Status Update

 The first question for my AMA is from L. Jagi Lamplighter Wright:

You’d think someone who knows me personally would just ask me directly. But whatever. A deal’s a deal.

Then a later comment was

Yikes. I didn’t realize my silence was THAT concerning.

So, first things first. How I’m enjoying Texas.

I finally found spring.

For parts of my youth in New York, I have distinct memories of the spring. They were warm, but not too warm. They were gentle. Occasionally cool. But it was perfect.

I don’t know when spring in New York stopped being that, but for years, New York spring just got cold. There might have been a week of “spring,” but what we got felt more like we jumped from winter to summer in a matter of days.

I had to come to Texas in order to get spring.

Of course, while everyone wringed their hands about snow this winter, we got nothing. And I mean nothing. We got a thin layer of ice that shut down Dallas for five days, from the schools to my church, but aside from that, it was nothing at all. We didn’t have to shovel. We didn’t have to salt. We didn’t even leave the house.

So yeah, the weather is perfect. As for summers, we have air conditioning here, which is more than I had in NYC.

Let’s see, my gun collection is doing okay. I’m thinking about pairing it back a little. It has gotten a bit out of hand. But my wife never wants to get rid of any of them. So we’ll see how that goes. Now, that’s not an invitation to break into my house. Trust me, I don’t think you’ll find it worth the risk of jail time. The thought of expensive guns makes me cringe.

And we’re going to have to hunt down rental shotguns. I figure I’m going to have to get a Mossberg 590, or 590S. The cheap side of me says get a Maverick 88 and be done with it. But I really like the 590 sights, and not the stupid little bead at the front of the gun. The rentals come into play when seeing if my wife wants a semiautomatic. She hates the recoil on a shotgun.

But feral hogs are closing in our our region. So we’ll need something.

As for how I’m doing “In general.”

I’m doing better than I had been. People might remember this:

Since then, I think I’m back to normal. I had legionaries, and that caused me to expel all my electrolytes. I’ve taken to keeping up with hydration drinks. I finally found one that will go with my diabetes. My walking is better. I rarely have bouts of fatigue anymore.

I’m just annoyed that I lost 25 pounds in water weight while I was sick, and gained it all back. I liked having abs for a while. We won’t go into the bad decisions in clothing I made while I was down at least one pants size. But that’s a challenge I’m tackling. I’m down to one meal a day. We’ll see if that has any long term effects, or if I’m just screwed to be fat forever.

And yes, I’ve been busy writing a military science fiction novel for Blaine Lee Pardoe’s Land & Sea series. So, that’s a thing. I’ve just finished book two.

I think that’s about all I have for right now.

Again, feel free to ask me anything in the comments. If you get an email, you can ping me through the comment button at the top.

And please, feel free to buy a book, or leave a book review. Either would be greatly appreciated.

Buy my books

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Music Monday: Nessun Dorma

 I vaguely knew that Manowar existed.

When I saw that they did a cover of “Nessun Dorma” from Turandot, I figured I’d be getting a metal version.

I did not expect this.

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 Someone made the mistake once of asking me about “literature.” I wrote this out. Since it’s a whole freaking essay, I figure I might as well post it.

On Israel

In my last post on world affairs, I discussed Operation Epic Fury

On the flip side of the Iran issue is, well, Israel. That seems to be a topic of interest as well.

What do I think?

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Why is there an Israel?

Let’s begin at the beginning. Israel exists today largely because of the Holocaust.

And yes, the Holocaust happened. Millions died in concentration camps. Six million were Jews. About two million victims were Catholic Poles. And the demographic breakdown afterwards confuses me, because I remember 12 million being the total Holocaust number, but I’m getting 17 million in search results. Grok insists that “the Holocaust” proper is Jewish only—which is not how my history degree covered it—then it nitpicks me. Oy.

After 1945, where are the survivors going to go? How many really want to stay in Europe?

There is a ready made solution in a country that … is really just in the concept phase.

Since the late 1800s, Zionism was a Jewish “Back to Israel” movement. It was a political movement / philosophy that has some theological roots. Some Orthodox and Hasidic Jews still argue that a man-made state conflicts with the belief that God Himself will deliver the Third Temple from Heaven (and probably squash the mosque on the Temple Mount). If you’ve ever seen guys who could pass for Rabbis at anti-Israel rallies, that could be part of it.

