Mark Saha's Blog, page 4
January 20, 2019
GREEN BOOK
GREEN BOOK is my pick for best movie of the year. The true story of an Italian bouncer from the Bronx hired to act as chauffeur/ bodyguard for a black classical pianist on a concert tour of the deep South in 1962. This thoroughly enjoyable ride gives hope for a path of escape from not just racism but other dark forces that divide us as well. A movie that lifts the spirit and gives cause for hope.
November 17, 2018
Amanda Knox Engagement Video
Ms. Knox is engaged. Good for her! Novelist Chris Robinson's imaginative proposal was captured on video and posted by the couple.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wmex...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wmex...
October 18, 2018
22 JULY
This drama by director Paul Greengrass depicts the infamous 2011 massacre in Norway and its aftermath. I saw this at a screening in LA with director Greengrass in attendance for a Q&A afterward and thought it extremely worthwhile. It will be hard to find since the director says it will only appear in about 200 theaters, but will be available on Netflex (the producer).
Some may remember in incident in 2011. From Wikipedia:
“The 2011 Norway attacks, referred to in Norway as 22 July (Norwegian: 22. juli), ] the date of the events, were two sequential lone wolf terrorist attacks by Anders Behring Breivik against the government, the civilian population, and a Workers' Youth League (AUF) summer camp. 77 people were killed.
“The first attack was a car bomb explosion in Oslo within Regjeringskvartalet, the executive government quarter of Norway, at 15:25:22. … The explosion killed eight people and injured at least 209 people, twelve seriously. … The second attack occurred less than two hours later at a summer camp on the island of Utøya in Tyrifjorden, Buskerud. Breivik, dressed in a homemade police uniform and showing false identification, took a ferry to the island and opened fire at the participants, killing 69 and injuring at least 110, 55 seriously.
“Breivik’s trial took place between 16 April and 22 June 2012 in Oslo District Court, where Breivik admitted carrying out the attacks, but denied criminal guilt and claimed the defense of necessity (jus necessitatis)…. Breivik was convicted as charged and sentenced to 21 years of preventive detention in prison, the maximum sentence allowed in Norway. The sentence can be extended indefinitely as long as the prisoner is deemed a threat to society.”
Greengrass’ film covers the attacks and subsequent trial with a riveting dispassionate style that largely leaves viewers to pass judgment and blame. There is some suggestion Norwegian intelligence failed to detect the scheme because they were focused on Islamic extremists rather than the European right.
Greengrass’ comments at the screening focused on Breivik’s perception that traditional Norwegian (and European) cultures were being erased by an onslaught of immigration sponsored by left wing European democracies. The director sees this shift toward populism, fascism and anti-immigration as a growing sentiment in Europe especially (but discretely declined to comment on the U.S.), about which he is deeply concerned. He says that his father, who is 94 and fought in WW II, commented that he never expected to see such movements again in his lifetime.
The wide ranging film follows the surviving victims, the government struggling to discover what happened and how to prevent a reoccurrence, and the trial. Breivik is a chilling presence who shows neither remorse nor humanity from start to finish. He is confident that he is acting on behalf of millions who share his beliefs; his stated intention is overthrow of the liberal democratic government, and replacement with a fascist one that will preserve the nation’s culture and race.
Probably not many have even heard of this picture but it is worth a look. Unfortunately, the Netflix trailer fails to convey its quality. It is definitely worth your time.
Some may remember in incident in 2011. From Wikipedia:
“The 2011 Norway attacks, referred to in Norway as 22 July (Norwegian: 22. juli), ] the date of the events, were two sequential lone wolf terrorist attacks by Anders Behring Breivik against the government, the civilian population, and a Workers' Youth League (AUF) summer camp. 77 people were killed.
“The first attack was a car bomb explosion in Oslo within Regjeringskvartalet, the executive government quarter of Norway, at 15:25:22. … The explosion killed eight people and injured at least 209 people, twelve seriously. … The second attack occurred less than two hours later at a summer camp on the island of Utøya in Tyrifjorden, Buskerud. Breivik, dressed in a homemade police uniform and showing false identification, took a ferry to the island and opened fire at the participants, killing 69 and injuring at least 110, 55 seriously.
“Breivik’s trial took place between 16 April and 22 June 2012 in Oslo District Court, where Breivik admitted carrying out the attacks, but denied criminal guilt and claimed the defense of necessity (jus necessitatis)…. Breivik was convicted as charged and sentenced to 21 years of preventive detention in prison, the maximum sentence allowed in Norway. The sentence can be extended indefinitely as long as the prisoner is deemed a threat to society.”
Greengrass’ film covers the attacks and subsequent trial with a riveting dispassionate style that largely leaves viewers to pass judgment and blame. There is some suggestion Norwegian intelligence failed to detect the scheme because they were focused on Islamic extremists rather than the European right.
