Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 280

Shocking Details on Cleveland Captivity

UPDATE #3  Photo of "mystery captive"Michelle Knight (left) released by family. 

UPDATE #2  More shocking reports--at least three reports to police by neighbors of nude women in backyard in past two years...on dog leashes. "Three men were controlling them in the backyard. " The callers "waited two hours but police never responded to the calls." And more.

UPDATE:  Wild details in new AP story, on links between Castro and victims' families, visits to house after kidnappings (nothing amiss, but locks on basement, attic, garage),  many saw him pass out fliers for missing girls, and much more.  Actual quote:  "Castro’s personnel file with the Cleveland public school district, obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information request, shows he was hired in 1990 as a bus driver after saying on his application that he liked working with children."

Earlier: Even worse than imagined:  Cleveland TV quotes police sources saying the three captive women were repeatedly raped, leading to five pregnancies, then beaten during the pregnancies so only one baby survived.   Then there's this: "Investigators are going through the home for clues, including the backyard where they found 'disturbed' dirt. The sources did not know whether that was related to the pregnancies."  Or worse.

Tom Waits for Cleveland

Song of the day has to be "What's He Building in There?"

The Greatest Debut in History

On this date in 1824, Beethoven unveiled his Ninth Symphony.   A wild film treatment below, from Copying Beethoven w/ Ed Harris in fright wig as Ludwig.  Try to ignore the gimmick of movie--Beethoven, stone deaf, conducting the orchestra with help of Diana Kruger in the pit.  Didn't happen.  They let Beethoven stand to the side while someone else conducted.  The climax of  turning him around to face cheers, which he could not hear, is true enough.

Speaking of debuts, premiere of Following the Ninth, directed by Kerry Candaele (my co-author on Beethoven book) coming June 4 in Santa Barbara. 

The Vigilante Copy Editor of Brooklyn

Great little video at NYT today on some "vigilante" guy or gal, armed with a marker pen instead of a gun, who is correcting typos and grammar on explanatory cards at sculpture garden for Pratt in Brooklyn, for many months.   Most of changes are called for but...still, defacing.  Who done it?  Still a mystery.  

Auto-Tuning Charles Ramsay

Cleveland hero gets the treatment.

Jon Visits NRA Convention

UPDATE:   More on Ted Cruz today, as NYT reports on Harry Reid calling him a "schoolyard bully."   
Earlier:  Yes, low lying (or lieing) fruit,  but "Daily Show" with great segment last night on NRA confab.  Did not know Ted Cruz bragged about his promise to filibuster to require 60 votes for gun bill--then hit Dems halting his bill even thought it got 52 votes.


The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Three Young Cleveland Women Found--After Ten Years

UPDATE #2  The Guardian is live-blogging this morning's press conf.  Police only came to house once during all those years, knocked on door, no one home.  Watch it now.  Chief says Amanda Berry is "the real hero" here.  She broke out bottom of secure door to "get out. " No details from the three women yet.  

UPDATE #1  Three men arrested, all brothers, one a school bus driver.  See photo of one of the freed women in hospital with her baby and her sister.

Enormous story for Clevelanders tonight as two teens who disappeared separately a decade ago, plus another girl, missing even longer, turn up at a house, whose owner arrested, plus more strange stuff.  (See Google street view of his house, where he kept them, that I found.)

This was giant story locally for years and residents holding block parties and so on tonight.  Details are sketchy but very strange. In truly bizarre twist, the son of the alleged kidnapper wrote story about the case as a college journalism student in 2004 but claims he knew nothing about his father's role (never visited house?)   Interview with neighbor  who called police.  Video of interview.   And tape of his call to police.  One of the women came out holding a baby: hers.  All three young women in okay condition at hospital.  Tweets: @ RachelDissell


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CIA Got 'ZDT' Writer to Cut Key Torture Angle

Those of us critical of Zero Dark Thirty's mishandling of torture should not be surprised by this new report, based on documents obtained by Gawker: showing the CIA got writer Mark Boal to cut out scenes showing the Maya character actually participating in (rather than just observing and cheerleading) torture.   Of course, we have known for some time that the CIA was deeply involved in aspects of the film but this didn't seem to bother the often clueless defenders of the film.  "During these calls, Boal 'verbally shared the screenpla'" for Zero Dark Thirty in order to get the CIA's feedback, and the CIA's public affairs department verbally asked Boal to take out parts that they objected to. According to the memo, he did. Here are the key changes."  One, for example:

The much-discussed opening scene of Zero Dark Thirty features the main character Maya, played by Jessica Chastain, observing a detainee at a CIA black site as he is water-boarded and shoved into a tiny box during an interrogation. It appears that an early version had Maya participating in the torture. But during their conference calls, the CIA told Boal that this was not true to life. The memo reads: "For this scene we emphasized that substantive debriefers [i.e. Maya] did not administer [Enhanced Interrogation Techniques] because in this scene he had a non-interrogator, substantive debriefer assisting in a dosing technique."

According to the memo, "Boal said he would fix this." Indeed, in the final film Maya doesn't touch the prisoner during this scene. The decision to have Maya abstain from the torture was as significant artistically as it was factually. Her ambivalence was a key part of her character, and critics picked over every detail of the torture scenes, including Maya's status as an observer rather than a participant, for meaning in the debate over torture that the movie sparked.

 More:

The CIA also took issue with an interrogation scene that featured a dog intimidating a detainee. Boal took it out: "We raised an objection that such tactics would not be used by the Agency," the memo reads. "Boal confirmed in January that the use of dogs was taken out of the screenplay."

 

Obama: "Just Say No," on Syria

Andrew Sullivan may be all over the map but today has good and lengthy post on why the U.S. must stay out of Syria, and advises Obama to follow his better instincts and do...as little as possible.  No good choices so stay out.  And makes great point about U.S. not alarmed about Israeli assaults because...it's Israel.  Get special handling.   And he tells reborn hawk, Bill Keller, yes, Syria IS much like Iraq.  And see my hit on Keller.

Air Force Assault Prevention Chief Charged With...Assault

Too bad to be true, but alas:  "The chief of the Air Force’s sexual assault prevention and response branch was arrested this weekend and charged with sexual battery.

"Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, 41, of Arlington, Va., was arrested Sunday morning, according to the Arlington police. He’s accused of approaching a woman in a parking lot and grabbing her breasts and buttocks, according to the crime report. He has been removed from his position, an Air Force spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity.

"Krusinski heads up the Air Force’s sexual assault prevention and response branch, an Air Force spokeswoman confirmed."