http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUPh7XWoq7Q
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080908180741AAjA2kV
Resolved Question
What city in California does the Sons of Anarchy (TV show Biker Gang) reside/live in?
What city in California does the Sons of Anarcy (TV show Biker Gang) reside/live in? What city/hometown are they protecting?
I noticed in the first episode they rode out to Oakland/San Leandro to get back their weapons from the Mayans. I live in Hayward, ca (The City next to San leandro and Oakland) in the East Bay of Northern California. I did notice on their biker vests it said Redwood, But i dont think it means Redwood City, Ca. I did a couple google searches but it never popped up with an answer.
Additional Details
I noticed in the first episode they rode out to Oakland/San Leandro to get back their weapons from the Mayans. I live in Hayward, ca (The City next to San leandro and Oakland) in the East Bay of Northern California. I did notice on their biker vests it said Redwood, But i dont think it means Redwood City, Ca. I did a couple google searches but it never popped up with an answer.
Additional Details
Ok i found the answer on the FX site. This city is imaginary (Sure as hell aint no charming in the Bay Area...i know my Bay Area) this city should be close to wear i live, probably around the hot *** valley near Manteca & Tracy (209 area code) it says this city is both 50 miles away from Oakland and San Jose...Im about 15-20 miles from oakland and 40-50 from San Jose so if my geography is correct this city should be in the valley. They probably take 680 freeway to San Jose and 580/880 (freeways i use) to Oakland. We do have a lot of Bikers in Hayward, which probably would of been a great choice for the city since its the heart of the bay, but they had to go & make an imaginary city with a dumb name. Hope this helps, thanks for your time people.
Sons of Anarchy is an FX television series starring Charlie Hunnam about lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club operating in the fictional town of Charming in northern California
My first impression was that SOA was based in the low foothills east of the Lodi/Stockton area (I grew up in Lodi, and the scenery matches that area. It's a "TV fact" that they are in San Joaquin County. If they are 30 miles east of Lodi/Stockton, that would put them at around San Andreas. Report Abuse
I was told Woodbridge Ca. Ive lived in Lodi and Manteca. Report Abuse
As you all may know by now the city of Charming in California does not exist. In the FX "Sons, history of Charming" they claim that Charming is 50 miles from both Oakland and San Jose. This is possible but they also claim to be roughly 30 miles from both Stockton and Lodi. While separately this is possible together it is impossible. Not to mention the observed terrain in the show looks more like Highway 49 towards RENO. I can not be sure of course, but it looks like they ride around the 5-mile house on bikes then film town scenes between Sac and Auburn.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wild_OneEXCERPT:
The Wild One is a 1953 outlaw biker film directed by László Benedek and produced by Stanley Kramer. It is famed for Marlon Brando's iconic portrayal of the gang leader Johnny Strabler.
[edit] Basis
The Wild One was based on a short story, The Cyclists' Raid by Frank Rooney, in the January 1951 issue of Harper's Magazine. The story was later published in book form as part of The Best American Short Stories 1952. The story took a cue from an actual biker street party on the Fourth of July weekend in 1947 in Hollister, California that was elaborately trumped up in the July 21, 1947 issue of Life Magazine, and dubbed the Hollister riot, with staged photographs of wild motorcycle outlaw revelers. The Hollister event is now celebrated annually. In the film, the setting is the fictional Wrightsville, California.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollister_riot
EXCERPT:
The Hollister riot occurred during the Gypsy Tour motorcycle rally in Hollister, California, from July 4 to July 6, 1947. The event was sensationalized by yellow news reports[citation needed] of bikers "taking over the town" and staged photos of public rowdiness.
The rally, which was sponsored by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), was attended by approximately 4,000 people. This was several times more than had been expected, and the small town of Hollister was overwhelmed by bikers who were forced to sleep on sidewalks and in parks.
About 50 people were arrested during the event, most for public intoxication, reckless driving, and disturbing the peace. Members of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club, in particular, were reported to be fighting and racing in the streets. There were 60 reported injuries, of which 3 were serious.
The 1953 film The Wild One (starring Marlon Brando) was inspired by the event and based on an article run in Life magazine which included a staged picture of a drunk man resting on a motorcycle amidst a mass of beer bottles.
Representatives of the AMA, seeking to deflect the negative press surrounding the rally, are alleged to have stated at a press conference that “the trouble was caused by the one per cent deviant that tarnishes the public image of both motorcycles and motorcyclists”. The AMA now says they have no record of such a statement to the press, and call this story apocryphal. This statement led to the term “one-percenter” to describe “outlaw” bikers.[1]
Motorcycle Ride to Yosemite (CCR Up Around the Bend)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JklbzPZgQOQ&feature=related
http://www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Bass_Lake_(California)
EXCERPT:
Hells Angels in Bass Lake
In 1963, Bass Lake became a yearly destination for the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation (HAMC), attracting hundreds of bikers from across the state. A first-hand report of the 1965 Bass Lake Run was reported by Hunter S. Thompson in his first book, Hells Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga.
Most locals viewed the run as an annual menace that brought crime and frightened tourists away. Each year roadblocks, curfews, and campground restrictions were enforced by law enforcement from throughout Madera County and its surrounding areas in an effort to block, or at least control, the Hells Angels activity.
The run peaked in the 1970s before slowly fading away altogether by the late 1980s.
Bass Lake in film
The 1932 film Carnival Boat (RKO-Pathe) Was filmed on location in the woods east of Bass Lake. The film shows the logging activities of the "Sugar Pine Lumber Company" and its "Minarets and Western" Railroad. The Movie shows the tracks crossing Bass Lake Dam.
The 1945 film Leave Her to Heaven (20th Century Fox) was filmed on location Bass Lake. The film's primary set, the 'Back of the Moon' cabin, was built on government-owned land on the lake's south shore and was removed shortly after filming.
The 1988 film, The Great Outdoors (Universal) starring John Candy and Dan Aykroyd, was also shot on location at Bass Lake. The film's 'Loon's Nest' vacation cabin built on the same site as 'Back of the Moon.' It too was removed after shooting.
The 2007 film Le Chevalier (Rough Cut Productions) a movie said to have been filmed at Bass Lake, starring Michael Barnes, Melinda LaRochelle, and Alex Davis. This film was directed by Wes Jackson and Cyle Moon.[citation needed]
Ducey's Bass Lake Lodge is known for promoting the movies that were filmed in Bass Lake with posters in front of their restaurant.
meatballs 4 with Corey Feldman was filmed at bass lake, with special thanks to the pine resort, and madera county at the end of the credits.
EXCERPT:
What's With the Harper Conservatives and the Hells Angels?
