Rating: 
Summary: What if?
Review: No one has brought up the possibility that Bulger or some other principles in this case might have had children and perhaps an arrangement was made between Bulger or the affected parties and the government but Bulger or others learned that the children had been given a life of misery and contempt,perhaps abused abandoned or neglected and that the whole plan for their roles as informants may have been based on a lie. What if children were held hostage or deliberately placed in harm's way to control players in this case?
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Summary: Legendary Boston mobster tied to the FBI.
Review: Great book about the Irish mob in Boston and their leader "Whitey" Bugler's mix-up with the FBI. Being Irish and growing up in the same neighbourhood built a stronger bond that what side on the law they were working for. The FBI detective John Connolly and the people around him managed to include the fearsome leader as an informant to get information on the Italian mob, and in return keep him informed and sheltered from the police/authorities. The authors (Boston Globe reporters) managed to uncover this unbelievable and compelling story. The book is well written and keeps up the excitment from start to finish.
Rating:
Summary: Filling in the gaps
Review: In 1995 2 things happened: 1) Whitey Bulger vanished ,and 2) Jonatha Harr's " A Civil Action" came out. The earliest signs of epidemic emerged in the early to mid 1960s in Woburn, when NASA was looking to locate the future site of the Houston space center in Woburn on a 1,000 acre site at a a cost of $50-60 million and to create 2-3,000 new jobs. JFK was involved in this site decision and 2 committees were formed at this time:1) NASA for Woburn and 2) Save our Shipyard. Mayor Gilgun headed the NASA committee while Carl Roessler,President of Burlington's Trans-Sonic Corp., a flow measurement device manufacturer, headed the shipyard committee.Both Gilgun and Roessler lived in Woburn. This book details the controversy over who knew what and when and the eventual closure of the wells under Mayor Gill's administration in May,1979. As JFK began promoting the change of the U.S. economy more on space, Robert McNamara was making decisions on base closings.
The Boston Navy yard and Portsmouth,NH navy yards were in the area of base closings.Prior to the sinking of the nuclear USS Thresher in 1963, a small group of workmen from the Boston navy yard transferred to Portsmouth. The Thresher sank,killing 100+ sailors and a military officer testified 20% of the back pressure relief valves were installed backwards causing hull collaps while other speculated welding flaws-- both workmanship issues.
Boston Edison approved the 1,000 acre site for development in Woburn. JFK was shot, the deal fell through at about the time of a physical survey of the site, and the site was moved to Houston and became the Johnson space center while part of it remained in Cambridge known as Draper Labs.
In 1965 Steve Flemmi arose and 8-10 years later recruited Whitey Bulger.The Mclean-Mclaughlin wars broke out.
In 1995,John Connolly, former FBI agent and Boston Edison executive, came under fire when Bulger vanished. So too, did Rico,Ring,Morris,Salemme,Mercurio,Condon most of which have ties to the Woburn area.As controversy surrounding Nick Paleologos and this book soared the Bulger case exploded also. At the peak of high emotions, Barry Mawn, of Woburn, appeared as head of the Boston FBI.In the 1960s-70s at the Woburn court was former FBI agent Ron Weafer and Tom Driscoll lived in the area at this time.
Jan Schlictmann eventually worked for Tom Kiley who now represents William Bulger, Whitey's brother.Is there a common link, perhaps a child from the water pollution that binds the 2 cases?
Rating:
Summary: Will Whitey ever get caught?
Review: This is an excellent book on the Boston Irish mob figure whitey bulger. Almost everyone else that has something to do with the case has been caught and tried, including FBI agent John Connally. Whitey became an informant for the FBI by Connnally's persausion, but he was overratted and used the FBI to strengthen his position while Steve Flemmi's information was more valuable. They informed on the the Italian mafia, but the Angulio's were taken down more due to wire tap evidence. Whitey and his gang became the benefactors of the fall of the Angulio's and pick up some of their business after their fall. Whitey was also a drug dealer, not protector of South Boston. Will he ever get caught? It remains to be seen, and with his resources he could run a long way for a long time.
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Summary: True Crime With a Boston Accent !