Greengrass’ comments at the screening focused on Breivik’s perception that traditional Norwegian (and European) cultures were being erased by an onslaught of immigration sponsored by left wing European democracies. The director sees this shift toward populism, fascism and anti-immigration as a growing sentiment in Europe especially (but discretely declined to comment on the U.S.), about which he is deeply concerned. He says that his father, who is 94 and fought in WW II, commented that he never expected to see such movements again in his lifetime.
The wide ranging film follows the surviving victims, the government struggling to discover what happened and how to prevent a reoccurrence, and the trial. Breivik is a chilling presence who shows neither remorse nor humanity from start to finish. He is confident that he is acting on behalf of millions who share his beliefs; his stated intention is overthrow of the liberal democratic government, and replacement with a fascist one that will preserve the nation’s culture and race.
Probably not many have even heard of this picture but it is worth a look. Unfortunately, the Netflix trailer fails to convey its quality. It is definitely worth your time.
October 11, 2018
Satanism and Amanda Knox
This is something I originally posted on the WGA related chat board “Writer Action” some time back, and came across while cleaning out my desktop…
Satanism and Amanda Knox
Italian misogyny’s theological dimension is even more disturbing -- it is a not an uncommon belief that young girls on the cusp of womanhood are especially prone to Satan worship. The Vatican’s Squadra Anti Sette (SAS) works with police to identify sects as the motive for young people to do evil.
(1) NEWSWEEK: Barbi Nadeau – 21 March 2009
Last month in Perugia, police investigated four satanic-ritual break-ins, including one at the sealed scene of the 2007 murder of U.K. student Meredith Kercher.
Police have noticed such a sharp increase in satanic-ritual crimes that they've started bringing priests along to help decipher crime scenes. The Vatican's Squadra Anti Sette, or antisect police force, has been around since 2006, but in the past year its numbers have doubled. "Satanic sects are proliferating," says the Vatican's chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, who has trained nearly 300 priests to perform exorcisms in Italy.
https://www.newsweek.com/vatican-help...
(2) From Nina Burleigh (Fatal Gift of Beauty, p. 213) --
Mignini always included witch fear in his murder theory, and only reluctantly relinquished it. As late as October 2008, a year after the murder, he told a court that the murder:
“…was premeditated and was in addition a ‘rite’ celebrated on the occasion of the night of Halloween. A sexual and sacrificial rite [that] in the intention of the organizers … should have occurred 24 hours earlier” – on Halloween – “but on account of a dinner at the house of horrors, organized by Meredith and Amanda’s Italian flatmates, it was postponed for one day. The presumed assassins contented themselves with the evening of 1 November to perform their do-it-yourself rite, when for some hours it would again be the night of All Saints.”
Eventually, Mignini’s number two, the chain-smoking, no-nonsense Manuela Comodi, persuaded him to drop the references to Satanism But no one forgot about it, not the jury, not the judge, not the press, not the Perugians, not the court spectators, who could never look at Amanda and Raffaele without wondering whether a whiff of sulfur surrounded them. – Nina Burleigh
(3) From official court transcripts, some of the names Knox was called at trial by the prosecutors, and by civil attorneys representing the Kercher family and Patrick Lumumba:
Luciferina, She-Devil, Whore, Witch, Angel Face, Diavola (she devil), Temptress, Lilith, Jezebel, Slut, Half Demon, Dirty inside and out, Diabolical, Party Girl, Evil, Violent, Dangerous, Jealous, Mean, Uncaring, Evil incarnate, Compulsive liar, Evil Fox, Sex crazed killer, Lesbian, Icicle Eyes, Graphomaniac, Demonic, Satanic, Diabolical She Devil, Promiscuous, Witch of Deception, (wears a) Mask of Deception, Mask of an imposter, Cunning, Muddy on the outside, Dirty on the inside, Actress, Likes hot wild sex, Histrionic, Face of a naive doll, Slovenly, coming from a family of Nazi propagandists, Spell casting witch, virtuoso of deception, dissolute, Half Maria Goretti, Half Demon.
(4) Prosecutor Mignini’s closing argument to the jury:
Prosecutor Mignini speculates on the basis of nothing:
“For Amanda, the moment had come to take revenge on that simpering girl, that’s how she thought, and in a crescendo of threats and violence, which grew and grew, the siege on Mez began. By now the unstoppable game of violence and sex. The aggressors initially threatened her and demanded her submission to the hard-core sex game. It’s easy to imagine Amanda, angry at the British girl for her increasing criticism of Amanda’s sexual easiness, reproaching Mez for her reserve. Let’s try to imagine—she insulted her. Perhaps she said, ‘You were a little saint. Now we’ll show you. Now you have not choice but to have sex.’”