As for theology … Keep in mind, Zionists were no saints, they were political animals. For example, David Ben-Gurion, the first Israeli PM, after Kristallnacht in 1938, he said,

“If I knew it was possible to save all [Jewish] children of Germany by their transfer to England and only half of them by transferring them to Eretz-Yisrael, I would choose the latter— because we are faced not only with the accounting of these [Jewish] children but also with the historical accounting of the Jewish People.

I figure you must be a political animal to think that way. I’m trying to remember if I originally got that quote from Rabbi David Dalin, Israeli Ambassador Pichas Lapide, or Ronald Rychlak.

There had been early negotiations in 1937 between Adolf Eichmann and certain Zionist groups1 about solving “the Jewish question” as more of a logistics problem than an extermination program.2 Eichmann was in charge of getting rid of Jews from Germany, so putting them on a boat to Israel would have done the job just as well as camps. But, his good friend, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, urged that the extermination route was best.3 But that route also came with free slave labor. And if the Nazis could pick the most evil option, they did.

Now, in 1917, Zionist movements had led to a British white paper supporting a “national home for the Jewish people” where the Israel of antiquity used to be. It’s generally referred to as “The Balfour Declaration.”

From 1919-1945, there is the “Mandate of Palestine,” which is a remnant of the Ottoman Empire, at the time being (poorly) administered by the British after World War One. It wasn’t not really a colony, because the inmates were running this asylum—the locals would riot at the drop of a hat, especially if they didn’t get their way. That should sound familiar to anyone reading the news since 9/11.

But wait, you ask: If the British supported the creation of Israel in 1917, and the British were in charge of the real estate after World War ended in 1919, why wasn’t there an Israel by 1945?

Good question, you. The answer: The British promised the same piece of land to Jews and Arabs. British bastards promised Arabs the same land during World War One. The Balfour Declaration white paper was just a policy paper, a glorified thought piece. It wasn’t legally binding, or even really a promise.

In 1939, Neville Chamberlain released a White Paper to Arabs that rejected a Jewish state, if Arabs didn’t want one.

This we call “international politics.” Lie to everyone.

But it’s the British. Look how they treat their own people sometime. Start with today, and go just backwards.

After World War Two, Zionism was very popular among everyone who wanted to get the ever-living Hell away from the schmucks who tried to exterminate them.

As I noted last time, Israel is fortunate in their enemies. Islam had allied with the Germans in both World Wars.4 By 1948, the newly established United Nations had no problem dividing up the land between the Muslim and Jewish populations. Immediately after that, Eichmann’s friend the Grand Mufti tells every Muslim to get out of the Jewish areas, because every available Muslim army is coming in to “push the Jews into the sea.”

That particular plan backfired. Israel expanded its original territory by nearly 40%. About 700,000 Arabs fled; 850,000 Jews were driven out of Arabs countries—so everyone has refugees! Yay! Arab refugees mostly stayed refugees, because “we’ll get those Jews one day, honest we will.” They’re mostly the canon fodder known as “Palestinians.”

Are there other factors? Oh Hell yes. But this is a Substack, not a book. I recommend Michael Oren’s Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East. That book was so good. And the first half was basically just 1948 to 1967.

So, in short (too late): Israel exists today largely because of the Holocaust.

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Why was Israel a bad idea?

Israel was a bad idea because of the Holocaust.

Hey, I know, let’s give a homeland to a culture / race / religion5—putting them in one place, making them a nice, easy target. Who thought that was a good idea?

No, I’m not looking back with 20/20 hindsight. Hajj Amin al-Husseini was appointed the Grand Mufti BECAUSE HE LED RIOTS AGAINST JEWS.6

So far, Israel survives by the grace of God, the American taxpayer, Israeli intelligence, and Arab ineptitude. It isn’t because Israelis are all geniuses. Don’t get me wrong: seven million Jews have more Nobel Prizes in science and technology (14) than the entire Middle East combined … or a billion Indians (13) or a billion Chinese (8).

But good God, some Israelis are so bone stupid…How stupid?

Come with me now to the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Prime Minister Golda Meir is in charge. All intelligence assessments say that, yeah, Israel’s Arab neighbors are gearing up their armies at the same time; their Soviet embassies are all closing up and their personnel are flying back home. But those are just military exercises! The Arabs aren’t going to be a threat anytime soon! We kicked their ass so badly in 1967, they won’t come after us for another five years!

