Television: ‘Homicide Hunter’

 

I just concluded, over the past weekend, having streamed all nine seasons of Homicide Hunter. (Admittedly, I do not timely keep up with all series of interest. Sometimes, I play catchup. And it took me, say, two months with Homicide Hunter.) 

Homicide Hunter, which was on Investigation Discovery from 2011–2020, was about numerous cases from the files of former lieutenant Joe Kenda. The now-retired Kenda, above, born in 1946, was in law enforcement in Colorado Springs, Colorado, for more than twenty years until he became inactive in 1996.

I found this series as I was navigating my subscription to Discovery+. Other series, also about real-life crimes, are not done quite so well. Some are lurid, tabloid types in how they are presented. Homicide Hunter is respectful. (Wikipedia page on the series: Wikipedia — Homicide Hunter.)

As a resident of Michigan, I can say that I consider Colorado my second home state given I have made many vacation trips there to visit with my Aunt. Divorced for years, and turning 80 this year, she has lived in the state since 1981. I get to ask of her recollections of a number of these cases. (Remember this one?)

My interest in this subject matter stems from the fact that I am grateful I have personally not lost someone to homicide. My brother has a childhood friend who did lose his bother to homicide in 2015. (It is not solved.) And, last year, I wrote (‘Remembering the Children’) about the 1976 and 1977 murders in Oakland County, Michigan of four children known to be victims of the same killer or killers. I take to this with respect and sympathy, for the victims and their surviving family and friends, and for the fact this even exists. I also appreciate this particular series due to the experiences of Joe Kenda. He gives much insight from the perspective of a law enforcer (in more than one capacity during his active career) and also with understanding of these crimes. He has a keen understanding of human nature. (He has a particularly memorable quote, explaining what made him interested in this career, in the below video.)

Homicide Hunter produced and broadcast 144 episodes. (Most were 20-episode seasons.) Here are a few episodes which stood out:

➤ “A Killer Always Rings Twice” (Season 01 Episode 03): A 1986 homicide investigation of the rape and murder of one female resident in an apartment complex is followed, weeks later, by a second female victim. Clearly, this is the work of the same person. (Report: A Fort Carson soldier was arrested in the investigation….)

➤ “I Now Pronounce You Dead” (Season 02 Episode 01): This is the 1990 homicide of wife and mother Dianne Hood. At age 32, she was gunned down outside a meeting for patients, including herself, who have lupus. (Piece: 5 chilling details from Dianne Hood murder case.)

➤ “Weapon of Choice” (Season 03 Episode 03): On Memorial Day 1990, divorced mother of two Shaundra Murr is murdered. The culprit uses his car to back into her. (It was an unforgettable case. My first trip to Colorado was just two months earlier. It was outrageous and sick. Source: ‘Slain in Front of Children: Shaundra Lynn Murr’.)

There are a few, not many, episodes in which Joe Kenda was not the lead investigator. One such episode is “Animal Nature” (Season 09 Episode 18). It covers the 1975 murder of Karen Grammer, the sister of Emmy-winning actor Kelsey Grammer, who was abducted, raped, and murdered at age 18 by serial killers. (Source: The Murder of Kelsey Grammer's 18-Year-Old Sister in 1975 Still Haunts Him: 'It's Always with You'. The lead investigator on that case was Lou Smit Wikipedia — Lou Smit.)

Here is an interview with Joe Kenda:

Happy Easter 2023!

 

Spring Break 2023

Sundays, April 2 and 9, 2023 are break periods. (No specific blog topics.)

Regular schedule, on Mondays, will resume on April 17, 2023.

‘Michigan strikes right-to-work law detested by unions’

Link:

Michigan strikes right-to-work law detested by unions

The 2022 Democrats won majority pickups for control of both the state House and Senate in my home state Michigan. (First time in 40 years!)

They actually did something they should: Repealed Right-to-Work in Michigan.

In 2010, I sensed Rick Snyder, who that year won a Republican pickup for Governor of Michigan, was a snake. And he proved to be. What with getting a Right-to-Work bill in and signed behind the curtains (so to speak) and then the later coverup with the contaminated water in Flint.

This is important for at least two reasons: It helps…The People. And, from a political and electoral standpoint, it is in a leading bellwether state. 

I will be writing more about electoral matters, looking to 2024 (a year from now, primaries are in progress), and this will happen in a few weeks. I will be taking a break the next two weeks from having a specific topic. This will overlap with Easter on April 9, 2023. The next two weeks of Progressives Chat will be on Sundays, April 2 and 9, 2023. Normal schedule will resume on Monday, April 17, 2023.