Satanism and Amanda Knox
Italian misogyny’s theological dimension is even more disturbing -- it is a not an uncommon belief that young girls on the cusp of womanhood are especially prone to Satan worship. The Vatican’s Squadra Anti Sette (SAS) works with police to identify sects as the motive for young people to do evil.
(1) NEWSWEEK: Barbi Nadeau – 21 March 2009
Last month in Perugia, police investigated four satanic-ritual break-ins, including one at the sealed scene of the 2007 murder of U.K. student Meredith Kercher.
Police have noticed such a sharp increase in satanic-ritual crimes that they've started bringing priests along to help decipher crime scenes. The Vatican's Squadra Anti Sette, or antisect police force, has been around since 2006, but in the past year its numbers have doubled. "Satanic sects are proliferating," says the Vatican's chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, who has trained nearly 300 priests to perform exorcisms in Italy.
https://www.newsweek.com/vatican-help...
(2) From Nina Burleigh (Fatal Gift of Beauty, p. 213) --
Mignini always included witch fear in his murder theory, and only reluctantly relinquished it. As late as October 2008, a year after the murder, he told a court that the murder:
“…was premeditated and was in addition a ‘rite’ celebrated on the occasion of the night of Halloween. A sexual and sacrificial rite [that] in the intention of the organizers … should have occurred 24 hours earlier” – on Halloween – “but on account of a dinner at the house of horrors, organized by Meredith and Amanda’s Italian flatmates, it was postponed for one day. The presumed assassins contented themselves with the evening of 1 November to perform their do-it-yourself rite, when for some hours it would again be the night of All Saints.”
Eventually, Mignini’s number two, the chain-smoking, no-nonsense Manuela Comodi, persuaded him to drop the references to Satanism But no one forgot about it, not the jury, not the judge, not the press, not the Perugians, not the court spectators, who could never look at Amanda and Raffaele without wondering whether a whiff of sulfur surrounded them. – Nina Burleigh
(3) From official court transcripts, some of the names Knox was called at trial by the prosecutors, and by civil attorneys representing the Kercher family and Patrick Lumumba:
Luciferina, She-Devil, Whore, Witch, Angel Face, Diavola (she devil), Temptress, Lilith, Jezebel, Slut, Half Demon, Dirty inside and out, Diabolical, Party Girl, Evil, Violent, Dangerous, Jealous, Mean, Uncaring, Evil incarnate, Compulsive liar, Evil Fox, Sex crazed killer, Lesbian, Icicle Eyes, Graphomaniac, Demonic, Satanic, Diabolical She Devil, Promiscuous, Witch of Deception, (wears a) Mask of Deception, Mask of an imposter, Cunning, Muddy on the outside, Dirty on the inside, Actress, Likes hot wild sex, Histrionic, Face of a naive doll, Slovenly, coming from a family of Nazi propagandists, Spell casting witch, virtuoso of deception, dissolute, Half Maria Goretti, Half Demon.
(4) Prosecutor Mignini’s closing argument to the jury:
Prosecutor Mignini speculates on the basis of nothing:
“For Amanda, the moment had come to take revenge on that simpering girl, that’s how she thought, and in a crescendo of threats and violence, which grew and grew, the siege on Mez began. By now the unstoppable game of violence and sex. The aggressors initially threatened her and demanded her submission to the hard-core sex game. It’s easy to imagine Amanda, angry at the British girl for her increasing criticism of Amanda’s sexual easiness, reproaching Mez for her reserve. Let’s try to imagine—she insulted her. Perhaps she said, ‘You were a little saint. Now we’ll show you. Now you have not choice but to have sex.’”
October 4, 2018
Amanda Knox attorney looks back
Amanda knox attorney Carlo Dalla Vedova is interviewed on Legal Talk (Chicago) on the anniversary of Knox’s release from prison in 2011.
Carlo Dalla Vedora is fluent enough in English, but sometimes struggles to comprehend or explain his intentions correctly. The main point is Amanda was immediately suspected, and arrested in 4 days, because she was Meredith’s roommate, and because there was enormous pressure on police to quickly solve this murder of a student in a small town economically dependent on foreign students attending its universities. His expression, “A big event (murder) requires a big response (a quick arrest)" intends to convey this.
He only briefly touches on Italy’s cultural fascination with Satanism, and the belief young girls on the cusp on womanhood are prone to it, as reason to immediately suspect her of the murder and to speculate on the basis of nothing about a "sex orgy gone wrong”.
