Sunday, September 25, 2016

Like your .40 Caliber Pistol? Check this out!

I located the original video and have restored it for your education.  Conflict avoidance is the best way to survive.  Pumping a few shots into someone does not always incapacitate!  

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Mrs. Clinton or Barry Obama won't dare mention a word about this Hate Crime!

Charlotte, NC-- Rioting thugs beat, rob and strip naked an innocent white man in a parking garage.  When gun rights hating Liberals demand to know why Americans need large capacity magazines for their firearms this is exactly why.  It's unfortunate that some well armed citizen was not there to stop this cold. This was no protest but a racist insurrection by opportunistic and vile thugs. I see this as terrorism and a war crime.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Long Time TV Reporter Sues KTTV-TV FOX 11 In Los Angeles

Former KTTV-TV Investigative Reporter Chris Blatchford
Los Angeles, CA—He came from the Windy City.  He, Chris Blatchford landed in Los Angeles nearly a quarter century ago and became a mainstay of investigative television news reporting at the Local Fox affiliate, KTTV-TV.  He worked under the leadership of former news director Jose Rios for many years.  
In 2011 Rios retired and things began to change but not for the better when Kingsly Smith took over the news director’s job for two somewhat controversial years.  According to Blatchford’s  complaint, Smith attached himself to the stations legal analyst Robin Sax in an affair that apparently brought much more success to Ms. Sax’s career than to the news department.  Within two years Smith was replaced by the recently departed news director, Bill Mondona.
Kingsley Smith

Robin Sax


Things did not improve for Blatchford and he was placed on the fast track for apparent forced retirement.  Crappy assignments, a pay cut followed by not so subtle hostility from management.  It culminated with Blatchford getting canned in February of this year at age, 68.  
Accordingly,there are union issues and some tough California labor laws that may give Blatchford some needed protection. We must wait and see how this progresses.  The reality may be that Fox 11 will not want to have more of their soiled laundry on public display and quietly settle with Blatchford for some agreeable secret amount.  
I see this too often in TV news departments especially in recent years.  This may all be much more about economy with shrinking revenue and stations exiling older and higher paid people for inexperienced and less expensive youngsters.  In any event this is the nationwide somewhat ugly trend within news organizations.   

Carney Shegerian of Shegerian & Associates, is the lawyer handling the case and he issued this statement to Crimefile News:  “It’s an honor to represent Chris Blatchford in this clear cut case of age discrimination.  Mr. Blatchford is a legend in his field – hard-working and an inspiration to many of his colleagues. He remains one of the most vital and ethical investigative news journalists working today, as evidenced by his following and the awards he continues to receive for his work.  That he has essentially been ‘put out to pasture’ by Fox because of his age is reprehensible. Employers such as Fox must be made to understand that they simply cannot discriminate against or wrongfully terminate employees – not based on age – not for any reason.”

Attached is the actual Complaint filed in this matter:

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Second City Cop, a Great Blog Should Grow Into Video Literacy

Chicago, IL--Chicago cops are represented by the FOP as their collective bargaining agent.  They have lost more ground in recent years for their membership.  The city’s politicians have stolen, squandered and otherwise mismanaged Chicago’s revenue for decades creating a public safety funding nightmare.  

Chicago is the current murder capital of the United states and in the last nine months despite gun bans and draconian restrictions over 3,000 people have been shot here.

Nearly a decade ago with bloggers popping up Second City Cop was Born.  The site is hosted allegedly by a cop who has since retired. He or she has remained anonymous avoiding the wrath of angry police bosses and politicians.   
Second city has done well in calling out misguided management, biased police related media stories and corruption.  In many cases SCC has criticized the FOP for lack of leadership or courage in their representation of cops.  In Short SCC has held the city, lapdog media and FOP accountable for their non-stop mis-steps. 

SCC has also condemned the tireless and constant anti-police race baiting from the likes of Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina’s Church. Perhaps someday SCC can take a look into the funding of Pfleger’s activities and his personal enrichment through use or abuse of his donor’s funds. I suspect he can be easily exposed as a professional instigator. 