The Toronto Star says that Rahim Jaffer, husband of Helena Guergis, has been in business with "a man who claims to be a former banker for the Hells Angels."
Guergis is the second member of Harper's cabinet who was ousted due to a political scandal, and the previous scandal (concerning Maxime Bernier) also involved the Hells Angels. While Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bernier left highly confidential NATO documents at the home of a girlfriend who had long-standing ties to the Hells Angels.
It seems reasonable to suspect that the motorcycle gang is attempting to infiltrate government, or at least exert influence through social connections. This is a tactic long deployed by other organized crime such as the Italian mafia. Motorcycle gangs morphed into sophisticated organized crime syndicates some time ago, but public understanding has not caught up with reality.
Many people don't comprehend the difference between groups of motorcycle enthusiasts and organized crime syndicates like the Hells Angels. It's that ignorance that allows the Hells Angels to operate in a quasi-legitimate fashion.
I don't allege that the Harper Conservatives support or condone organized crime, but this second scandal related to the same crime syndicate has got to be a wake-up call to the Conservatives to take more care. All other politicians should take note, as well.
http://wizbangpop.com/2010/10/17/wild-success-of-the-sons-of-anarchy-might-have-influenced-hells-angels-general-store.php
EXCERPT:
Success Of THE SONS OF ANARCHY Might Have Influenced Hells Angels General Store
THE SONS OF ANARCHY has been a wild success. And there's sure a lot of interesting stuff to be found over at Ebay. Maybe these two worlds have somehow come together when even the Hells Angels Los Angeles chapter have a store over at Ebay that sells bumper stickers, magnets, clothing and other items. Under the Ebay seller name losangelescosupportproducts, the local motorcycle club chapter has a very good rating of 99.7% customer satisfaction, which is really quite good. Most customers give the dealer high praise for great customer service.
Interestingly, more than a few of the items almost look like they could be straight from some JC Penney catalog or something, and with several years of Ebay sales on the huge international auction site, the motorcycle organization runs an efficient and well run business.
Table of Contents
http://www.lycaeum.org/books/books/last_circle/0.htm
http://www.lycaeum.org/books/books/last_circle/1.htm
Interestingly, more than a few of the items almost look like they could be straight from some JC Penney catalog or something, and with several years of Ebay sales on the huge international auction site, the motorcycle organization runs an efficient and well run business.
Table of Contents
http://www.lycaeum.org/books/books/last_circle/0.htm
http://www.lycaeum.org/books/books/last_circle/1.htm
EXCERPT:
I wish to thank Garby Leon, formerly Director of Development at Joel Silver Productions, Warner Bros. in Burbank, California for tirelessly prompting me to get a first draft of The Last Circle written in 1994 and helping me with countless tasks during our joint investigation of the death of Danny Casolaro.
THE LAST CIRCLE
By Carol Marshall
NOTE:
This is a FIRST DRAFT, bare-bones, unpolished manuscript without prose, characterizations etc.
CHAPTER 1
For the deputies of the Mariposa Sheriff's Department, the awakening occurred on June 24, 1980, when deputy Ron Van Meter drowned in an alleged boating accident on Lake McClure. The search party consisted mainly of three divers, deputies Dave Beavers, Rod Cusic and Gary Estep. Although adjacent counties offered additional divers, sheriff Paul Paige refused outside help, even a minisubmarine offered by Beavers' associate.
In the shallow, placid waters of Lake McClure, Van Meter's body was not recovered that week, and indeed would not be found until ten years later, in September, 1990 when his torso, wrapped in a fish net and weighted down by various objects, including a fire extinguisher, washed ashore a few hundred yards from where Sergeant Roderick Sinclair's houseboat had once been moored.
Van Meter's widow, Leslie, had been at home baking cookies when she was notified of her husband's disappearance. She was an Indian girl who had no affinity with sheriff Paul Paige. The horror began for her that day also. Her home was ransacked and her husband's briefcase and diary were seized by the Mariposa Sheriff's department. Only she and a few deputies knew what Van Meter's diary contained. He'd told his wife he'd taken out a special life insurance policy two weeks before, but after the search that was missing also.
Leslie was taken to a psychiatric clinic for evaluation shortly after the incident.The story surfaced years later, one tiny bubble at a time. The selfinvolved little community of Mariposa did not cough up its secrets gladly. On March 23, 1984, Leslie Van Meter filed a Citizen's Complaint with the Mariposa County Sheriff's department alleging that the Sheriff's office had been negligent and unprofessional in their investigation of her husband's disappearance. His body had still not been found, despite private searches by Sergeant Beavers and other friends of the missing deputy. She wanted the case reopened.
Paul Paige was no longer sheriff, but newly elected Sheriff Ken Mattheys responded by reopening the investigation. Investigator Raymond Jenkins, a Merced College Police Chief, and retired FBI agent Tom Walsh from Merced, were notified by Sheriff Mattheys in October, 1984 that the Van Meter case had been reopened and he wanted their help in cleaning up the Sheriff's Department.
Their investigation led them straight to the doorstep of MCA Corporation (Music Corporation of America), parent company to Curry Company, the largest concessionaire in Yosemite National Park. A major drug network had surfaced in the park, compelling one park ranger, Paul Berkowitz, to go before the House Interior Subcommittee on National Parks and Recreation to testify about drug distribution by Curry Company officials.
Ed Hardy, the president of Curry Company, was closely associated with Mariposa County officials, in particular, Mariposa District Attorney Bruce Eckerson, County Assessor Steve Dunbar, and Congressman Tony Coelho, whose district encompassed Mariposa and the Park. The annual camping trips that the three men took together was encouraged by the local townsfolk because most of Mariposa's tax base emanated from Curry Company.Coelho and Hardy were regular fixtures around town, seen at most of the social events. Coelho even cooked and served spaghetti dinners for the whole town annually at the Mariposa Fair Grounds, and purchased property in partnership with one member of the Mariposa Board of Supervisors. In fact, Mariposa was one of the first places he bid farewell to after resigning from Congress to avoid an investigation of his finances.
Meanwhile, investigator Raymond Jenkins had followed the drug trail from Yosemite back to the Mariposa airport, where sheriff's deputies were seen regularly loading and unloading packages from planes in the dead of night.