Review: The plot of "Black Mass" revolves around a fateful decision by the Boston FBI concerning the so-called Irish Mafia of South Boston and its infamous boss-the notorious James "Whitey" Bulger. The FBI was so eager to break up the local Italian Mafia that, for years it used Whitey as a confidential informant. Was there a payback? There certainly was: Whitey was allowed to run his bookmaking, loan sharking, shake downs and other criminal activities without serious interference from law enforcement. Were there "complications"? There certainly were: Apart from obvious slippery morality behind the FBI operation, certain local agents get "slightly too cozy" with Whitey and his right hand man, Stevie "The Rifleman" Flemmi. There is a great nickname! I won't divulge what happens but suffice it to say that a sharp eyed-or was it sharp eared? -Defense attorney unravels the deal. Is justice ultimately done? The reader will just have to find out by him or herself! Fair warning: the epilogue fails to tie up all loose ends. BM reads as if it were two stories. The early going is uneven, choppy and routine. Then BM finds its' stride and develops into fine true crime reading. Perhaps that was due to dual authorship or dual editing. The end result is ultimately satisfying. BM is an excellent example of the dangers of good intentions (stopping the Italian Mafia) unraveling into a its' own sinister crisis and creating its' own maelstrom of crime. BM is a 5 star work, but with one star subtracted for the weaker early stages. Boston residents can quite easily add back the 5th star. True crime devotees living in eastern Massachusetts should love this one.
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Summary: Afterthought
Review: This book was a real interesting one but what i wonder is how a child of Bulger's might have been treated.. Would such a child or children be monitored all their lives by government officials without their knowledge, perhaps having taps or their communications monitored for long periods without their knowledge under some national security directive or secret court order? Are plants put in the lives of informants to control them subtly without their knowledge or consent? If so
do the American people want this? Is there a classified operation still ongoing involving Bulger et al? Should Dan Burton explore this?
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Summary: Knock,Knock
Review: In this case and perhaps ongoing is a lot of people manipulating each other with the government presenting itself as master manipulator. I have an acquaintance i'll dub "Harry". "Harry" began having unusual problems when the fallout from Bulger's sudden disapearance began. For example: as the court action began and Boston media coverage hyped up,an individual i'll dub "Luke" appeared in Harry's life as a temporary coworker. As the 'friendship' matured, it became evident to Harry something was up. "Luke" began indicating he knew Harry's personal video rentals. Harry rented from a small store in which a new employee, dubbed " Peter" worked. Harry confronted Peter as to whether the store was giving out personal info and Peter denied it.Luke then began telling Harry he was watching him where he worked out and began tailing him around town while badgering Harry to be invited to his home without explanation. The store Harry went to was owned by what the papers called a Governor Paul Cellucci supporter.A couple years later Harry went to another video store and this time saw Peter from the previous store now working here. Suddenly Harry had a series of missing videos and the store was claiming he owed hundreds in late fees even though the store had never indicated there was a problem nor would management discuss it with him. The point here is that Harry progressively began getting setup.Harry confronted Luke and Luke did not deny being with the FBI. Harry had no criminal record of any kind. Harry feels there is some unknown link between the Bulger case and him he has never been told. And this link made him some kind of target by current and/or former government personnel.
Rating:
Summary: Skims the surface
Review: This book is interesting but not overly so. In this case some names have come up that are not well known to the general public. John Cincotti for example has been associated with Genaro Angiulo but also with escort services in Massachusetts. One of the least discussed connections is that between organized crime and 'legitimate business'. Corporations use escort services and the like but the connection with organized crime is seldom considered.Flemmi and Bulger are alleged to have been involved with this.
Rating:
Summary: Trouble in the Bureau.
Review: In the summer of 1983 the FBI had a witness who was going to testify to a grand jury in Boston about some of the Bulger boys' shenanigans in connection with a business of the witness' in Southie. Somehow word of the witness got to the boys, and in the wee hours one morning he was taken from his home to an abandoned lot, where they did a mock execution and told him that if he testified they'd do him for real. The witness was a lot tougher than the boys thought (and didn't know that some of the FBI were on the boys' payroll). He called the FBI as soon as he got home. The feds picked up the chump who made the threat almost immediately -- the witness knew him, and his idea of trying to be hard to find was going to his mom's place on the cape. But it was a puzzle how word of the proposed grand jury testimony had gotten out. This book may explain why. It's a fascinating, and scary, read.
Rating:
Summary: Where is Whitey now?
Review: I picked up this book used and found it to be really excellent. I think Whitey is still on the most wanted list. Given some of things the government has done in the past it won't suprise me if he was never caught and this gets into why often mentioning that he was very overrated as an informant on the Boston LCN. Probaly used the FBI to become the most powerful mob boss in Boston despite being Irish. He did a lot of hits for the Boston LCN as perhaps as many as any top enforcer in Boston and was overvalued as an informer. This book goes into why: his relationship from a certain FBI agent since the agent was a child. Embarrassing for the FBi despite having taken down the Angiulio's..mostly due to wire tap evidence, not Bulger.
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