The SCC site receives tens of thousands of hits every day.  The readers are politicians, reporters, bureaucrats and of course Chicago’s cops.  The real story is found in the massive amount of reasonably screened comments they receive.   Beat cops are free to call attention to to police related issues they find troubling.  

SCC is not monetized through advertising I suspect to protect the host’s privacy.  That’s a shame because SCC would be raking in some real cash as a result.  I’d love to see SCC become video literate and perhaps employ a video journalist/retired cop to put embedded videos on the site.  A picture is worth a thousand words and video does so much more! 

Such a SCC reporter could bring balance to the propaganda some call journalism published and broadcast by local media/bedmates of Chicago’s despicable politicians. 

That video journalist could expose through public court records the criminal past’s and motives behind the career criminals that falsely accuse cops of brutality and other misconduct. That reporter could ask for tips and information from the public that would aid wrongfully accused cops in protecting their careers and pensions. 

Such a video journalist needs real TV news experience along with police training.  That VJ could attend City Council and Police Board meeting giving an inside video view of the shenanigans. I suspect that SCC has laid a great foundation to become a well-financed and best source for news about Chicago’s public safety issues.  


Monday, September 05, 2016

Starting an Internet News Network in your own backyard is really not that difficult a way to earn a living!

Los Angeles, CA—The Internet and today’s video technology has given us the ability to gather and report news with inexpensive equipment and just a little knowhow.  

This could be done with modern prosumer video equipment rather than the elitist stuff costing in the tens of thousands.  News video can even be gathered and edited with a modern iPhone. Of course you want the best quality your budget can handle.  You need watchable video and poor audio is inexcusable. 

The local stations here are fading fast into the Abyss of low viewership, minimal content and vanishing revenue.  Viewers and print news readers everywhere are abandoning the papers and TV news broadcasts for no-nonsense content on the Internet. Those seeking news can search and find news and information without the overpaid news readers and their mindless and often propagandized chit-chat. 

With streaming video a team of video journalists producers with a good assignment desk management team can put together the days news,  for re-playing 24/7.

Sports and weather should be a part of this only if its newsworthy.  Sports and weather sites could be created for those folks that need that at other sites. 

Like all news rooms, the assignment desk personnel monitor government, police and fire department activity.  They keep up with ongoing court cases and the public relations people that shamelessly peddle their self-serving crap for their clients. The assignment desk people decide whether to send reporters out to chase various news stories. 

The reporters will respond to news events like anyone in the news business.  They will gather video of action, interviews and happenings they will edit and package them into stories with time slots they deserve rather then strict time frames.  The key here is great storytelling content. 

If there are still broadcasters around that want to use our content, they can buy it!  

Important events can be live streamed but allowing politicians to drone on and on as is the current practice must end. The vile practice of kissing the government PIO’s asses in hopes of getting information must also end. Reporters making friends with cops out on the street should be encouraged. Frankly, if politicians want face time they can pay us for advertising!  

Reporters must learn or, re-learn how to access public records and find those people that know what’s going on to interview for their packages. 

Advertising and marketing should be handled by a crack traffic department. 

Instead of helicopters, camera drones should be deployed to gather video whereever possible at great savings. 

When the audience wants news, they can get it the way they want it. The content should be packaged by whatever time is necessary, not preset time traditionally set for television. 

There should be an investigative team for long form stories covering the usual extortion, theft, fraud, government mismanagement and the injustice that never stops. 

A news organization that deals exclusively with news does not have the $$$ millstone of broadcasting or paper-printing around it’s neck. 

An upstart website could become the number one local news source if operated correctly.  Do we really need mindless chit-chat in our news content?  Let’s hope our news consumption time is more valuable then most most TV news executives have guessed.  

I shot and edited the below story complete with a voiceover on my iPhone in minutes last December while in London.  I wanted to share my experience with the iconic London Eye Ferris Wheel overlooking the city.