This we call “Hubris.”

October 1973: Egypt and Syria—joined by expeditionary forces from Jordan, Iraq, and several other Arab states—launch a surprise attack. Unlike the Six Day War, simply throwing Israeli air power at the problem doesn’t work; the Soviets had supplied dense anti-aircraft defenses that exacted a heavy toll early on. The largest, post World War II tank battle happens here in the Golan Heights (Valley of Tears, Oct 6–9), where about 200 Israeli tanks faced an initial Syrian assault of 1,200–1,400 tanks.

After nearly three weeks of fighting, and a United States airlift that dropped over 22,000 tons of supplies to Israel, Israel won. Why did the US resupply them? Depends on who you ask. It could be Cold War Politics: Soviets gave Arabs all their toys, so we had to arm Israel. There’s the potential nuclear aspect: it’s an open secret that Israel has nukes, and the assessment is that, if it looks like Israel may lose a war, they will take everyone else with them.

Again, it depends on who you ask.

To my original point: there are about 15 million Jews on the planet. Half of them are in Israel.7 WHY MAKE IT EASY TO EXTERMINATE A GLOBAL MINORITY? And this was just 1973, and conventional warfare. None of my conversation thus far has touched on the fact THAT NUKES EXIST.

So, do you see why I have an issue with putting so many eggs in one basket?

“Because of the Holocaust, we were almost wiped out in Europe. We need a nation of our own. Let’s pick the most hostile region on the planet.”

No. Really. Was Arizona not available?8

Yes, I know why Israel is where it is, but you do see my point, right? I’m not just talking to myself here?

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Israel’s Right to Exist

Israel exists. Pretending it isn’t there won’t change facts. Like any country, Israel has a right to exist as long as it can defend that existence. The United States has its own problem in that regard with immigration.9 If you want to argue Israel’s right to exist, you better have an army to dispute the matter.

Am I the only one who thinks the very question is stupid?

Was there a certain level of dishonesty in the creation of Israel? From the British, absolutely. From the UN … probably, because UN was corrupt to start with.10

Frankly the Arabs and founding Israelis were all very straightforward.

Israel: We can all in in peace, right?

Arabs: No, die.

Israel: No, we won’t. This land is ours now.

See? Very straightforward.

Was randomly giving the land to Israel itself dishonest? No. Frankly, after backing the wrong horse in two world wars—the same horse, both times—taking a track of land the size of New Jersey is the minimum penalty.

Yes, if the Middle East were the continental United states, Israel would be New Jersey, and the rest would be the other 47 states.

“Oh, what about the poor Palestinians?” What about them? The “Palestinian Authority” is the size of Delaware. Gaza is 10% the size of Vermont. If the Middle East wanted to absorb the Muslims in Gaza, they could do it tomorrow. They don’t want to.

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My Opinion

Do I have an opinion on Israel? Kind of.

Augustine’s Ordo Amoris gives us the proper hierarchical prioritization of love. You love God, you love yourself, you love your neighbor as yourself, etc. In that order. I love my country and want the best for it. Ginning up enough energy about other countries is a stretch most days.

I like Israel better than most foreign countries these days. I think Israel makes for an interesting United States … accomplice in the region.

“Accomplice” is probably the wrong word. As much as I joked last time that Israel was our Forward Operating Base, they aren’t. They aren’t even an ally, technically. We have no treaty. There are no “friends” between nations, only between people, and people change or they rotate out. I don’t like the term “client state” because that suggests a level of submission that neither side has.

Israel does stuff for the United States. Israel buys our weapons. Israel gives us intelligence. I’m pretty certain they will occasionally assassinate people on our behalf.

In 1981, Israel prevented Saddam Hussein from getting nukes from the French—first by sabotaging the supply ship from France, then by bombing the crap out of Saddam’s Osirak reactor.

So Israel isn’t an ally. Or an FOB. Hence, “accomplice.” Maybe “De facto ally”?

And how can you argue with a nation that is actively involved in developing terraforming?11 Yes. The Wrath of Kahn Genesis Device probably has a “made in Israel” label somewhere. Israel took desert and made it bloom, after a thousand years of Arab erosion, overfarming the land and turning everything to desert.

Israel created USB Flash Drives, the PillCam,12 Drip Irrigation, the literal “Israeli Bandage,” ReWalk Exoskeleton,13 Waze (ruined by Google), ICQ.14

So, Israel is a great innovator. In part because they’re in a hostile environment, and for once, I don’t mean their neighbors.

