In the past few years, I have dedicated several essays to the drive to bring to a theater near you: a feature-length film version of the 1965-1968 spy television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. – the first covered the difficulty in finding a producer and the second involved holding-on to a director.
Now, an update.
This coming August 14th is set to be the premiere of the new movie – directed by Guy Ritchie and featuring Hugh Grant as Alexander Waverly – the spy agency head.
It stars the British actor Henry Cavill as agent Napoleon Solo (originally portrayed by Robert Vaughn). (Charlie Pierce often refers to Hope Solo – the goalkeeper for the US Women’s World Cup team – as “Napoleon Solo’s granddaughter.”)
Cast as Illya Kuryakin is the American actor Armie Hammer – the great-grandson of the industrialist Armand Hammer.
Looking forward to mid-August so that middle-aged coots like myself can, once again … “Open Channel D”.
At the end of 2013, I focused on – as Queen Elizabeth would say – the annus horriblis that afflicted various mayors in Canada. It seemed bizarre that so many succumbed to corruption or simply men-behaving badly. [At this link is my original essay.
Now, an update.
At least the good citizens of Toronto have (luckily) been spared the saga of its former mayor Rob Ford – who dropped-out of his mayoral re-election bid after learning he had an abdominal tumor. He has been undergoing chemo for (what did turn-out to be) a cancerous tumor … but warns that if he recovers, he will once again run for mayor in 2018.
Not so lucky was the former mayor of London, Ontario …. as Joe Fontana was convicted – not for his actions as mayor, but as a member of Parliament some years earlier – of fraud, falsifying a document and breach of trust in an expense he claimed for his son’s wedding.
He was sentenced to four months of house arrest and 18 months of probation, with Ontario Superior Court judge Bruce Thomas asking,
“I am perplexed as to why a man of such accomplishments might choose to take these actions …. for $1,700?”
In the Québec city of Laval, two successive mayors had to resign two years ago … with the second one doing so in a scandal involving prostitution and extortion …. which if they appear in the same sentence … umm …. will not end well.
His predecessor as mayor, Gilles Vaillancourt – who stepped-down over charges including conspiracy, fraud, influence peddling, breach of trust and gangsterism. The current mayor (Marc Demers) said the city was prepared to file a lawsuit against Vaillancourt and others involved in the corruption scheme. (Interestingly, Demers had his election challenged on a claim of not fulfilling a residency requirement – but the Quèbec Court of Appeal upheld a lower court ruling, which had denied that claim).
Meanwhile, Vaillancourt had his preliminary hearing in April, and is awaiting a trial date that – if convicted on the gangsterism charge – could receive a sentence of life in prison. At the time of my initial diary, I opined that he was a Separated at Birth with former US House speaker Dennis Hastert (right photo) …. and whaddya know: Monsieur Vaillancourt is no longer the only one in this pairing to be facing felony charges.
Since my original diary, it turns out there were some other former Canadian mayors of less-than-sterling reputation: former Winnipeg mayor Sam Katz was investigated over a possible abuse of power, whether a house he owned in Arizona was his primary residence and after leaving office: is now being sued by a credit union.
Then the Brampton, Ontario mayor Susan Fennel lost a re-election bid over allegations of inappropriate spending …. and the mayor of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Pete Kelly was “embroiled in a number of controversies near the end of his time as mayor”, which ended in 2012.
Some of these I learned of via a 2013 online Vote for Canada’s worst mayor poll. But taking a more in-depth (and introspective) look is the Toronto author, lawyer and former law-school dean Philip Slayton – whose new book argues Canadian cities give their mayors too little power, plus “some of these guys are just not well-educated. They enter the job without any background (in urban affairs) and just hit the ground, making decisions”.
Four years ago, I wrote about the head of soccer’s worldwide governing association (FIFA) … and suffice-it-to-say, much of America – when they heard the name Sepp Blatter – thought it was some sort of urinary tract infection. Yet he seemed destined to be a president-for-life, with strong support from football associations in Africa and Asia (who, in fairness, he did much more for than any of his predecessors). He won re-election this year, after promising that his re-election four years ago would be his last. And although he did manage to have a challenger this time … four years ago, his power was so strong, he was re-elected on this Soviet-style ballot:
Now, an update.
Today, many fans in Europe and South America – the sport’s traditional power bases – are mighty glad that the GOP finally allowed a vote to confirm President Obama’s choice for attorney general in late April … because just a month later, Loretta Lynch announced indictments against top FIFA officials. And although he reaffirmed his desire to stay on … Sepp “What, me worry?” Blatter resigned his office just a few days after winning re-election. This past weekend, when the US won the Women’s World Cup in Vancouver, Canada …. President Blatter didn’t attend a World Cup final (men’s or women’s) for the 1st time since taking office in 1998 … for “personal reasons”.
But, he’ll have you know … that not only is he going to heaven but also, that President Blatter is not corrupt.
Now, can’t you just hear a former president saying …..
“People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. Well, I am not a crook”.
Finally, in January of 2013, I wrote about the upcoming trial of the captain of the cruise ship that ran aground in Italy, Francesco Schettino – who became a human punching-bag, with “Captain Coward” among his more polite nicknames after he abandoned his ship with passengers still on board. The contrast between him and a Coast Guard captain named Gregorio De Falco dominated Italian newspapers, with De Falco’s exasperated cry for Schettino to get back on board – “Vada a bordo, cazzo!” – reproduced on hash tags, t-shirts, ring-tones, etc.
Now, an update.
After an exhaustingly long trial, Captain Schettino was convicted of manslaughter in the death of thirty-two passengers (and sentenced to sixteen years in prison) this past February, though he remains free pending appeals. Now, he aims to tell his side of the story (that he argued in his trial) in a new book entitled The Truth Submerged, claiming to have been made a scapegoat.
Your thoughts and comments?