One Indian girl complained bitterly about deputies using the Sara Priest land allottment (reservation) to grow marijuana and operate methamphetamine labs. Jenkins, by now retired from the position of Police Chief of Merced College, was called in to interview the Indian girl. That same day, as a favor, he provided me with copies of his notes. I followed up with a tape recorded interview at her home in Bear valley. Her father and uncle operated a small auto dismantling business on the reservation in Midpines, and after locating them and gaining their confidence, the uncle drove me out to Whiskey Flats, the site of the marijuana and methamphetamine lab operations. That week I rented a horse and rode down into the rocky, isolated valley of Whiskey Flats. Brush and shrubbery tore at the saddle on the horse and at the end of the dirt path I encountered three snarling Rottweiler dogs who put the horse into a frenzied lather.
Nevertheless, I managed to photograph the irrigation system, artesian spring and pond from which the water was supplied as well as various points of identification for future reconnaisance. I later returned in a fourwheel drive pickup truck and managed to view the trailer and lab shack.
The tape recorded interview with the Indian girl, the photos and notes from my discovery were provided to the Stanislaus County Drug Task Force, but jurisdictionally, they couldn't enter Mariposa County without authority of the Mariposa Sheriff's department. It was a catch 22 situation. Ultimately I provided the same information anonymously to several related agencies. It was not until 1993 that the fields were eradicated, and 1994, before the labs were raided. However, no arrests of any deputies were ever forthcoming. In fact, no arrests occurred at all, except for a few nonEnglish speaking Mexican nationals who had handled the "cooking." The head of the Los Angeles Drug Enforcement Agency noted to a local newspaper that the meth lab was part of a large California drug network, but they were unable to identify the kingpins.
On July 6, 1985, Mrs. Van Meter filed a "Request for Official Inquiry" with the State of California Department of Boating and Waterways stating that no satisfactory investigation was ever conducted into the matter of her husband's disappearance.
That same month, shortly after a meeting at Lake McClure with Mrs. Van Meter, Sheriff Mattheys mysteriously resigned from his position at the Mariposa Sheriff's Department. Mattheys revealed to reporter Anthony Pirushki that he had been ordered by two county supervisors and the county's attorney "to stay away from the Van Meter investigation." But that was not the reason he resigned. The whole story would not surface until seven years later when a reporter for the Mariposa Guide interviewed him.
However, while still in office, Mattheys and his internal affairs investigators had learned the reason for Van Meter's disappearance. A few weeks prior to his death in 1980, Van Meter had driven to the Attorney General's office in Sacramento and reported drug dealing and other types of corruption within the Mariposa Sheriff's Department. This, according to his friends whom he had confided in, deputies Dave Beavers, a fifteen year veteran of the sheriff's department, and Rod Cusic, a seventeen year veteran. Both deputies were ultimately forced out of the department and retired on stress leave.
On that same day, reserve deputy Lucky Jordan had driven to the Fresno office of the FBI to report similar information. According to Jordan, they had split up and reported to separate agencies in the event "something" happened to one of them.The crux of the story was State Attorney General Van De Kamp's response to the requested investigaion by Ron Van Meter. When Ron returned home from Sacramento, he was confronted by Sheriff Paige. Paige had received a call from the Attorney General informing him of the visit and its contents, and the sheriff was livid about Van Meter's betrayal.Van Meter had been photographing and journalizing drug activity by deputies at Lake McClure. He was part of a California State Abatement Program which involved harvesting and eradicating marijuana fields in Yosemite National Park and adjacent counties. Instead, the harvested marijuana was being stored in abandoned cars and towed out of town by a local wrecker under contract with the sheriff's department. It was also being distributed at a hidden cove at Lake McClure.
On June 24, 1980, frustrated and angry at the Attorney General for betraying him, Van Meter had borrowed a boat and was on his way to arrest the deputies at Lake McClure himself. He never returned. The investigation of Van Meter's "accident" was initially handled by Sergeant Roderick Sinclair, who could not have known on that fateful day that in exactly three years, three months, and nineteen days, he would enter the Twilight Zone where his own private hell awaited him.
******
The first substantial hint that a tentacle of the Octopus had slithered into Mariposa County occurred on March 5, 1983 when a Mariposa County Sheriff's vehicle scouting Queen Elizabeth II's motorcade route rounded a curve in the Yosemite National Park foothills, crossed a highway and collided headon with a Secret Service car, killing three Secret Service agents. CHP (California Highway Patrol) Assistant Chief Richard Hanna reported that the collision occurred at 10:50 a.m. between Coulterville and La Grange on Highway 132 about 25 minutes ahead of Queen Elizabeth's motorcade.CHP Sergeant Bob Schilly reported that Mariposa County Sheriff's Sergeant Roderick Sinclair, 43, was driving with his partner, Deputy Rod McKean, 51, when "for some reason, [he didn't] know why," Sinclair crossed the center line and hit the second of the three Secret Service cars, which went tumbling down a 10foot embankment.
The three Secret Service agents killed in the collision were identified as George P. LaBarge, 41, Donald Robinson, 38, and Donald A. Bejcek, 29. Sinclair, who had sustained broken ribs and a fractured knee, was first stabilized at Fremont Hospital in Mariposa, then transported several days later to Modesto Memorial Hospital.
Years later, several nurses who had been present when Sinclair was brought into Fremont Hospital confided that Sinclair had been drugged on the day of "the Queen's accident" as it became known in Mariposa. For months Sinclair had been receiving huge daily shots of Demerol, "enough to kill most men," according to one billing clerk. Some former deputies who had feared punitive measures if they spoke up, later corroborated the story of the nurses.
Meanwhile, Assistant U.S. Attorney James White in Fresno ordered Dr. Arthur Dahlem's files seized to prove Sinclair's drug addiction. Sinclair's Mariposa doctor and close friend had been prescribing heavy sedatives to him for years. When White attempted to prosecute Sinclair for criminal negligence, he was called into chambers during the federal probe and told by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Coyle to "drop the criminal investigation" because Sinclair's drug problem was not relevant to the prosecution and the drug records could not be used in court. Judge Coyle's reasoning was that no blood tests had been taken on Sinclair at the Fremont Hospital on the day of the accident, therefore no case could be made against him.
In fact, the blood tests HAD been taken, but later disappeared.A significant piece of information relative to Judge Coyle's background was passed to me during my investigation of the Queen's accident by retired FBI agent Thomas Walsh. Allegedly, the Judge was once the attorney of record for Curry Company (owned by MCA Corporation) in Yosemite National Park. I later learned, in 1992, that Robert Booth Nichols had strong ties to MCA Corporation through Eugene Giaquinto, president of MCA Corporation Home Entertainment Division. Giaquinto had been on the Board of Directors of Nichols' corporation, MIL, Inc. (Meridian International Logistics, Inc.) and also held 10,000 shares of stock in the holding corporation. MIL, Inc. was later investigated by the Los Angeles FBI for allegedly passing classified secrets to overseas affiliates in Japan and Australia. It is interesting to note, though unrelated, that shortly afterward, the Japanese purchased MCA Corporation, one of the largest corporate purchases to take place in American history.