And you have to like their style.

The Six Day War: “Egypt has the largest fleet of Soviet MiGs on the planet Earth. What we’re going to do is hit them first, bomb their runways, and blow up all their planes while they’re still on the ground, all in the first three hours. Then we’ll enjoy 100% air dominance.”

There’s Operation Wrath of God. After Black September Terrorists massacred Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and Europe let them go, Israel sent out Mossad assassination squads to hunt down every last one of the bastards. (It’s been dramatized twice, in movies so bad that both sides of the conflict say they’re wrong. Can’t make that up.)

There’s Operation Grim Beeper, where Israel created a pager company, and then had Hamas and Hezbollah pay for them, so Israel could fit each terrorist leader with a personal explosive. With a final message of “Shalom” before they explode. That’s just … 10/10 for style points. No notes.

So do I “support Israel”? I guess. As much as a random civilian can.

On the other hand…

“They are allowed to differ with the Israeli government. Half of Israel disagrees with the Israeli government.” ~Rabbi Dennis Prager.

Do I have genuine problems with Israel? Sure. I have problems with my own country, why wouldn’t I have problems with a foreign country?

Start with some of the stupid crap Israel does.

How stupid?

During the October 7th attacks,15 did you ever wonder how a country like Israel—with a universal draft— had so many people killed on the ground? Doesn’t everyone have military training?

If author Yakov Merkin is anyone to go by,16 draftee training isn’t even that good. And Israel has draconian gun laws that make California and Chicago green with envy.

I try to wrap my head around the logic. Israel has a universal draft, because everyone around them has a history of trying to kill them. You’d think that, at bare minimum, everyone would have, I don’t know, a level two training in Krav Maga,17 basic marksmanship proficiency with a sidearm, and a rifle. You know, like Switzerland.

No, really. WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA? WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE A DRAFT?

I hate that the US gives Israel billions of dollars in foreign aid…. But I hate that the US gives foreign aid. According to Yakov, the “real right wing” in Israel hates accepting money from the US, because it comes with strings. I concur.

AIPAC…. the American Israeli Political Action Committee. I hate these guys mainly because they’re lobbyists. PACs in general are amoral parasites who will give money to anybody of any political party. AIPAC supported Tony Gonzales (R, TX-23) who just resigned for sexual extortion of his staffers—one of whom set herself on fire. And if they’re giving money to Corey Booker, TemUbama (Jeffries), and other Lefties, I’m not really sure how much they’re serving Israel, considering the antisemitic strain in the Democrat party these days.

Do I think they have any disproportionate impact? No, I think they’re lobbyists.

“Oh, but AIPAC is American, not Israeli.” 100% American? Really? Mossad will screw with Israel’s internal politics, but won’t try to influence ours? I’m not fond of America covertly screwing around in the affairs of our de facto (or de jurie) allies. Why should I be fond of any of them18 screwing around in ours?

As I assume AIPAC is at least influenced by forces in Israel (and they have their own internal strife), I also assume that some of the billions we send to Israel is also funneled into AIPAC, back to congress critters. After all, US Government money goes to Planned Parenthood and Teachers Unions, who give to Democrat politicians. US Government money goes to foreign governments and … does not, at all, come back to any US politician? It’s how every other PAC works, why should this be any different?

Yes, that spiraled to every lobbyist group. The only lobbyists I “like” are pro-gun lobbyists—assuming they’re doing their job, like the Firearms Policy Coalition, and not spending contributor money on themselves, like the last NRA President.

Of course, the biggest freaking problem I have with Israel… isn’t even Israel. It’s the Israel First Americans. You’ve seen them. When an Israel tank shot a Catholic church and killed several people, Joel W Berry of the Babylon Bee dismissed it by saying not to worry, no real Christians were harmed. Most recently, Ted Cruz shared a twenty page X-article that said that if you didn’t support Israel, and / or didn’t support sola scriptura, you weren’t a real Christian, and you were probably a Russian Agent. (If that’s the case, Teddy, things are going to get very strange in 2028, with a Vance-Rubio ticket.)

Of course, Ted Cruz isn’t the only one who goes into that. I get flack from “Christian Zionists” all the time, who tie their support for Israel into their theology, and if you disagree with them, you’re not a real Christian… This makes my head hurt. Seriously, there are (ultra)Orthodox Jews who have theological disagreements about Israel’s existence, but Christians are supposed to be in lockstep? What?

