Judge Says Federal Law Against Female Genital Mutilation Violates U.S. Constitution

The Federal government should protect the inherent right of individuals to control what is done with/to their own bodies.  Including children who should not be forced into something that will affect the rest of their lives.  That goes beyond which government entity has jurisdiction over crimes.  The remaining 26 states who have not yet criminalized this disgusting practice need to do so NOW. 

It is estimated that more than 200 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation in the countries where the practice is concentrated.  There are an estimated 3 million girls at risk of undergoing female genital mutilation every year.  We should not be part of this.

 https://www.npr.org/2018/11/21/669945997/judge-says-federal-law-against-female-genital-mutilation-violates-u-s-constituti

Greatly recommend Radley Balko's blog and books.

This one is an excellent indictment of both the moral hazard and perverse incentives of privatizing the criminal justice system - an area of governance that is a true responsibility of government.

About this website

washingtonpost.com|By Radley Balko

Opinion | Georgia’s privatized probation and parole system isn’t working

Stills from Ira Wolf's Sunscreen

From the Ira Wolfe music video Sunscreen:

New photo

Investigation Discovery

Here are some photos from A Doe in the Woods, an episode of the television series "Who Killed Jane Doe?"  I played real life murderer Ralph Penrod.

 

 

The Eyes of Van Gogh: Director's Statement

My film, The Eyes of Van Gogh, is a story, never told before, about the 12 months Vincent van Gogh spent in the insane asylum at St. Remy.  It is a film about his brother, Theo van Gogh (Gordon Joseph Weiss) and about Vincent and Paul Gauguin (Lee Godart) in the Yellow House in Arles.  It is a film about painters and artists, Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.  Most important, it is a film about madness; a film of obsession. 

After the disastrous months spent with Gauguin in the yellow house in Arles, Vincent van Gogh, in desperate search of a cure from attacks that increasingly plague him, voluntarily enters an insane asylum in the town of St. Remy 10 miles from the Yellow House. Van Gogh, portrayed by Alexander Barnett, entrusts himself to the care of Dr. Peyron, played by Roy Thinnes.   

On the anniversary of Van Gogh's death

Vincent van Gogh: "I want to paint action. I want to paint life. I want to show the soul in nature - - the nobility in man.  But no one will ever know.  It's all wasted. Wasted. Wasted."

Why would anyone question Shakespeare's relevance?

Poor naked wretches, whereso'er you are,
That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm,
How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,
Your looped and windowed raggedness, defend you

Alexander Barnett as Lear and Eric Michael Smith as Edgar

Best Picture Nomination

I Did Her Wrong has been nominated for Best Picture by the Stockholm Independent Film Festival. 

I'm very pleased.   I Did Her Wrong (Filmscript Co-Screenwriter)  

Thoughts on Hunting

The Japanese call it cultural heritage. So, too, the Eskimos who hunt whales. I think anyone who claims to be a civilized human being should call it barbaric. And that includes sport hunting and the slaughter of animals so we can wear their skins or eat their flesh.

Considering Those in Desperate Need of Relief

Critical thinking and risk assessment needed urgently.  This country always overreacts.  https://www.statnews.com/2018/03/06/cms-rule-limits-opioid-prescriptions/

New Nomination for I Did Her Wrong

I Did Her Wrong is nominated for "Best Picture" at the Philadelphia Independent Film Awards.

 

I Did Her Wrong - Official International Trailer

Writing Credits

Racial Profiling

No one living in this country who is not a criminal should be living in fear of the police. It is disgusting. It won't stop without a torrent of public outrage.

THE WHY OF SHAKESPEARE?

Frequently I see posed the question: “Is Shakespeare important and relevant to our modern world?” followed by its concomitant: “If so, why?”

So long as human beings survive, Shakespeare’s importance and relevance is timeless because:

I DID HER WRONG at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival

My film (along with co-writer Francisco Campos-Lopez) had received three nominations.

Starring Catalina Lavalle and Alexander Barnett

" a muscularity of language and overwhelming emotionalism that is uncommon in Lear films".

This is a review of my film of King Lear from Kurt Daw at PlayShakespeare.com

Exposing Layer upon Layer of Moral Rot

Afghan Pedophiles Get Free Pass From U.S. Military, Report Says

Image

A former Special Forces officer, Capt. Dan Quinn, was relieved of his command and pulled from Afghanistan after fighting with an Afghan militia commander for keeping a boy as a sex slave.CreditKirsten Luce for The New York Times

By Rod Nordland

Jan. 23, 2018

On 5,753 occasions from 2010 to 2016, the United States military reported accusations of “gross human rights abuses” by the Afghan military, including many examples of child sexual abuse. If true, American law required military aid to be cut off to the offending unit.

Not once did that happen.

I urge anyone who cares about justice to read this. It was written 41 years ago but believe me, it's as timely as ever.

Perfect statement from Iris Murdoch

Shakespeare's people, enduring individuals known all over the world, are like icons, secure inhabitants of an art which comprehends human nature from its deepest evil to its highest good, together with its funniness, its happiness & its beauty.

 -Metaphysics as a Guide to Morals

Why the Kurds are Paying for Trump's Gift to Iran

The Kurds are an incredible people. Historically, they have suffered terribly and unjustly. Currently, they have done more to defeat Isis than any other fighting group. They have been betrayed by every country that has dealt with them.