Relative to the Queens accident, in the civil trial that followed the tragic accident, Judge Coyle ruled that both Sinclair and the deceased Secret Service agents were at fault. Mariposa County was ordered to pay 70 percent of the claim filed by the widows, and the Secret Service to pay 30 percent. The county's insurance company paid the claim, and ironically, Sinclair was subsequently promoted to Commander of the Mariposa Sheriff's Department where he is still employed as of this writing.
In an interview on March 7, 1988, at Yoshino's Restaurant in Fresno, former U.S. Attorney James White recalled that the original CHP report on the Queens accident was sent to the State Attorney General's office (Van De Kamp) in Sacramento. The report was first received by Arnold Overoye, who agreed with White that Sinclair should be prosecuted. But when the report crossed Van De Kamp's desk, he told Overoye and his assistant to discard it trash it.
Van De Kamp then appointed Bruce Eckerson, the Mariposa County District Attorney, to take charge of the investigation and submit a new report. Coincidentally, Bruce Eckerson's disclosure statements on file at the Mariposa County Courthouse indicated that he owned stock in MCA Entertainment Corporation. White added that ALL of the crack M.A.I.T.S. team CHP officers involved in the original investigation either resigned or were transferred (or fired) afterward. The CHP Commander and the Deputy Commander who supervised the M.A.I.T.S. investigation also resigned as did Assistant U.S. Attorney White himself after the coverup took place.
However, White noted that before he resigned, he quietly filed with Stephan LaPalm of the U.S. Attorney's office in Sacramento the transcripts of the trial and an affidavit which listed the "hallucinatory" drugs Sinclair had used prior to the accident. I privately continued with the Queen's accident investigation, interviewing deputies Dave Beavers and Rod Cusic who had been privy to Sinclair's drugged condition on the day of the accident.
Beavers, who was the first deputy to arrive on the scene, maintained four years later, in 1987, that he was cognizant of Sinclair's condition, but when he was questioned by James White he was NOT ASKED about the drugs. (James White had by then been ordered to drop the criminal investigation and stay away from the drug aspect of the case).
In January 1988, deputy Rod Cusic strode into the offices of the Mariposa Guide, a competitor newspaper to the Mariposa Gazette, and stated that he was "told by Rod Sinclair to lie to a Grand Jury" about Sinclair's drug addiction and the resulting Queen's accident. Cusic added that he officially disclosed this to the Fresno FBI on April 26, 1984 and again on October 9, 1987. In 1987, Cusic also noted that he witnessed a boobytrapped incendiary device explode at Rod Sinclair's home during a visit to his residence. Additionally, earlier on, Sinclair allegedly barricaded himself inside his home and boobytrapped the property, as witnessed by numerous deputies who tried to persuade him to come out.
While reviewing old newspaper clippings from the Mariposa Gazette, I discovered an odd sidebar to the story. In December, 1984, during the Queen's accident civil trial in Fresno, U.S. Attorney James White had introduced testimony that Sinclair's vehicle contained "a myriad of automatic weapons including a boobytrapped bomb" when the collision occurred on March 5, 1983. It was not until 1991 that I discovered the depth of the coverup.
A CBS television executive and a Secret Service agent who had ridden in the third car of the Queen's motorcade in 1983, arrived in Mariposa to enlist my help in putting the pieces of the puzzle together on the Queen's accident. The Secret Service agent's best friend had been the driver of the car in which all three agents were killed. I signed a contract with the television executive for the sale of the story then drove them to the site of the accident, then to the site of where the damaged vehicle was stored near Lake McClure. The Secret Service agent broke down at the sight of the vehicle, remembering the gruesome appearance of his dead friend in the front seat. He turned, tears welling in his eyes, and said, "His heart burst right through his chest and was laying in his lap when I found him."
Dave Beavers joined us the next day. As did former sheriff Ken Mattheys. Beavers did not know that the same Secret Service agent whom he was sitting with in the car was the man who had tried to pull Sinclair out of the sheriff's vehicle on the day of the accident. There had been a scuffle, Beavers insisting that Sinclair go to the hospital with "his own people," and the Secret Service ultimately conceding.The Secret Service agent reflected sadly that they didn't know to ask the hospital for blood tests on Sinclair that day, didn't know of his drug addiction. By the time the case went to court, the records at the hospital were gone.
Two weeks after the agent left Mariposa, I received a packet containing copies of Sinclair's drug records for three years prior to the accident. They were the same records that U.S. District Court Judge Robert Coyle had disallowed in the Queen's accident trial. But it was not until producer Don Thrasher, a tenyear veteran of ABC News "20/20," came to town, that I learned of Sinclair's background, or the extent of his addiction.
By chance, at a book signing engagement at B. Dalton Bookstore, I had mentioned to the manager, Shaula Brent, that my next book contained information about the Queens accident.Surprised, Shaula blurted out that she had worked at Fremont Hospital when Sinclair was brought in from the accident. Shaula recounted the following: Rod Sinclair was brought into Fremont Hospital and placed in a room with an armed "FBI" agent outside the door. Sinclair had been receiving huge shots of Demerol in the arm every day prior to the accident, by order of Dr. Arthur Dahlem. Shaula noted that Sinclair was a big man and the amount of Demerol he had been receiving would have killed most men. After the Queen's accident, all drugs were withdrawn from Sinclair, and employees, including Shaula, could hear him raving aloud for days from his hospital room. The employees at the hospital were instructed not to speak about or repeat what took place at the hospital while Sinclair was there.
Because Shaula and her friend, Barbara Locke, who also worked at the hospital, were suspicious about Sinclair's hospital records, they secretly took photostats of the records "before they were destroyed by the hospital." Blood HAD been drawn on Sinclair on the day of the Queen's accident, and he HAD been under the influence, according to Shaula. Shaula gave the names of six nurses who were witness to Sinclair's condition at the time he was brought into Fremont Hospital. When his body was finally drugfree, Sinclair was transported, against his wishes, to Modesto Hospital.
******
In January, 1992, the final pieces to the puzzle fell into place. Sinclair's background had been the key all along. Producer Don Thrasher had interviewed the Secret Service agent and, although the information he obtained would not be used in his production, he advised me to follow up. The Secret Service corraborated the following profile: Sinclair's father had been a military attache to General Douglas MacArthur during World War II. (I had privately mused how many of MacArthur's men later became arms of the Octopus). In Japan, after the war, Colonel Sinclair (sr.) supervised the training of selected Japanese in intelligence gathering operations.