Theologically, the nation of Israel was never integral to the people of Israel. The Twelve Tribes of Israel predated the nation by how long? Four hundred years? The nation was wiped out a few times, so I don’t see how integral it is to my theology.

Hell, as a Roman Catholic, Rome could probably be nuked tomorrow and the lack of red tape would probably make life easier. So I don’t see how I my theology needs to support anyone’s nation.

Any support for Israel I have is based purely on international political concerns, which in the Middle East, include civilization versus barbarism.19

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Anyway, I think I’ve beaten this topic to death, and I’ve given myself a headache on top of everything else.

Again, feel free to ask me anything in the comments. If you get an email, you can ping me through the comment button at the top.

And please, feel free to buy a book, or leave a book review. Either would be greatly appreciated.

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The Ex CIA & Air Force PJ Who Hunts Predators

 Want to know what I did with my weekend?

I usually listen to the Unsubscribe Podcast, with AK Guy Brandon Herrera, Nic the Fat Electrician (historian), and Eli Cuevas, veteran, et al.

I don’t do PSAs … unless it’s Palmetto State Armory. I really like some of their stuff…

Anyway, this is a bit about Deliver Fund. It’s founded by Nic McKinley, who used to be a United States Air Force Pararescue operator, or PJ. He also apparently did shady stuff for the CIA.

Now, he hunts pederasts.

And no, human trafficking isn’t something that’s stamped out just with ICE. Too much of it begins at home, or with American citizens and other American citizens. At this time, there are no agencies dedicated to stopping human trafficking. There isn’t a single dollar dedicated to it. ICE’s job is purely incidental. Funny thing is, via ICE, American dollars are only dedicated to stopping the human trafficking of foreigners, and foreign children. Between Americans, the best we get is the occasional FBI raid (and the FBI doesn’t have as many agents as the entire NYPD).

I have placed the video so that the time stamp begins where his story begins. If you want more on his background, that’s the early part of the video.

Once you’re done watching it, I think you’ll understand why I wanted to share it. And I ask that you share it as well.

No. No asking you to buy my books today. Just please hit the share button, and share wherever you can—whether you share the substack, or the video itself. Share this in the format that you genuinely think best.

While I always hope that you’ll share my posts, the video itself is the important thing today.

Share

Trump Assassination Attempt #3

 Originally published on Substack, April 27, 2026

Music Blog: Globus. "Europa"

 I follow odd people online. One of which is “King Trout,” the token Catholic on the Unsubscribe Podcast.

On a random Instagram post, a random melody played. My only hint was “Globus. Europa. Instrumental version.”

Huh. I like the melody. Not sure I can understand it. Let’s find this song.

And … well, for the historian in me, I liked this one.

Keep in mind, for a 2006 song, I think it hits a little harder today.

But what about the version I heard on IG? What did that sound like?

It sounded like this. I swear it works even better.

And because I’m greedy, an even longer version:

Now, a word about the group Globus. This is not every song of theirs. In fact, every song I play sounds like a different song, with a different style. It’s quite odd. I’ve never found a group quite like it.

I hope you enjoy.

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Again, feel free to ask me anything in the comments. If you get an email, you can ping me through the comment button at the top.

And please, feel free to buy a book, or leave a book review. Either would be greatly appreciated.

Buy my books

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The Joys of Marketing

 The Joys of Marketing…

There aren’t any.

We hates it, precious. We hates it forever.

Obviously, there’s more to it than that.

If you’ve been around me for five minutes, you know how much I hate marketing.

If you look at the best marketer in existence … you’ll also find one of the best selling authors, and maybe one of the worst writers. (Looking at you, James Patterson.)

As far as sales go, quality doesn’t matter, only that an author sells in bulk.

As I’m certain you’ve noticed, Honeymoon From Hell came out over the course of only a few months. I don’t even think it was a whole six months.

Part of the reason why is something called “rapid release.” It’s supposed to manipulate the Amazon algorithm to push your book without needing a Big 5 publisher … or however many number they are these days.

How does it all work? Does it work?

Well, it’s made money. Has it made more more than I would have otherwise?

Nope.

You see, back when I first published Honor at Stake, I sold 240 copies of that first book in the first few months. It was enough for me to get a Dragon Award nomination at the time.

