The Golden Age of Hijacking

Dateline: Cuba

New Book Explores the Age of Air Piracy

This month is the 60th anniversary of the revolution in Cuba led by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.  The revolutionary movement began July 26, 1953.  It is fitting that a new book has been published that explores the golden age of the airplane hijackers, a period that reached a crescendo between 1968 and 1973, when hundreds of attempted hijackings occurred, many of these being individuals who wanted to go to Cuba and obtain political asylum there.

Brendan Koerner’s book “The Skies Belong To Us, Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking” is a focused look at those exciting times.  Those were the days when you boarded a flight and there was a slight chance that you would end up somewhere other than your planned destination.  Talk about an exciting and dangerous vacation!  Many of these, of course, ended in death and tragedy. Here’s the story line, from Brendan Koerner’s website:

In an America torn apart by the Vietnam War and the demise of sixties idealism, airplane hijackings were astonishingly routine. Over a five-year period starting in 1968, the desperate and disillusioned seized commercial jets nearly once a week. Their criminal exploits mesmerized the country, never more so than when the young lovers at the heart of The Skies Belong to Us pulled off the longest-distance hijacking in American history.

A shattered Army veteran and a mischievous party girl, Roger Holder and Cathy Kerkow commandeered Western Airlines Flight 701 as a vague protest against the war. Through a combination of savvy and dumb luck, the couple managed to flee across an ocean with a half-million dollars in ransom, a feat that made them notorious around the globe. Over the ensuing years, their madcap adventures on the lam would involve exiled Black Panthers, African despots, and French movie stars.

Yet The Skies Belong to Us is more than just an enthralling yarn about a spectacular heist and its bittersweet aftermath. It is also a psychological portrait of America at its most turbulent, and a testament to the madness that can grip a nation when politics fail.

To view Koerner’s recent talk at Book Soup in Hollywood click here.

Or to watch the embedded version of the presentation, click on the window below.

To get a signed copy of the book, go to www.BookSoup.com, or better yet, visit the store in person.

 

Pasadena Says YES to Free Speech!

Dateline: Pasadena, California

Pasadena Says YES to Free Speech Every Minute of Every Day

Pasadena, the home of the famous Rose Bowl and yearly extravaganza Rose Parade has decorated the utility boxes on Colorado Blvd. with quotes from famous people about Freedom of Speech.  Every day, since 2011, thousands of people have walked and driven down Colorado Blvd., the main street in Pasadena, and hopefully have been constantly reminded of our precious Freedoms by the slogans on the colorful little billboards.  By now, millions of people have seen the little billboards. This project was done by the Pasadena Playhouse District, send them an email thanking them for supporting the Bill of Rights.

To see the video on youtube, click here.

To contact the Pasadena Playhouse District click here.

To watch the embedded version click below:

JFK Assassination – The Witnesses Murdered

Richard Belzer’s New Book “Hit List” Details Murders of 50 Witnesses To The JFK  Assassination

Dateline:  Los Angeles

Actor, author, comedian Richard Belzer has a new book out called “Hit List”, which reviews the murders of scores of witnesses to the assassination in Dallas of President John F. Kennedy.  The political murder took place 50 years ago, and is still viewed by many people as a coup de etat of sorts. Belzer believes that the original witnesses were murdered to prevent them from eventually testifying, which would shatter the lone gunman theory and lead to the real killers.

Click here to watch on youtube or watch embedded version below.

 

 

 

Slow Death From Missile Fuel Exposure

Dateline: Glendale, California

Widow Left With 5 Children and No Help From V.A.

A Glendale, California woman whose husband died a horrible slow death from years in the U.S. Army handling fuel for missile systems.  After his death, she was left with five children and no help from the Veterans Administration.  Her husband got sick while still in the Army, but it was not until after he retired that the symptoms got worse, eventually confining him to bed on a resparator.  Many veterans and their families find themselves in this situation, with little or not help from a callous government sending troops around the world to enforce the whims of arrogant politicians and to protect the revenue streams of big oil companies.

To see the video interview click here.