According to the Secret Service, he was an "international figure," highly regarded in the intelligence community. Rod Sinclair, Jr. attended school in Japan during this time. He later reportedly worked in the Army C.I.D. in a nonmilitary or civilian capacity, allegedly receiving training at Fort Liggett in San Luis Obispo, a training center for military intelligence operations.
Could it have been possible for Colonel Sinclair, Sr. to have called upon old friends in high places to rescue his son, Rod, from the Queen's accident investigation? Did the Octopus have enough power to alter an investigation of the death of three Secret Service agents? According to the Secret Service agent in Los Angeles, it did. And he intended to tell the story after he retired.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Introduction
INTRODUCTION
RE: "The Last Circle"
The following condensed version of The Last Circle was provided in October 1996 to a secret Investigative Committee comprised of Congress people, lawyers and former POW's at their request. I originally contacted Congresswoman Maxine Waters in Washington D.C. and offered information relative to CIA drug trafficking, but was told the information was too complex and would I mind putting the information into a newspaper story, get it published and send it to her office?
I agreed and contacted a local newspaper reporter who, after reading portions of the material, decided it needed to be reviewed by individuals who had special knowledge of CIA drug trafficking, arms shipments, and biological warfare weapons.
After a brief meeting with these individuals, former Special Forces soldiers from the Vietnam era, they asked for copies of the manuscript, guaranteed an immediate congressional inquiry, and advised me NOT to place the information on the Internet as they feared the information could be, in their words, "taken as just another anti-government conspiracy."
I condensed the manuscript into the attached treatise, covering information relative to THEIR focus, and sent it to them along with key documents. Shortly afterward, they re-contacted me and set up elaborate security measures to insure my safety. As of this writing, I've had no need to institute those measures.
I have in my possession five boxes of documents, obtained from a convicted methamphetamine chemist whose closest friends were a 20-year CIA operative and a former FBI Senior-Agent-in-Charge of the Los Angeles and Washington D.C. bureaus. The labyrinthine involvements of these people and their corporate partners is revealed in this manuscript, along with information obtained by Washington D.C. journalist Danny Casolaro prior to his death in 1991.
A great deal of investigation still needs to be accomplished. I have neither the financial means nor the ability to obtain "evidence" for "prosecution." I am simply an investigative writer, placing this information into the public forum in hopes that someone, somewhere, will grasp the significance of the data and initiate a full-scale investigation with subsequent subpoena power.
With subpoena power, government agents can testify (some kept anonymous in this manuscript) who would otherwise lose their jobs and retirement if they came forward. Witnesses can be protected and/or provided immunity, and financial transactions of government and underworld figures can be scrutinized.
To date, I have not had more than one hour conversation with anyone associated with any Congressional investigation, and therefore am extremely limited in my ability to present the information I have. Much of what I learned during my five-year investigation cannot at this point be inserted into a manuscript. I must be assured the information and witnesses will be handled appropriately.
I personally do not believe the Department of Justice will ultimately "prosecute" this or any other drug trafficking case if it involves government officials. But I have made the effort to put forth enough information to generate interest and show good faith. I hope it will be of some value to the American public.
Please keep in mind as you read the attached pages that the complex corporate structures and technological projects described herein "may" have been nothing more than an elaborate smoke and mirrors cover for narcotics trafficking.
This aspect of my investigation was corroborated by several government investigators, one of whom was a House Judiciary investigator, who spent three years investigating the Inslaw stolen software case and said in response to my findings:
"There's some great information here. You did a very good investigative job, I have to commend you on that. I realize it's only a fraction of everything you have. What you have done, you have put the pieces of the whole thing together. Little bits and pieces of things that I have known about, that I had theorized about, you have found answers to those specific questions." (See Chapter 13 for entire conversation). That investigator is now in the White House Office of Drug Control Policy.
To those interested, nearly everything noted in the attached manuscript is supported by documents or tape recorded interviews. Some are extremely bulky and not quoted extensively in the manuscript, such as lengthy FBI wire tap summaries.
I wish to thank Garby Leon, formerly Director of Development at Joel Silver Productions, Warner Bros. in Burbank, California for tirelessly prompting me to get a first draft of The Last Circle written in 1994 and helping me with countless tasks during our joint investigation of the death of Danny Casolaro.
EXCERPT:
Early years
MCA was founded in 1924 by Jules Stein and William R. Goodheart, Jr. as Music Corporation of America, a music booking agency based in Chicago, Illinois. MCA helped pioneer modern practices of touring bands and name acts. Early on, MCA booked such prominent artists as King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton for clubs and speakeasies run by legendary notorious Chicago mobsters such as Al Capone and others.
Lew Wasserman joined MCA in 1936 at the age of 23 and rose through the ranks to MCA for more than four decades, with Sonny Werblin as his right-hand man. Wasserman helped create MCA's radio show Kay Kyser and His Kollege of Musical Knowledge, which debuted on NBC Radio that same year. Following that success, Stein installed Wasserman in New York City in 1937, but Wasserman convinced him that Hollywood was the best place for the company's growth.
In 1939, MCA's headquarters moved from Chicago to Beverly Hills, California, creating a movie division and beginning to acquire talent agencies and represent established actors such as James Stewart, Henry Fonda, Bette Davis, and Ronald Reagan, whom Wasserman became very close with personally. In later decades, Wasserman would become a guiding force in Reagan's political ambition by helping Reagan to win the presidency of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), then election as Governor of California in 1966, and finally President of the United States in 1980.
By the end of the 1930s, MCA would become the largest talent agency in the world with over 700 clients which includes movie stars, recording artists, Broadway actors, radio stars, producers, and directors. Its aggressive acquisition of its clientele in all entertainment sectors earned MCA's nickname of The Octopus. This behavior led U.S. Department of Justice agents to investigate not only whether MCA was a monopoly breaking anti-trust laws, but also its suspected connections to underworld criminal activities. This investigation would continue for the next few decades.