However, I have made money buy selling multiple books at the same time. So it works after a fashion. And probably by condensing sales into a tighter timeline.

Personally, I should be selling more. I know that much. If I spent six months pushing one books, I probably could get up to those sales numbers …

And then push the next book.

it’s why I still use publishers when I can. Because between social media, and marketing the books, well…

And you don’t even want to know the ratio of sales to income. Even in self-pub.

I don’t know. What do you think I should do? Aside from quit. If my brain could let me quit, I’d never have gotten into writing in the first place.

No. Do not ask me for specifics of self-pub versus publications. I’d have to coordinate with Russell Newquist or Richard Paolinelli to figure out exact numbers. And they have enough problems without recreational math being added to the list.

As I’ve said before, if you want to be a writer, I can tell you that you don’t. If you have to be a writer, you’re probably stuck with it.

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Again, feel free to ask me anything in the comments. If you get an email, you can ping me through the comment button at the top.

And please, feel free to buy a book, or leave a book review. Either would be greatly appreciated.

Buy my books

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The TV Season in Review

I used to review the TV shows I watched. Over the last three years, that hasn’t happened as much, because there was nothing I felt was worth even talking about.

And now, things are a little different.

So, a few TV shows to discuss.

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RJ Decker

I did not see this coming.

ABC flooded every conceivable channel and outlet with commercials for this show. I could not escape the ads if I tried. I couldn’t make heads or tails of what it was.

On a whim, I decided to try it.

Thank God I did. It’s been the highlight of the TV season. It really has.

And I knew it was going to be awesome from the moment I saw “Based on the novel Double Whammy, by Carl Hiaasen,” with executive producer, Carl Hiaasen.

If you don’t know Carl Hiaasen, his entire career as a novelist has been “Florida man, the novel.”

Now we have Jim Rockford meets Florida Man the TV show.

RJ Decker is a news photographer who beat up the wrong thief. A beautiful woman seduces him before his last day in court … and before she perjures herself to throw him in jail.

Now that Decker is out, he’s acting as a Private Investigator. He’s living in the pool house of his ex-wife and her new girlfriend, who is a cop. And we proceed from there. The way it’s handled, I’m not sure this scenario would have worked any other way. Also, they don’t hit you over the head with it. It’s barely mentioned unless utterly necessary to the plot. It’s less a “gay is normal and not weird” and more a “Florida is abnormal and very weird.”

You know what makes this stand out? IT’S SMART. It assumes that you’re smart too. Our hero observes something, makes a deduction on it, and we move forward. We’re not lingering on it, we’re not pretending that you the viewers are stupid. We’re not pretending the characters didn’t see what was right in front of them.

It’s also entertaining. These people are likeable.

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The Hunting Party

After several false starts, NBC has finally gotten their reformulation of The Blacklist.

The premise for this show is simple: The government has faked the death of hundreds of serial killers in order to throw them into a super secret government prison called “The Pit.” There, scientists experiment on the killers in order to “fix” them.

Of course, nothing could possibly go wrong with this idea, right?

Until an explosion hits The Pit and unleashes a whole wave of inmates on an unsuspecting populace.

To hunt down and recapture these psychopaths, we have “the hunting party,” with a profiler, a CIA operator, and a soldier who was a Pit prison guard.

It’s interesting that NBC’s solution to recreating the Blacklist, only with Criminal Minds instead of Bond villains.

Believe it or not, I have enjoyed this show. Granted, I needed to get over a few things. Such as “WHY AREN’T ALL THESE PSYCHOS CHIPPED AND LOJACKED WITH GPS!” But it really just boiled down to “we have an illegal but inescapable jail, why don’t need to chip our prisoners! They can’t escape!”

F***ing government.

There are more than a few moments where you’re going to look at this and go “F***ing government.” I’ve lost count of the number of stupid experiments that the government has done in real life. The Hunting Party feels like they’re going to take every stupid idea and apply them on guinea pigs, only the guinea pigs are less sympathetic.

Part of the entertainment value is seeing how much the results of the “treatments”—usually it’s a matter of “We’ve got an evil and broken monster … let’s see how we can break him EVEN MORE.”

Apparently, NBC is dumping money into this show. Kelsey Grammar showed up as a Jonestown like cult leader.

Now, I don’t quite know where this show is going. But so far, it’s been entertaining.