Surprisingly Della Vedova misremembers some details: Amanda was present but down the hall with Raffaele when the door was broken to enter Meredith’s room. Amanda could not see inside. Her roommate Filomina apparently could, and saw a foot protruding from the duvet on the floor, and cried out, “A foot! A foot!” Amanda heard this and somehow imagined Meredith had been stuffed into a closet with only her foot protruding. She told others this, and it was held against her as “something only the killer would know,” though of course it was absurdly false.
Della Vedova also (unintentionally) appears at first to agree with Rudy Guede that the latter picked up Meredith in a bar and took her home to have sex. He intends to agree only that this was Rudy’s story – and it was totally absurd -- as later becomes clear.
Another omission is that Amanda and Raffael were acquitted without remand (to a lower court for retrial) only because Raffael’s attorney requested this. A remand without retrial was so unprecedented that Della Vedora only asked the court to overturn the conviction and remand to retrial. Raffael’s attorney arrogantly demanded the students be acquitted without remand; and amazingly – because this was requested – the supreme court had that option.
-- Mark Saha
October 3 2018
ON THE BAR
Legal Talk Network
In this episode, hosts Jon Amarilio and Trisha Rich speak with Amanda Knox’s lead Italian defense lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, and her media consultant, Alex Guittieres, getting a behind-the-scenes look at the trial that gripped the world.
https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts...
Carlo Dalla Vedora is fluent enough in English, but sometimes struggles to comprehend or explain his intentions correctly. The main point is Amanda was immediately suspected, and arrested in 4 days, because she was Meredith’s roommate, and because there was enormous pressure on police to quickly solve this murder of a student in a small town economically dependent on foreign students attending its universities. His expression, “A big event (murder) requires a big response (a quick arrest)" intends to convey this.
He only briefly touches on Italy’s cultural fascination with Satanism, and the belief young girls on the cusp on womanhood are prone to it, as reason to immediately suspect her of the murder and to speculate on the basis of nothing about a "sex orgy gone wrong”.
Surprisingly Della Vedova misremembers some details: Amanda was present but down the hall with Raffaele when the door was broken to enter Meredith’s room. Amanda could not see inside. Her roommate Filomina apparently could, and saw a foot protruding from the duvet on the floor, and cried out, “A foot! A foot!” Amanda heard this and somehow imagined Meredith had been stuffed into a closet with only her foot protruding. She told others this, and it was held against her as “something only the killer would know,” though of course it was absurdly false.
Della Vedova also (unintentionally) appears at first to agree with Rudy Guede that the latter picked up Meredith in a bar and took her home to have sex. He intends to agree only that this was Rudy’s story – and it was totally absurd -- as later becomes clear.
Another omission is that Amanda and Raffael were acquitted without remand (to a lower court for retrial) only because Raffael’s attorney requested this. A remand without retrial was so unprecedented that Della Vedora only asked the court to overturn the conviction and remand to retrial. Raffael’s attorney arrogantly demanded the students be acquitted without remand; and amazingly – because this was requested – the supreme court had that option.
-- Mark Saha
October 3 2018
ON THE BAR
Legal Talk Network
In this episode, hosts Jon Amarilio and Trisha Rich speak with Amanda Knox’s lead Italian defense lawyer, Carlo Dalla Vedova, and her media consultant, Alex Guittieres, getting a behind-the-scenes look at the trial that gripped the world.
https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts...
September 29, 2018
Books that mattered to me …
If I had to pick one novel that most impressed me it has to be War and Peace, though it takes some work to appreciate it. What I admired most was the breadth of human experience about which he wrote so intimately and well. Tolstoy served in the Crimean War and used that experience to write like Hemingway, bringing a sense of absolute realty to the combat portions. (Hemingway in boasting of writers he had beat, grudgingly admitted “I didn’t beat the Russians.”) Those who read accounts of Napoleon’s invasion of Russia will know the snapshots in Tolstoy’s story are not random but taken from specific actual events in the chronology. But he wrote with equal ability of family; a personal favorite moment is young Natasha attending the opera in Moscow at sixteen. She is so dazzled that she shakes with excitement and flushes with embarrassment but, Tolstoy writes, is unaware it is those very qualities that wins the hearts of Muscovites and make her the talk of the evening. We see her grow from a mischievous and intelligent child into an adult mother with thoroughly conventional views, which is a little sad. But it is this distance between war and peace and his ability to write of each with insight that impressed me.
I liked Scott Fitzgerald’s prose but notice (or imagine I do) how his experience in Hollywood affected it. His early works (e.g., “The Offshore Pirate”) seem to me a poet boldly writing in prose. The movies made him into more of an empiricist, telling the story in more conventional terms of what we see and what people say. “Tender is the Night” frustrates me because it might have been his best work, but is clearly marred by his drinking and struggle with Zelda’s breakdown. There is a Hollywood screenwriter who claims he actually wrote small portions of it, when Scott called him over in the middle of the night to try to make sense of passages which had become hopelessly confused. Scott’s “Basil and Josephine” stories won my heart shamelessly, and “The Pat Hobby Stories” are quite insightful about Hollywood under the studio system.