[edit] Revue Productions
EXCERPT:
MCA Records
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| MCA Records | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parent company | Universal Music Group |
| Founded | 1934 (as Decca Records USA) |
| Status | Defunct since 2003 (Fate: Absorbed into Geffen Records) |
| Distributor(s) | Self-distributed |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | USA |
[edit] Pre-history
MCA entered the recorded music business in 1962 with the purchase of the New York-based US Decca Records (established in 1934[1]), including Coral Records and Brunswick Records. As American Decca owned Universal Pictures, MCA assumed full ownership of Universal and made it into the top film studio in town, producing hit after hit.[2] In 1966, MCA formed Uni Records[3] and in 1967 purchased Kapp Records[4] which was placed under Uni Records management.[5][edit] History
[edit] MCA Records formation outside North America
The U.S. and U.K. Decca companies were forced to sever their ties because of World War II.[6] MCA's U.S. based Decca Records had the rights to the Decca name in North and South America and parts of Asia including Japan. U.K. Decca owned the rights to the Decca name in the rest of the world. After the war, British Decca formed a new U.S. subsidiary, London Records.During this time U.S. Decca issued records outside North America on the Brunswick and Coral labels. In 1967, Brunswick and Coral were replaced by the MCA Records label to release U.S. Decca and Kapp label material outside North America.[7][8] Initial activity under the MCA Records name was based in London. MCA Records in the UK was formally launched on February 16, 1968.[9] The label signed only a few artists until the 1970-1971 period. Among the first artists were groups Wishbone Ash; Osibisa; Stackridge; and Budgie; and solo artists Tony Christie; Mick Greenwood; and Roy Young. [10] Early MCA releases were distributed by U.K. Decca but moved to EMI from 1974 to 1979. Distribution then moved to CBS, while the last releases in the 1980s were self distributed. As the U.S. division of MCA Records was not established until 1972, the earliest U.K. MCA Records material was released in the U.S. on either Kapp or Decca.
MCA U.K. also issued American Brunswick material on the MCA label until MCA lost control of Brunswick in 1970 at which point American Brunswick material was issued in the UK on the Brunswick label. Uni label material was issued on the Uni label worldwide.
[edit] MCA Records formation in North America
In 1970, MCA reorganized its Canadian record company Compo Company Ltd. into MCA Records (Canada).[11] In April 1970, former Warner Bros. Records president Mike Maitland joined MCA and initially served as Decca's general manager. Maitland was unsuccessful in his attempt to consolidate Warner Bros. Records with co-owned Atlantic Records which led to his departure from Warner.In April 1971, Maitland supervised the consolidation of the New York based Decca and Kapp labels plus the California based Uni label into MCA Records based in Universal City, California with Maitland serving as president.[12] The three labels maintained their identities for a short time but were retired in favor of the MCA label in 1973.[3][13] Drift Away by Dobie Gray became the final Decca pop label release in the U.S in 1973. Beginning the same year the catalogs of Decca, Uni and Kapp were reissued in the U.S. on the MCA Records label.
[edit] Early success
The first MCA Records release in the U.S. was former Uni artist Elton John's Crocodile Rock single in 1972.[14] His double album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was released in October 1973 and was number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart for eight straight weeks. Former Decca artists The Who had formed their own label Track Records in the U.K. but were still under contract with MCA for U.S. distribution. Their double album Quadrophenia was released by Track/MCA also in October 1973. Quadrophenia peaked at number 2 as it was held back from the number 1 slot by Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.One of the most successful new MCA artists in this era was the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Their song Free Bird peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in edited form, but the full length version became one of the most popular songs of all time on Album-oriented rock radio stations. On their second album, Second Helping, the group recorded a song about their signing to the label, "Workin' for MCA". Three Lynyrd Sknyrd albums released by MCA reached the double platinum sales level and at least two others reached platinum or gold levels.
Other successful artists on MCA after the consolidation included former Kapp artist Cher, and Uni artist Olivia Newton-John. MCA released the highly successful soundtrack album to the 1973 film The Sting. The soundtrack music was arranged and conducted by Marvin Hamlisch and won an Academy Award for Best Original Score (MCA issued many other soundtracks to films from Universal, along with some non-Universal films).
During the 1970s and 1980s MCA profited from reissuing classic early rock and roll recordings made by artists who recorded for the numerous labels absorbed by MCA over the years. One notable example was the 1954 Decca recording Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley & His Comets, which was featured as the lead track of MCA's No. 1-charting American Graffiti soundtrack album, and as a single returned to the American top 40 that year, 20 years after it was recorded.
[edit] Expansion and struggles
In 1977 MCA president Sidney Sheinberg set up the Infinity Records division, based in New York City with Ron Alexenberg as CEO. Alexenberg had previously been with the Epic division of CBS Records, now Sony Music Entertainment. The intention was to give MCA a stronger presence on the east coast. The only big hit the Infinity label had was Escape by Rupert Holmes which was #1 at the end of 1979. Infinity also had some success with Hot Chocolate, Spyro Gyra, New England and TKO. But MCA pulled the plug on Infinity after it failed to sell most of the 1 million advance copies of an album featuring Pope John Paul II in October 1979. Infinity was fully absorbed by the parent company in 1980.In 1979, Bob Siner replaced Maitland as MCA Records president.[15] Shortly afterwards, MCA acquired ABC Records along with its subsidiaries Paramount Records, Dunhill Records, Impulse! Records, Westminster Records, and Dot Records. ABC had acquired the Paramount and Dot labels when they purchased Gulf+Western's record labels, the Famous Music Group, thus MCA now controlled the following material once owned by Paramount Pictures: the music released by Paramount's record labels, and the pre-1950 films by Paramount as well. ABC Records' independent distributors sued ABC and MCA for $1.3 million in damages for being stuck with unsold ABC records they could not return to MCA.[16][17] The better selling ABC Records catalogue albums were reissued on the MCA label.[18]
The combined effects of the Infinity Records failure, the purchase of ABC Records, rising vinyl costs and a huge slump in record sales produced tremendous losses for the company between 1979 and 1982. It was not until the mid 1980s that the record labels returned to significant profitability. In late 1980 MCA received negative publicity when it attempted to raise the list price of new releases by top selling artists from $8.98 to $9.98. This policy, known as "superstar pricing", ultimately failed. The Xanadu soundtrack album and Steely Dan's Gaucho were the first $9.98 list albums. Tom Petty succeeded in his campaign to force the label to drop prices back to $8.98 for his album Hard Promises released in May 1981.
[edit] Recovery, further expansion and MCA Music Entertainment Group formation
From 1983 to 1989, MCA Records was headed by Irving Azoff and is credited with saving the company from bankruptcy. Azoff resigned from MCA in 1989 to form his own record label, Giant Records, now defunct. Richard Palmese was named president of MCA Records after Azoff in 1990.[19]In the late 1980s, MCA formed Mechanic Records as a sub-label for releasing heavy metal music. Bands signed to Mechanic included Voivod, Dream Theater, Bang Tango, and Trixter.
The Chess Records catalog was acquired from the remnants of Sugar Hill Records in 1985. Motown Records was bought in 1988 (and sold to PolyGram in 1993). GRP Records and Geffen Records were acquired in 1990. Unlike most of MCA's previous acquisitions, the GRP (which began managing MCA's jazz holdings) and Geffen (which became a second mainstream subsidiary) labels kept their identities and MCA created a new holding company in 1989 called MCA Music Entertainment Group, headed by Al Teller[20] with Palmese continuing to run the MCA label. In the same year, the MCA Inc. parent company was purchased by the Matsushita group.