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Wild Cards

CW has something good on. Who knew? It’s called Wild Cards, a Canadian production that’s being broadcast on CW.

The premise is simple enough, it’s one part Castle and one part White Collar.

SHE is a career criminal, raised by criminals. She grew up robbing the great places of Europe… and being raised by television and media. She has an amoral viewpoint and more pop culture references than the show can footnote. They literally don’t even try. After she cons her way onto a case, she ends up being a consultant (Think Richard Castle or Neil Caffrey).

HE is a cop in the doghouse— or in this case, harbor patrol. He’s tightly wound, and he has a dead brother who’s murder is unsolved. He’s more tightly wound than Kate Beckett ever was.

So you can see where I see overlaps with other shows.

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High Potential

When the show begins, Morgan Gillory is a janitor at the LAPD, and is compelled to correct the murder board in homicide. She’s a single mother of three, and a high IQ … with all the personality quirks that go with it.

After that, it feels very much like the closest they get to Murder, She Wrote. You know, a quasi-police procedural where there’s a Castle-like consultant. This is very much The Mentalist, without the carnie showmanship. Also, the actress playing Morgan Gillory, Kaitlyn Olson, does not have Patrick Baker’s +10 charisma.

And having David Giuntoli from Grimm play one of the killers was just entertaining.

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Watson

Morris Chestnut was the black sidekick from Under Siege 2. And he really, really wanted to play a doctor. He had at least one show where he was a Florida medical examiner.

Now, he’s playing Watson.

Watson is supposed to be the post-Sherlock life of Doctor John Watson, only he’s an American doctor, and they’ve all but deleted his military experience. (It was mentioned in one episode. Never again.) He’s now back home in Pittsburgh, a geneticist playing diagnostician with a team of medical experts to help him solve medical mysteries.

Yes. Watson can best be described as House, MD… but without the sadism or the humor. Unlike Hugh Laurie’s psychopath with a medical degree, I don’t want to horribly murder any of the characters.

It’s … okay.

The best actor here is Peter Mark Kendall who plays “the Croft brothers.” The personalities, the mannerisms, the body postures, are so distinct, I sometimes believe they’re played by two actors.

The follow up is Eve Harlow—who I am certain is someone I know from elsewhere, but her IMDB resume tells me different.

I don’t know. She looks like someone… anyway. Next show.

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Best Medicine

Did you ever see the UK TV show Doc Martin? This is the American attempt to recreate it. They even hired to play the original Doc Martin to play the lead’s father.

Premise: a tightly wound, antisocial surgeon (redundant, I know) moves to a small town that he has fond memories of so he can hide his recently triggered hemophobia.

Do I like this series? Yes. I watch this for the medical mystery of the week. That’s it. It feels very much like Royal Pains. I like our Doctor. I sympathize with him.

But they’ve made the “small fishing village in Maine” into a freak show. Because small towns apparently filled with retards, racially diverse gay couples, “the kids are too smart for this town,” blah blah blah. And every other episode is a yearly festival that no one told him about until five minutes ago.

If you’re from a small town, you will probably find this offensive. I only watch this on DVR, and fast forward so much, I can get through a 42 minute episode (sans commercials) in 30 minutes or less.

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Sheriff Country

I gave up on the series Fire Country in the first episode. It’s a rare thing for me to do. My family trained me to give a series at least three episodes before giving up on a TV show. It’s a TV Guide reviewer policy my family adopted decades ago. I presume TV Guide no longer exists.

Anyway, Fire Country was so heavy in the soap opera nonsense that I gave up on the whole thing.

So when the spin-off Sheriff Country came out, I said “Aw Hell No.”

But it had Morena Baccarin. And I like her. She’s hot. She can act. I just wish she was in shows that didn’t suck.

Sheriff Country is no exception.

Okay, that’s a little harsh. I only recently gave up on it, despite several plot threads that nearly killed any and all interest in the show. But no, at long last, it killed my interest stone dead.

Our Sheriff’s father is played by W. Earl Brown, a veteran of Deadwood. He’s the most interesting, colorful character in the show, and is probably the main reason I put up with Sheriff Country for so long.

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CIA

If you look at my review of FBI, you know I had no hope for this spin-off series going in. But I wanted to see Tom Ellis at work in something other than Lucifer.

Tom Ellis went from being Satan to being a CIA agent, and he didn’t have to change character much. That joke writes itself.

It’s stupid.