Somerset Maugham’s “Of Human Bondage” deeply affected me in undergraduate days as a study of how little we control when, how, and with whom we fall in love. I was disappointed by his attempt to depict young Philip as intellectual by having him study philosophy. It seemed obvious to me Maugham had merely consulted a few standard philosophy texts to extract “famous quotes” by “great philosophers”; there is nothing critical or original in Philip’s grappling with the subject to suggest his understanding is more than rote and superficial. Looking back, it was probably unfair of me to find this so annoying in a book that otherwise taught me much about life.
Charles Mackay’s “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” (1841) hugely influenced me in college, and persuaded me there is nothing so fantastic that someone somewhere will not believe it. In addition to the spectacular lunacies such as witchcraft and the Crusades, he explores mundane silliness like “the politics of hair and beard” and slang expressions that come and go in the cities -- in his day, “quoz” and “there he goes with his eye out.” This book is public domain so finding an unabridged copy can be a challenge. Many editions are edited to include only financial hysterias as a cautionary tale for investors, but do not warn the buyer of substantial omissions.
William Lecky’s “Rise of Rationalism in Europe” (1865) is a more scholarly companion to Mackay. Lecky concludes that once a hysteria takes off on a rip (e.g., the witch mania), it is immune to reason, but eventually burns out when people simply lose interest. He points out that abundant evidence for existence of witches has never been disproven -- authority of scripture, eye-witness accounts, signed confessions, transcripts of court testimony, etc. Today, Lecky writes, people simply no longer think such evidence worth considering.
Russell’s “History of Western Philosophy” influenced me because he does not simply treat the views of various philosophers in the abstract, but places each in his own time to expose ulterior motives that influenced his thinking. This originated as a series of lectures for art students at the Barnes Institute, and reads more like lectures in its presentation than material laid out for a book.
I liked Scott Fitzgerald’s prose but notice (or imagine I do) how his experience in Hollywood affected it. His early works (e.g., “The Offshore Pirate”) seem to me a poet boldly writing in prose. The movies made him into more of an empiricist, telling the story in more conventional terms of what we see and what people say. “Tender is the Night” frustrates me because it might have been his best work, but is clearly marred by his drinking and struggle with Zelda’s breakdown. There is a Hollywood screenwriter who claims he actually wrote small portions of it, when Scott called him over in the middle of the night to try to make sense of passages which had become hopelessly confused. Scott’s “Basil and Josephine” stories won my heart shamelessly, and “The Pat Hobby Stories” are quite insightful about Hollywood under the studio system.
Somerset Maugham’s “Of Human Bondage” deeply affected me in undergraduate days as a study of how little we control when, how, and with whom we fall in love. I was disappointed by his attempt to depict young Philip as intellectual by having him study philosophy. It seemed obvious to me Maugham had merely consulted a few standard philosophy texts to extract “famous quotes” by “great philosophers”; there is nothing critical or original in Philip’s grappling with the subject to suggest his understanding is more than rote and superficial. Looking back, it was probably unfair of me to find this so annoying in a book that otherwise taught me much about life.
Charles Mackay’s “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” (1841) hugely influenced me in college, and persuaded me there is nothing so fantastic that someone somewhere will not believe it. In addition to the spectacular lunacies such as witchcraft and the Crusades, he explores mundane silliness like “the politics of hair and beard” and slang expressions that come and go in the cities -- in his day, “quoz” and “there he goes with his eye out.” This book is public domain so finding an unabridged copy can be a challenge. Many editions are edited to include only financial hysterias as a cautionary tale for investors, but do not warn the buyer of substantial omissions.
William Lecky’s “Rise of Rationalism in Europe” (1865) is a more scholarly companion to Mackay. Lecky concludes that once a hysteria takes off on a rip (e.g., the witch mania), it is immune to reason, but eventually burns out when people simply lose interest. He points out that abundant evidence for existence of witches has never been disproven -- authority of scripture, eye-witness accounts, signed confessions, transcripts of court testimony, etc. Today, Lecky writes, people simply no longer think such evidence worth considering.
Russell’s “History of Western Philosophy” influenced me because he does not simply treat the views of various philosophers in the abstract, but places each in his own time to expose ulterior motives that influenced his thinking. This originated as a series of lectures for art students at the Barnes Institute, and reads more like lectures in its presentation than material laid out for a book.