[edit] MCA Music Entertainment Group becomes Universal Music Group
In 1995, Seagram Company Ltd. acquired 80% of MCA. On November of that year, Teller was fired and replaced by former Warner Music head Doug Morris.[21] Palmese left MCA a week later.[22] The following year, the new owners dropped the MCA name; the company became Universal Studios, Inc. and its music division, MCA Music Entertainment Group, was renamed Universal Music Group (UMG), headed by Morris.In 1997, MCA Records adopted a new logo that featured the parent company's former full name. Many younger people had been unaware of what MCA had stood for in the past, hence the new logo.
In 1998 Seagram acquired PolyGram (owner of British Decca) from Philips and merged it with its music holdings. When Seagram's drinks business was bought by France-based Pernod Ricard, its media holdings (including Universal) were sold to Vivendi which became Vivendi Universal which was later renamed back to Vivendi SA after selling most of the entertainment division (which included Universal Pictures) to General Electric. Morris continued to head the combined company, still called Universal Music Group.
[edit] MCA label phaseout
In spring 2003, the MCA Records label was absorbed by sister UMG label Geffen Records.[23] Today Universal Music Enterprises manages MCA's rock, pop, and urban back catalogues (including those from ABC Records and Famous Music Group) in conjunction with Geffen - UME and Geffen have re-released various albums from MCA in the years since, as well as several compilations. Its country music label, MCA Nashville Records is still in operation. MCA's jazz catalogue is managed by Verve Records (through either the GRP or Impulse! imprints, depending on if the release was acquired from ABC or not), while its classical music catalogue is managed by Deutsche Grammophon. MCA's musical theatre catalogue is managed by Decca Records on its Decca Broadway imprint.[edit] MCA Music (Philippines)
The MCA name is still in use in the Philippines because of a trademark dispute with an unrelated label known as Universal Records, which holds the rights to the word "Universal" for recorded music in the Philippines. As a result, Universal Music Group is instead traded as MCA Music, Inc. Philippines in that country. However, the company has adopted the moniker "Universal Music Philippines" to simplify identification, even though no formal "Universal" branding is exercised.[edit] Logos
 First MCA Records logo, used outside the United States and patterned after the 1960s American Decca logo. |  MCA Records logo used from 1972 through 1991. |  Logo used from 1991 through 1997. Still used by MCA Nashville. | Final MCA Records logo, used from 1997 until its dismantling in 2003. Note that this logo mentioned the parent company's original full name, Music Corporation of America. |
[edit] Labels
 White promotional label used for second logo (1972 until 1991). [Vinyl version] |  Label used for third logo (1991 until 1997). [CD version, possibly opposed on Vinyl edition] |
[edit] MCA Records recording artists
Main article: List of MCA Records artists
My daughter's godmother married in the Ahwahnee Hotel. My daughter was the flower girl. ..........cal
EXCERPT:
http://www.american-buddha.com/ahwahnee.hotel.htm#THE AHWAHNEE HOTEL
The sixth-floor apartment which had been remodeled during 1970-71 underwent further remodeling in the early 1980s in preparation for the visit by Queen Elizabeth II at which time a new bath and new kitchen were added. The kitchen has been upgraded periodically over the building's history. Other utility areas retain original configuration and updated equipment.
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=184378
EXCERPT:
Touching down on the visit of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, to Yosemite in 1983, the book lays the ground for Seymour's entrance into the story. The Queen's visit, which brought 500 journalists to massive stands built at Inspiration Point to photograph the royal entourage, produced no news except for media reports of a collision taking the lives of three Secret Service, agents. The deaths were broadly reported as a tragic accident, the story falling off the front pages as rapidly as most accidents after the clean-up.
But for Cheri Seymour, formerly a small town journalist living in Mariposa, California, the event set in motion ripples which, in the fall of 1986, drew her into the miasma of corruptions which exist all around us, just out of sight around some corner of our individual perception. Cheri's awareness of the problems began with a note asking her to meet a sheriff's deputy at the Gold Coin Saloon after work. There, Cheri listened to a story of local corruption and the murder of Ron Van Meter, another sheriff's deputy, who refused to be silenced over corruption in his own department. The accident was caused by Rod Sinclair, a man with connections in high places who was addicted to drugs. A cover-up had begun immediately. Agreeing to investigate what Seymour thought was a matter of local corruption eventually lead to the shock of finding connections between drugs, the creation of the presidency of Ronald Reagan, the rise of the NeoCons, and the tentacles reaching out into the lives of both Americans and people around the world from places and people we thought we knew and could trust.
Why did Ronald Reagan leave show business in 1960, change his registration to Republican from Democrat and immediately seek to ingratiate himself to Conservatives, who he then betrayed, rebranding the meaning of the word entirely? What was the relationship between the agency which represented him, Music Corporation of America, MCA, those controlling government and organized crime? MCA had been scheduling talent into speakeasies run by notorious gangsters, such as Al Capone, since the 20s. Moving to Hollywood in 1939 along with Lew Wasserman, then an up and coming executive for MCA, the company began representing prominent stars, of which Reagan was only one.
It was Wasserman who would orchestrate Reagan's election as President of the Screen Actor's Guild and then, when Ronnie's acting career faltered, direct him as he entered a career in politics, ensuring Reagan's election to the governorship of California in 1966. Wasserman and his wife remained life long friends of President and Nancy Reagan.
MCA's nickname, “The Octopus,” provides a chilling parallel.
My daughter's godmother married in the Ahwahnee Hotel. My daughter was the flower girl. ..........cal
EXCERPT:
http://www.american-buddha.com/ahwahnee.hotel.htm#THE AHWAHNEE HOTEL
The sixth-floor apartment which had been remodeled during 1970-71 underwent further remodeling in the early 1980s in preparation for the visit by Queen Elizabeth II at which time a new bath and new kitchen were added. The kitchen has been upgraded periodically over the building's history. Other utility areas retain original configuration and updated equipment.
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=184378
EXCERPT:
Touching down on the visit of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, to Yosemite in 1983, the book lays the ground for Seymour's entrance into the story. The Queen's visit, which brought 500 journalists to massive stands built at Inspiration Point to photograph the royal entourage, produced no news except for media reports of a collision taking the lives of three Secret Service, agents. The deaths were broadly reported as a tragic accident, the story falling off the front pages as rapidly as most accidents after the clean-up.