Voter Guide

   

If you are like me, and am one of the many millions of United States citizens who has been a voter for a good 30 (or more) years, I am certain you want to make sure you have been handling yourself correctly.

Two recent videos, which serve as a Voter Guide for persons who are in need (and for other persons who may not realize they are in need), appear above. (They are a big help.)

I know everyone here at Progressives Chat, and even elsewhere, can and will appreciate the specific instructions from these two sources.

🙇‍♀️ 

They Are…Democrats

A few years ago, around 2018 or 2019, and while the incumbent U.S. president was Donald Trump, the following quote which has stayed with me was said by Jamarl Thomas.

“Progressives are not Democrats.”

This still resonates.

You are either a progressive—or you are a Democrat.

The reason why this is important to distinguish is because one is an ideological political term, for overall positions on issues, even though that term has been co-opted, and the other one is about continuous loyalty to a U.S. political party. 

(Note: Even though the term progressive has been co-opted, for the sake of this blog topic I will continue to use that term given it is understood among the regulars here at Progressives Chat.)

It is also important to distinguish because the U.S.’s two major political parties, Democratic and Republican, have not been exactly the same on the political spectrum throughout the entirety of their histories.

Yes, it is important to be able to distinguish.

The Online Left, as some have described them (they were for Bernie Sanders), who are lately pushing Marianne Williamson for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, are not progressives.

The Online Left, who are pushing Marianne Williamson for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, are Democrats.

Krystal Ball is a Democrat.

Kyle Kulinski is a Democrat.

Mike Figueredo is a Democrat.

All these people, and there are plenty more, are Democrats.

The Online Left Democrats’s push for Marianne Williamson, for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, is really their push to get their viewers (however many) to…Vote Blue No Matter Who (and What).

The Online Left Democrats are not aligned with, nor are they allies of, progressives. They are with the Democrats. They are…Democrats.

Marianne Williamson Is In (For Now)

This past weekend, author Marianne Williamson announced she is seeking the presidency of the United States. This is also for the 2024 Democratic nomination. This would apparently be a primary challenge, as well, to incumbent 46th U.S. president Joe Biden.

I must confess the following: While normally I would weigh in with more than what I will now offer—like with what are her chances; what would need to happen in her favor—I find enough time has passed in which I do not care.

This is not about Marianne Williamson.

This is about the Democratic Party.

I have not voted, in a general election, for any person who is affiliated with the Democratic Party since the midterm elections of 2014. 

Since the Democrats rigged their presidential primary in 2016, I have not been willing to vote at all in a general election for Team Blue.

Why should I? When the 2016 Democrats rigged the presidential nomination against Bernie Sanders…they also rigged it against every person who voted the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination to Bernie Sanders.

What this amounts to, for me, is a freeing feeling to not be a willing participant in what I now recognize is a scam operation that is named the Democratic Party. 

I do not need the Democratic Party. 

The Democratic Party should be needing me.

⭐️ ⭐️ 🌟 ⭐️ ⭐️ 

Next Sunday, March 12, 2023, will be the 95th Academy Awards on ABC. 

This ceremony is for film achievements for the year 2022.

When I was younger…I regularly tuned in. In fact…I first tuned in, 40 years ago, in 1983. This was the ceremony for motion-picture achievements for the year 1982.

Now, at age 51 (going on 52), I am not really with it anymore.

I outgrew the Oscars. 

What I nowadays do, and perhaps it’s my way of still being remotely in touch, is check the list of nominees particularly for those recognized for the first time. This is especially the case with performances. Some actors who I generally like. First-time nominations. This year something remarkable happened. Of the 20 performance nominations, 16 are first-timers. For the first time in over 80 years, all Best Actor nominees are also first-timers. Typically, around 50 percent of the recognized performance slots go to first-time nominees. The 2022 nominees, in the performance categories, are 80 percent first-timers. So, good for them! (I am particularly pleased for 64-year-old and long-overdue Jamie Lee Curtis.)

I will check out the list of winners after the ceremony. I may even move myself to see some of the nominated productions. (Whenever I get around to doing so.) But, as a I get older…I don’t feel the need to keep up. It is not for a lack of appreciation for movies. It is my response to not being as thrilled in recent years with the entertainment industry, as a whole, and this includes feature films, and certainly not with anywhere near the satisfaction I experienced in my past years.