June 24, 2018
DEMISE OF PERUGIA MURDER FILE
The Amanda Knox hate site Perugia Murder File appears to have slipped quietly into the night. The link is dead:
[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/functions.php on line 3777: require(./ads/functions.php) [function.require]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory
[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/functions.php on line 3777: require(./ads/functions.php) [function.require]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory
[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/functions.php on line 3777: require(./ads/functions.php) [function.require]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory
Fatal error: require() [function.require]: Failed opening required './ads/functions.php' (include_path='.:/opt/php52/lib/php') in /home1/michael/public_html/includes/functions.php on line 3777
I posted a comment about this milestone on the Friends of Amanda site “Injustice in Perugia”:
One of the great mysteries of this case to me is why prosecutors and police would chose Canadian psychic Naseer Ahmed [Perugia Murder File] and New Jersey eccentric Peter Quennel [TJMK] to argue their case in the court of public opinion, and supply them with volumes of legal documents (including some English translations). Quennel shared a communication with Mignini on the Knox documentary so we know they spoke directly. John Kercher in "Meredith" endorses True Justice and thanks the anonymous lawyers in both Italy and America who provided translations.
Andrea Vogt and Barbi Nadeau's motives in working with prosecution and police at least make sense. Both were seeking to use a hot story to advance budding careers in journalism. [Vogt produced the official BBC documentary on the case and the 30 minute Lifetime documentary included as a special feature in their DVD “Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy.” Both use discredited misinformation and factual falsehoods that Vogt obtained from the prosecution and refuses to correct.]
But the enormous effort on the part of "anonymous Italian and American lawyers" (Kercher) to turn world opinion against Knox is more curious. The motive is unclear. One senses Mignini and the police were in a desperate scramble to save face after their "case closed" press conference was followed by the inconvenient appearance of Rudy Guede. It would appear they either had the good fortune to discover or else helped create and support these outlets for their propaganda. My sense is there's a huge untold story about TJMK and PMF that is yet to be revealed.
McGirr of Belfast responded to my post:
Injustice Anywhere [Injustice in Perugia] is also a mystery and it's main function was the Amanda Knox case. Whether that was it's sole function remains to be seen. I think that IA may be in the same vain as TJMK and PMF in that Injustice anywhere also has the same mysterious background connections and I think that people like myself and others who do work with and care about miscarriages of justice help give Injustice anywhere a greater legitimacy than say TJMK and PMF could ever have.
My response to McGirr:
If Injustice Anywhere is a mystery to you, it is only because you are too lazy or curious to find out about it.
Friends of Amanda was a grassgroots organization started by Seattle residents -- including local judge Michael Heavey and local attorney Anne Bremmer. Many of these knew Amanda when she was growing up there. They were astonished that she had been arrested as a satanic killer slut scarcely six weeks after she entered Italy. This wasn't the person they knew, and for them the charges were absurd on their face. They did not have access to the legal documents and translations which "anonymous Italian lawyers" showered upon TJMK and Perugia Murder File. TJMK has posted email exchages directly with Prosecutor Mignini and others. FOA's only communication with him of which I am aware is Mignini's lawsuit against the Seattle Hearld for quoting Anne Bremmer's opinion that Mignini is "mentally unbalanced".
Journalist Nina Burleigh wrote of Peter Quennell (TIME 3/29/13):
Researching my 2011 book on the Knox case [The Fatal Gift of Beauty] […] I sat down with TJMK founder Peter Quennell, who has always claimed he started the site to make sure that no one forgot the victim. A stout, ruddy Englishman living in New Jersey, he had been holding out the carrot of introducing me to the elusive Kercher family. He seemed vastly knowledgeable and connected. At the time, I also believed that Amanda Knox could be, indeed, a Charles Manson behind a pretty face. After a month in Italy doing reporting, however, I realized that some of the “facts” on Quennell’s website didn’t seem to be in the police record in Italy. I emailed him to ask where he had found out that Knox and Sollecito met police standing outside the murder house with a mop and bucket in hand. That damning incident was nowhere in the record, not even the prosecutor would confirm it, nor had Italy’s Polizia Scientifica ever tested such items, which would surely have offered up some useful DNA evidence, had they been used to clean blood. Quennell then accused me by email of being on the Knox family payroll, informed me that his sources in Perugia had seen me consorting with Amanda’s mother (I had in fact met with her once, in a public place, by then) and eventually started writing about how he was going to “train his scope” on my apartment in Manhattan, and closing emails with “how are the kiddies?”
Naseer Ahmad aka Ergon aka ManFromAtlan of Peruga Murder File is a Canadian psychic who claims to be Jesus Christ incarnate who traveled to earth from the planet Atlan.