But for Cheri Seymour, formerly a small town journalist living in Mariposa, California, the event set in motion ripples which, in the fall of 1986, drew her into the miasma of corruptions which exist all around us, just out of sight around some corner of our individual perception. Cheri's awareness of the problems began with a note asking her to meet a sheriff's deputy at the Gold Coin Saloon after work. There, Cheri listened to a story of local corruption and the murder of Ron Van Meter, another sheriff's deputy, who refused to be silenced over corruption in his own department. The accident was caused by Rod Sinclair, a man with connections in high places who was addicted to drugs. A cover-up had begun immediately. Agreeing to investigate what Seymour thought was a matter of local corruption eventually lead to the shock of finding connections between drugs, the creation of the presidency of Ronald Reagan, the rise of the NeoCons, and the tentacles reaching out into the lives of both Americans and people around the world from places and people we thought we knew and could trust.
Why did Ronald Reagan leave show business in 1960, change his registration to Republican from Democrat and immediately seek to ingratiate himself to Conservatives, who he then betrayed, rebranding the meaning of the word entirely? What was the relationship between the agency which represented him, Music Corporation of America, MCA, those controlling government and organized crime? MCA had been scheduling talent into speakeasies run by notorious gangsters, such as Al Capone, since the 20s. Moving to Hollywood in 1939 along with Lew Wasserman, then an up and coming executive for MCA, the company began representing prominent stars, of which Reagan was only one.
It was Wasserman who would orchestrate Reagan's election as President of the Screen Actor's Guild and then, when Ronnie's acting career faltered, direct him as he entered a career in politics, ensuring Reagan's election to the governorship of California in 1966. Wasserman and his wife remained life long friends of President and Nancy Reagan.
MCA's nickname, “The Octopus,” provides a chilling parallel.
EXCERPT:
The MCA organization picked up the nickname the octopus due to its large reach in many different directions. In 1958, it acquired the 430-acre (1.7 km2) Universal Studios moving into producing television programs and motion pictures while still representing talent clients; quickly picking up criticisms of conflicts of interest.
EXCERPT:
After a very pleasant dinner and a quick stop at a poker club in nearby Commerce, we went to Robb's apartment in Hollywood where he showed me a huge box, containing 6,000 pages of unsorted Department of Justice documents about Reagan, MCA, and the Screen Actors Guild that he had received through the Freedom of Information Act. It was an absolute gold mine.
Even though Robb invited me to sleep on his couch, I wound up spending the entire night skimming through this wonderful material, which included a complete transcript of Reagan's 1962 testimony before a grand jury.
The following day, Robb--who, despite his tough-guy exterior, turned out to be one of the finest people I have ever known--allowed me to photocopy anything I wanted; so I copied everything, most of which had not been published in Robb's only article about this subject. And, even though I had been extremely critical of Lou Cannon for missing--or ignoring--the Reagan-MCA connection, the fact was that none of the dozens of other books about Reagan had addressed this matter either.
Briefly, Ronald Reagan had come to Los Angeles in 1937 to make motion pictures. In 1940, MCA bought out the talent agency that represented Reagan; Lew Wasserman, a rising star in MCA, became Reagan's personal agent, negotiating a million-dollar contract with Warner Brothers on Reagan's behalf. In 1946, Wasserman became the president of MCA, and the following year, Reagan, with his film career already in decline, became the president of the Screen Actors Guild.
A sweetheart relationship developed between MCA and SAG, which culminated in July 1952 during Reagan's fifth consecutive term as SAG's president. Reagan and Laurence Beilenson--an attorney for MCA who had previously served as SAG's general counsel and represented Reagan in his 1949 divorce from actress Jane Wyman--negotiated an exclusive blanket waiver from SAG that permitted MCA to engage in unlimited film production. The agreement violated SAG's bylaws, which prohibited talent agents from employing their own clients. At the time, no other talent agency could receive a similar arrangement.
A Justice Department memorandum in Robb's FOIA cache indicated that the waiver became "the central fact of MCA's whole rise to power."
http://nwo.media.xs2.net/articles/promis.html
EXCERPT:
The Justice department, under President Ronald Reagan's Attorney General and long time associate Edwin Meese, bought the software from Hamilton for $10 million.
According to Hamilton, as soon as the Justice Department took delivery of the 1980's version of PROMIS, they reneged on the contract and withheld payments, forcing Inslaw into Chapter Eleven bankruptcy. The Justice Department then launched what Bill Hamilton called "a covert effort" to completely liquidate Inslaw, and Inslaw retaliated by suing the Department of Justice in Federal Bankruptcy Court. After a three week trial, Judge George Bason ruled that officials of the Justice Department "stole" forty-four copies of PROMIS, "through trickery, fraud and deceit", and then tried to drive Inslaw out of business.
A federal appeals court later upheld the facts in the case, but overturned the decision on the technical matter that the lawsuit was Pought in the wrong jurisdiction. That decision is being appealed to the Supreme Court. However, Bill Hamilton says ten years later, that he hasn't "received a penny" for PROMIS, while forty-four federal prosecutors offices across the country are still using the software.
A month after Bason's ruling in favor of Inslaw, the judge learned the shocking and bizarre news that his reappointment to the court was being denied, and that he would be replaced by S. Martin Teel, one of the Justice Department attorneys who unsuccessfully argued the Inslaw case before Bason.
EXCERPT:
The Justice department, under President Ronald Reagan's Attorney General and long time associate Edwin Meese, bought the software from Hamilton for $10 million.
According to Hamilton, as soon as the Justice Department took delivery of the 1980's version of PROMIS, they reneged on the contract and withheld payments, forcing Inslaw into Chapter Eleven bankruptcy. The Justice Department then launched what Bill Hamilton called "a covert effort" to completely liquidate Inslaw, and Inslaw retaliated by suing the Department of Justice in Federal Bankruptcy Court. After a three week trial, Judge George Bason ruled that officials of the Justice Department "stole" forty-four copies of PROMIS, "through trickery, fraud and deceit", and then tried to drive Inslaw out of business.
A federal appeals court later upheld the facts in the case, but overturned the decision on the technical matter that the lawsuit was Pought in the wrong jurisdiction. That decision is being appealed to the Supreme Court. However, Bill Hamilton says ten years later, that he hasn't "received a penny" for PROMIS, while forty-four federal prosecutors offices across the country are still using the software.
A month after Bason's ruling in favor of Inslaw, the judge learned the shocking and bizarre news that his reappointment to the court was being denied, and that he would be replaced by S. Martin Teel, one of the Justice Department attorneys who unsuccessfully argued the Inslaw case before Bason.
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