far Apple has balked and is refusing to comply with the court order.  Giving the government the power to see the material on our cell-phones to combat terror is far more dangerous than any terrorist on earth.  This would truly be the THOUGHT POLICE Orwell warned us about. 

Aschaffenberg, Germany --it was December 1968 when after being drafted by the Army I wound up in this beautiful hamlet.  I was just about 15 miles from Frankfurt and was blessed to be assigned there as a medical corpsman. It was Christmas time and I was in a strange land far away from home.  I decided that since I was a guest in  this nation I'd act like one.  I was compelled to learn the customs, language and culture.  I stayed far away from fellow soldiers if for no other reason I liked the elegant German babes better.   I soon found that the German people were incredibly kind to me.  I made some wonderful new friends and got an education few Americans ever get.   The 18 months I spent in Germany  was the very best time of my life.  I traveled everywhere I could.  The money exchange rate was four Marks to the Dollar then. It was truly an adventure!  If I made a mistake it was not staying there an...

Big Bend, TX-- With the sudden death of Supreme Court Judge  Antonin Scalia we can count on Barack Obama to appoint a gun grabbing Communist to the court.  That would shift the court 180 degrees to the Left.  It remains to be seen if foul play was involved in Scalia's death however at 79 he reached life expectancy for males he was however considered in good health. My guess is we are a year away or less from a second Civil War as the Left will destroy our hard won freedom. We can try to wait and see but by then it will be too late.  Arguably any appointment could face delay by the Senate but should that happen the unrest will be severe.   Obama has prepared his Homeland Security just as Hitler did with his SS.  They've been given huge resources and more than a billion rounds of ammunition to use against guess who?  Internment camps are ready along with thousands of coffins for those that dare resist. I see absolute doom on the horizon.   Can Obama...

Oak Brook, IL --This Chicago suburb is the long time home of McDonald's headquarters.  The market share of this fast food icon has been slipping into the Abyss for the last decade.  Their schemes like 24 hour breakfast has done little.  Adding a few un-exciting menu items hasn't worked very well either.   I have the cure.  It's incredibly simple but I think corporate arrogance has prevented this kind of necessary menu reform.   McDonalds and burgers were matched from Ray Krock's grand idea.  This is six decades later and times and tastes have changed.  Frankly we need more choices today.   Rival fast food enterprise Burger King is not without similar problems and they just announced they are adding hot dogs.  The pictures of their new offerings make it clear they don't have a clue of how to do dogs! Ketchup on hotdogs is not fit for human consumption! Yes, that's what they're offering? Yuck! The big three hotdogs in ...

Los Angeles, CA--As California's politicians enact new protections and enablements for its criminals the results were to be expected.  As California arrogantly bucks the nationwide trend of reversing gun bans the crime rate here is going off the charts.  Police are unable to respond to even the more serious crimes in a timely fashion. So now even the cops and their union are telling people to pack heat.  Guns are just as necessary other pieces of safety equipment like seat belts or fire extinguishers.  Without them and some training you and your family's lives are more endangered.  For many decades after the invention of automobiles most people scoffed at the idea of wearing seat belts as unnecessary!  Statistics were clear that seat belts saved lives. Finally laws made using them mandatory.  You only need them if you get into an accident!  You only need a gun when criminals threaten you or a family member's life!  Your chances of being a cri...