How you can equate these nutcases with Friends of Amanda is beyond me. They are the people Prosecutor Mignini and "anonymous lawyers" in Perugia chose to favor with "inside information", and whom John Kercher thanks in his book "Meredith" for keeping him "informed of the facts."
Injustice Anywhere is a wider organization that grew from FOA and Injustice in Perugia and among several such organizations. I have seen them cite many examples of false accusation and false convictions, but never have they argued that one false conviction proves another in a different case. Some of these people have solid forensic or other scientific backgrounds.
See the PBS video "The Norfolk Four" for a classic example of both false accusations and false confessions:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...
[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/functions.php on line 3777: require(./ads/functions.php) [function.require]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory
[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/functions.php on line 3777: require(./ads/functions.php) [function.require]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory
[phpBB Debug] PHP Notice: in file /includes/functions.php on line 3777: require(./ads/functions.php) [function.require]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory
Fatal error: require() [function.require]: Failed opening required './ads/functions.php' (include_path='.:/opt/php52/lib/php') in /home1/michael/public_html/includes/functions.php on line 3777
I posted a comment about this milestone on the Friends of Amanda site “Injustice in Perugia”:
One of the great mysteries of this case to me is why prosecutors and police would chose Canadian psychic Naseer Ahmed [Perugia Murder File] and New Jersey eccentric Peter Quennel [TJMK] to argue their case in the court of public opinion, and supply them with volumes of legal documents (including some English translations). Quennel shared a communication with Mignini on the Knox documentary so we know they spoke directly. John Kercher in "Meredith" endorses True Justice and thanks the anonymous lawyers in both Italy and America who provided translations.
Andrea Vogt and Barbi Nadeau's motives in working with prosecution and police at least make sense. Both were seeking to use a hot story to advance budding careers in journalism. [Vogt produced the official BBC documentary on the case and the 30 minute Lifetime documentary included as a special feature in their DVD “Amanda Knox: Murder on Trial in Italy.” Both use discredited misinformation and factual falsehoods that Vogt obtained from the prosecution and refuses to correct.]
But the enormous effort on the part of "anonymous Italian and American lawyers" (Kercher) to turn world opinion against Knox is more curious. The motive is unclear. One senses Mignini and the police were in a desperate scramble to save face after their "case closed" press conference was followed by the inconvenient appearance of Rudy Guede. It would appear they either had the good fortune to discover or else helped create and support these outlets for their propaganda. My sense is there's a huge untold story about TJMK and PMF that is yet to be revealed.
McGirr of Belfast responded to my post:
Injustice Anywhere [Injustice in Perugia] is also a mystery and it's main function was the Amanda Knox case. Whether that was it's sole function remains to be seen. I think that IA may be in the same vain as TJMK and PMF in that Injustice anywhere also has the same mysterious background connections and I think that people like myself and others who do work with and care about miscarriages of justice help give Injustice anywhere a greater legitimacy than say TJMK and PMF could ever have.
My response to McGirr:
If Injustice Anywhere is a mystery to you, it is only because you are too lazy or curious to find out about it.
Friends of Amanda was a grassgroots organization started by Seattle residents -- including local judge Michael Heavey and local attorney Anne Bremmer. Many of these knew Amanda when she was growing up there. They were astonished that she had been arrested as a satanic killer slut scarcely six weeks after she entered Italy. This wasn't the person they knew, and for them the charges were absurd on their face. They did not have access to the legal documents and translations which "anonymous Italian lawyers" showered upon TJMK and Perugia Murder File. TJMK has posted email exchages directly with Prosecutor Mignini and others. FOA's only communication with him of which I am aware is Mignini's lawsuit against the Seattle Hearld for quoting Anne Bremmer's opinion that Mignini is "mentally unbalanced".
Journalist Nina Burleigh wrote of Peter Quennell (TIME 3/29/13):
Researching my 2011 book on the Knox case [The Fatal Gift of Beauty] […] I sat down with TJMK founder Peter Quennell, who has always claimed he started the site to make sure that no one forgot the victim. A stout, ruddy Englishman living in New Jersey, he had been holding out the carrot of introducing me to the elusive Kercher family. He seemed vastly knowledgeable and connected. At the time, I also believed that Amanda Knox could be, indeed, a Charles Manson behind a pretty face. After a month in Italy doing reporting, however, I realized that some of the “facts” on Quennell’s website didn’t seem to be in the police record in Italy. I emailed him to ask where he had found out that Knox and Sollecito met police standing outside the murder house with a mop and bucket in hand. That damning incident was nowhere in the record, not even the prosecutor would confirm it, nor had Italy’s Polizia Scientifica ever tested such items, which would surely have offered up some useful DNA evidence, had they been used to clean blood. Quennell then accused me by email of being on the Knox family payroll, informed me that his sources in Perugia had seen me consorting with Amanda’s mother (I had in fact met with her once, in a public place, by then) and eventually started writing about how he was going to “train his scope” on my apartment in Manhattan, and closing emails with “how are the kiddies?”