Or watch the embedded video below:

Sherman, Berman Two Shower-Shouting Locker Room Loonies

Dateline: Van Nuys Swimming Pool

There They Go Again – Howie Berman vs Brad Sherman

A One Round Fracus in the Van Nuys Pool Locker Room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Berman (Left) “You wanna piece of me?”

Sherman (Right) “I already got it Howie!”

So according to my two witnesses, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, Howard Berman and Brad Sherman swim often at the Pool in Van Nuys.  “But usually they don’t come at the same time” says Mr. Y.

“This morning”, says Mr. Z, “They both show at once, and the fireworks started!”

Mr. Y:  “They get in the locker room and they start screaming at each other.  Berman is yelling at Sherman, ‘You traitor, you stabbed me in the back!’  Serman is yelling back ‘F&%$ You, you’re a f&(%$ing crook!’  I thought they were going to come to blows.”

Mr. Z:  “Boy, those two guys really HATE each other.  I mean, we had to jump in between them.  They were screaming and waving their fists around.”

Berman, 71, served as a Representative in the Valley since 1983.  He is known as “Hollywood’s Congressman” by some, and “Studio Lap Dog” by detractors.  The entertainment industry showered him with money during this last election, over $400,000.  He certainly needed the dough, he was always traveling, in fact often accused of being on the road more than he was in Congress.  But re-districting has done him in, he had to run against a fellow Democrat, Brad Sherman, who beat him big time.  Some folks in his district described him as “aloof” and even “arrogant”.  He was such a shoe-in for election victory that he hardly had to campaign; just have a few dinners to raise some dough, and off on a “fact-finding” cruise to Europe.

Sherman, 58, has served in government and Congress for a while.  While Berman was lounging in foreign lands, Sherman was holding scores of Town Hall meetings, quietly building up support that proved more than enough to counter the big bucks from Hollywood.

Back to the locker room.  Mr. Y:  “Man, I was shocked.  I mean these two guys are both Jewish and both Democrats.  I thought they would get along with each other.”   In fact, on the campaign trail, things got so ugly that a Sheriff’s deputy had to break them apart.  I asked our informants if the fight got to the point of snapping wet towels at one another.  “No,” says Mr. Z, “Just yelling and screaming and insults.”

We suggest this animosity should be settled by an old fashioned duel.  How about standing 3 feet apart and hurling banana cream pies at one another along with the insults?  It would make for a great photo op, a paparazzi fun fest.  Hey, as they say, no harm done, nothing lost but dignity.

Note:  In the spirit of political fun, some portions of the conversations have been reconstructed out of the whole cloth of the 2 nameless informants who showed up at the Church lunch today for poor folks. Bon Apatite!

“Mr. X” on the Playa Vista Gas Explosion

Dateline: Playa Vista

Inside Scoop on the Recent Gas Explosion at Playa Vista Bluffs

Latest Information on this Disaster!

Claims Thousands of People Possibly Poisoned By Toxic Gas and Will Suffer Permanent Brain Damage

On Sunday January 6, 2013, something went terribly wrong at the Southern California Gas Company’s Plant below the bluffs of Playa del Rey. This is the unlicensed plant that compresses gas into a huge underground cavern under tremendous pressure. A huge fireball shot into the sky, over 100 feet, and burned for about an hour. Meanwhile an unknown amount of gas spread over the area for miles, forcing some people to evacuate their homes. Our whistle-blower, “Mr. X” lays out what is known at the present time about this massive blow-out that is being downplayed by the rest of the media. Get the real story here at Southland News Bureau.

“Mr. X” says that if the released gas contained Hydrogen Sulphide, then possibly thousands of people will suffer permanent brain damage.  According to the CDC in a U.S. Government document, (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=388&tid=67) even a brief exposure to high concentrations (greater that 500ppm) can cause a loss of consciousness and possible death.  Environmental groups are calling for more oversight of the Gas Plant, some are even asking that the Plant be closed down because gas is always leaking from the underground caverns.  This is occurring because hundreds of old oil wells in the area have most likely punctured the geologic formation and are allowing the gas to continuously seep out.  Watch the series “Poisoned Paradise” for more information on this subject.