So, so stupid.

The Joint Terrorism Taskforce, what’s that? We don’t need no stinking task force. We’ll just slap a random FBI guy to a CIA office in the middle of Manhattan and that’ll suffice for CIA to run the streets of America. Yeah. Sure.

Iran’s best assassins are women. Obviously. (Episode two. Honest. That was the plot.)

Sure, let’s send the boss into Hong Kong to exfiltrate a NOC hunted by China. (Literally episode three.)

Of course AfD are white supremacists. No, why bother pretending to research international politics on a CIA show? Our viewers are too stupid to know better…

Someone please stop putting Dick Wolf’s name on everything.

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Boston Blue

Remember Blue Bloods? It followed a family of New York City cops (and an ADA) in their day-to-day lives? It featured Mark Wahlberg as Danny Regan?

Well, for real-world reasons (a New York City hiring freeze), Danny’s son has become a cop in Boston. When he’s injured in the line of duty, Danny is on the first shuttle up.

The premise of this series revolves around another family of law enforcement… only instead of Boston Irish, this family is black and Jewish, and grandpa is a Baptist preacher. In Boston. How does this work? In a highly convoluted manner and beggars belief.

I have gotten halfway through season one … also on fast forward.

I thought this was going to be a train wreck from minute one.

Why?

Danny Regan’s Boston partner is the lead actress from Star Trek: Discovery, Sonequa Martin-Green. That was strike one.

Is it crap?

It’s not as much obvious crap as I was concerned it was going to be. The saving grace of this show is Mark Wahlberg and Ernie Hudson,1 and surprisingly the actor playing Sean Regan. But this is a perfectly good waste of actress Gloria Reuben, who I remember being a much better actress than this. But there are some lines not even Wahlberg and Hudson can make work.

Again, this is another show I watch on fast forward. In fact, the more I watch of this show, the more I fast forward. There’s only so much I will put up with for characters I like.

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Death in Paradise

If you like Agatha Christie-like puzzles, you should be watching this show. I’ve seen every season of this show at least four times, and these puzzles still get me sometime. Even when I remember the solutions, I sometimes don’t remember whodunit.

Joséphine Jobert is one of the local island cops, and is a cousin of Eva Green.

And part of the fun is the culture clash, since every lead detective is from the UK, and dropped into a Caribbean environment that they don’t quite gel with. And of course, we have a rotating cast of actors, because UK shows don’t keep casts like American shows. The first detective is downright Victorian. The second looks like a Weasley cousin. We have an Irish Columbo, a hypochondriac and a jerk at different time.

It’s a fun comedy mystery.

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NCIS

It’s still on. It’s still an entertaining police procedural. And I like Gary Cole.

And I must admit, their 500th episode was surprisingly good, with a beautiful twist I didn’t see coming.

NCIS Origins

I think this show is finding its footing. The excellent actor they hired for flashbacks of young Doctor “Ducky” Mallard has made two appearances this season—probably for sweeps week.

And they dedicated an entire episode to a dog, who has more acting range and facial expressions than their primary actress.

Other than that, I think my original review holds up.

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Tracker

If you remember The Bone Collector, it had a quadraplegic forensic expert solving murders. It’s based on a Jeffery Deaver novel.

Jeffery Deaver also created Colton Shaw, who is his attempt to copy Jack Reacher. Only Shaw is a bounty hunter, using his prepper skills from his youth to find missing people.

In the TV show, Shaw is played by Justin Hartley, who was in Smallville as Oliver Queen. The producers hired some DEI rejects for background grunt work.

The first season, I gave up on in the first thirty minutes. The women who find him work are an old lesbian couple, who were written to be annoying. His lawyer is an ex who is a raging bitch. And there was the obligatory hacker to be used as a shortcut, because computers are magic. He, of course, was racially ambiguous.

Fast forward a little and I found that Jensen Ackles was being hired to play Shaw’s brother. I gave into temptation and tried it just for Ackles. The lawyer ex toned down the bitchy. The ancient lesbians were being phased out, as was the hacker.

Overall the show is okay. It’s another show that I am heavy handed with the fast forward button.

No, I don’t stream if I can avoid it, and I hate commercials.

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That’s all I have for today. Unless you want me to discuss older TV shows I have on disc.

Again, feel free to ask me anything in the comments. If you get an email, you can ping me through the comment button at the top.

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1

Of course… for both of them.