Naseer Ahmad aka Ergon aka ManFromAtlan of Peruga Murder File is a Canadian psychic who claims to be Jesus Christ incarnate who traveled to earth from the planet Atlan.
How you can equate these nutcases with Friends of Amanda is beyond me. They are the people Prosecutor Mignini and "anonymous lawyers" in Perugia chose to favor with "inside information", and whom John Kercher thanks in his book "Meredith" for keeping him "informed of the facts."
Injustice Anywhere is a wider organization that grew from FOA and Injustice in Perugia and among several such organizations. I have seen them cite many examples of false accusation and false convictions, but never have they argued that one false conviction proves another in a different case. Some of these people have solid forensic or other scientific backgrounds.
See the PBS video "The Norfolk Four" for a classic example of both false accusations and false confessions:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontl...
May 30, 2018
Amanda knox Scarlet Letter Series
Knox promotes “The Scarlet Letter Reports” on KIRO radio --
“What I learned from the Scarlet Letter Reports is that it’s not difficult to humanize someone. You just have to be in the room with them and let them be a human in front you. What takes work is dissecting a person and stripping them of their humanity.”
http://mynorthwest.com/990703/amanda-...
The Scarlet Letter Reports #4
Wednesday, 23 May 2018
Knox interviews Brett Rossi.
Rossi's career as a porn star was used to discredit her allegations of domestic abuse against Charlie Sheen.
https://www.facebook.com/TheScarletLe...
This is the last of 5 scheduled episodes ….
The Scarlet Letter Reports #5
Wednesday, 30 May 2018
Amanda Knox interviews Mischa Barton
https://www.facebook.com/TheScarletLe...
“What I learned from the Scarlet Letter Reports is that it’s not difficult to humanize someone. You just have to be in the room with them and let them be a human in front you. What takes work is dissecting a person and stripping them of their humanity.”
http://mynorthwest.com/990703/amanda-...
The Scarlet Letter Reports #4
Wednesday, 23 May 2018
Knox interviews Brett Rossi.
Rossi's career as a porn star was used to discredit her allegations of domestic abuse against Charlie Sheen.
https://www.facebook.com/TheScarletLe...
This is the last of 5 scheduled episodes ….
The Scarlet Letter Reports #5
Wednesday, 30 May 2018
Amanda Knox interviews Mischa Barton
https://www.facebook.com/TheScarletLe...
May 17, 2018
Amanda Knox hosts Vice/FB series
Amanda Knox is hosting a series called “The Scarlet Letter Reports” though Vice/Broadly and Facebook. The five 8 minute episodes will explore the phenomena of misogyny and slut shaming of women as Ms. Knox visits victims who share their experiences. An episode will appear each Wednesday starting 2 May 2018. Here are the releases to date --
The Scarlet Letter Reports #1
Wednesday 2 May 2018
The debut episode of Amanda Knox’s Vice/Facebook Watch series for teens looks at misogyny in San Francisco’s videogame industry.
Video: 8 minutes
https://www.facebook.com/TheScarletLe...
The Scarlet Letter Reports #2
Wednesday, 9 May 2018
Amber Rose and Amanda Knox embark on a wide ranging exploration of the various colors and contradictions of the social phenomenon of slut-shaming.
https://www.facebook.com/TheScarletLe...
The Scarlet Letter Reports #3
Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Amanda Knox interviews Daisy Coleman
Coleman was raped at age 14 by a popular athlete, then slut shamed for reporting the incident after police dismissed it for insufficient evidence.
https://www.facebook.com/TheScarletLe...
The Scarlet Letter Reports #1
Wednesday 2 May 2018
The debut episode of Amanda Knox’s Vice/Facebook Watch series for teens looks at misogyny in San Francisco’s videogame industry.
Video: 8 minutes
https://www.facebook.com/TheScarletLe...
The Scarlet Letter Reports #2
Wednesday, 9 May 2018
Amber Rose and Amanda Knox embark on a wide ranging exploration of the various colors and contradictions of the social phenomenon of slut-shaming.
https://www.facebook.com/TheScarletLe...
The Scarlet Letter Reports #3
Wednesday, 16 May 2018
Amanda Knox interviews Daisy Coleman
Coleman was raped at age 14 by a popular athlete, then slut shamed for reporting the incident after police dismissed it for insufficient evidence.
https://www.facebook.com/TheScarletLe...
March 6, 2018
Lady Joe 99 cent Sale
The Kindle edition of Lady Joe is on sale for 99 cents from March 4 to March 11, 2018.