Playa Vista Gas Plant Explosion

Dateline: Playa del Rey

The Southern California Gas Company Plant That Compresses Gas Into the Underground Caverns Storage Suffers an Explosion.

Flames Shoot 100 Feet into the Air

Explosion Rocks Playa Vista – Gas Spreads for Miles Around

The Southern California Gas Company, in one of their most spectacular spins of all time, claimed that the disastrous explosion and possible valve failure that spread gas across the south bay was an “unplanned” release of gas.  Using this spin/propaganda word so the public will associate the word “unplanned” with “unscheduled”, a simple mistake to “burn off” unwanted gas, the Gas Company has now reached the propaganda pinnacle of Nazi Spin Docktor Herr Joseph Goebbels, who tried to convince the German people that Adolf Hitler was just a choirboy.  The question of what exactly is an “unplanned release” should be answered in a rational world.  When your family is all sitting around the dining room table having Thanksgiving dinner and old grandma lets rip a loud fart, it would be polite to call that an “unplanned release of noxious gas”. The event of last Sunday was nothing more than a major blow out, spewing poisonous and dangerous gas for miles around.  It is a miracle that the gas did not ignite in a bigger way and blow the entire plant into a million pieces.  Here’s some photos and videos of the plant and the event, as we know it at this moment.  Shame on the Gas Company for trying to hide behind spin instead of telling the truth.

NBC Playa Vista Expose’ Disappears From Net

Dateline Playa Vista

The Award Winning Report on the Gas and Cancer-Causing Health Hazards of Playa Vista Has Disappeared From the KNBC Website Completely.

Does Anyone Have A Copy?

Back in 2005 KNBC aired part 1 of a series on the gas and cancer-causing health problems at Playa Vista, called “Burning Questions”.  This was a long report for a local station, something like 9 minutes.  Some wags say that 9 minutes challenges the attention span of the average viewer, who can’t focus on anything more than 30 seconds.  This series of 3 reports and 2 updates won the Peabody Award for excellence in television broadcasting.  If you don’t know what the Peabody Award is, here’s the Wikipedia definition:

The George Foster Peabody Awards (Peabody Awards) recognizes distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals.

Part 1, the main report has disappeared from the KNBC website.  We couldn’t find it on the net, even the great Grassroots Coalition links from their website are broken.  In addition, the video from the 2 follow-up updates are also gone, although the transcripts are still there.

So here is another burning question:  Why doesn’t KNBC keep their video on the net for this great report?  One thought is that they are “out of room on their website”.   If that is the case, why not delete some fluff, which they have plenty of these days, and keep the Peabody Award report on forever, especially now when the Playa Vista story is heating up again?  In fact, the Playa Vista story is literally exploding, the gas flames shooting up 100 feet or more in the air and sending gas fumes out for miles, scaring residents of the area.  Southland News Bureau is posting the video of Part 2 and Part 3 of the KNBC reports and is looking for a video clip of Part 1.  Meanwhile, follow our own Southland News special reports on Playa Vista and other Los Angeles Oil and Gas hot spots.

Summary

Links to the NBC Stories on Burning Questions

Part 1 Aired May 25, 2005 Video Removed from KNBC site.

Part 2 http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/June_2005_Burning_Questions_Part_II.html.  Available here on Southland News.

Part 3 http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/August_2005_Burning_Questions_Part_III_.html. Available here on Southland News.

Burning Questions Update July 28, 2006 http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Burning_Questions_Investigation_Update.html(no video, only text)

Burning Questions Followup October 27, 2005 http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/October_2005_Burning_Questions_Followup.html(no video, only text)

 

Old NBC News Reports Exposed Gas Dangers Part 2

Old NBC News Reports in a Series called “Burning Questions” Exposed Potential Dangers at Playa Vista Part 2

Click here for direct link to KNBC video or watch embedded video on this site.

An NBC series called “Burning Questions” from 2009 exposed many of the potential hazards of dangerous chemicals at the Playa Vista site.  Here is Part 2 of that excellent series.

View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.