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The last time I heard something as far-fetched as U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s rationale for leaving his post was O.J. Simpson’s vow to search for his ex-wife’s killer…on the golf course. I don’t know whether to laugh, cry or be angry. Bergdahl is one troubled young man. Listen to this podcast. I think you will agree. His reason for leaving his post and endangering the lives of soldiers searching for him is remarkably juvenile. He wanted to expose leadership failures, and test whether he could pull off a Jason Bourne adventure, he says. He wanted to draw attention, like...

When Republican members of Congress learned in November 2011 that the Obama administration was contemplating a swap -- Taliban terrorists for captured ArmySgt. Bowe Bergdahl -- they wrote to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton of their fears. Mrs. Clinton wrote back that they had nothing to worry about. The White House would follow the law requiring a 30-day heads-up. "I want to make clear that any transfer from Guantanamo will be undertaken after consultation with Congress and pursuant to all legal requirements for transfers, including those spelled out in the FY2012 [National] Defense Authorization Act," she said of the law...

SAINT-DENIS, Reunion -- Sixteen-year-old sailor Abby Sunderland is homeward bound - though her plane flight back to California isn't the homecoming she originally imagined when she set off in hopes of sailing around the world. About two weeks after her rescue at sea, Sunderland departed Sunday from the French island of Reunion, off the southeastern coast of Africa, en route to France, then on to California.

The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea was first adopted in 1914 in response to the Titanic disaster. Along with mandating the number of lifeboats and the notification of a ship's routes, it also dictates that any ship in the area of a distress call will divert to assist that ship.

Here's a dose of reality. The father of teen sailor Abby Sunderland told The NY Post that he's broke and had signed a contract to do a reality show, "Adventures in Sunderland," about his family of daredevil kids weeks after she set off on her doomed and dangerous solo sail around the globe. Laurence Sunderland, a sailing instructor who lives in the middle-class Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks with his pregnant wife and seven kids, opened their home to film crews four months ago.

Here's a dose of reality. The father of teen sailor Abby Sunderland told The NY Post that he's broke and had signed a contract to do a reality show, "Adventures in Sunderland," about his family of daredevil kids weeks after she set off on her doomed and dangerous solo sail around the globe.

Here's a dose of reality. The father of teen sailor Abby Sunderland told The Post yesterday that he's broke and had signed a contract to do a reality show, "Adventures in Sunderland," about his family of daredevil kids weeks after she set off on her doomed and dangerous solo sail around the globe. Laurence Sunderland, a sailing instructor who lives in the middle-class Los Angeles suburb of Thousand Oaks with his pregnant wife and seven kids, opened their home to film crews four months ago. "The show might be about family, it might be about Abigail's trip. It's something that...

LOS ANGELES | Abby Sunderland’s quest to become the youngest person to sail solo around the world was star-crossed from the start, and weather was always the principal villain. Originally scheduled to launch in early December to avoid the chilly winter weather and deadly waves in the Indian Ocean, the California teenager and her team met with delays equipping her boat, Wild Eyes, money shortages and unfriendly hometown weather. When she finally set sail Jan. 23, experienced sailors issued warnings given the late start, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Media Mob has learned that a team of Hollywood insiders is currently working on a screen adaptation of Truth And Duty: The Press, the President, and the Privilege of Power—the 2005 book by former CBS News producer Mary Mapes, in which she defends the 60 Minutes II story by Dan Rather about President George W. Bush's time in the Texas Air National Guard, which ran on CBS in September 2004 and eventually led to her ouster from the network. Who would want to turn "Rathergate" into a feature-length film? According to sources familiar with the situation, Producer Mikkel Bondesen,...

Variety reports: Lionsgate has picked up worldwide distribution rights to “Atlas Shrugged” from Howard and Karen Baldwin (Ray), who will produce with John Aglialoro. As for stars, book provides an ideal role for an actress in lead character Dagny Taggart, so it’s not a stretch to assume Rand enthusiast Angelina Jolie’s name has been brought up. Brad Pitt, also a fan, is rumored to be among the names suggested for lead male character John Galt.

Greta came on with blockbuster development. Twitty's attorney, John Q. Kelly, apparently had the moves of the Vandersloots under extreme scrutiny. The Vandersloot parents had flown to NYC for an interview with ABC .. Joran was en route from the Netherlands to NYC to meet with them. Kelly had a former law enforcement official seated 3 seats in front of Joran on the plane, and when they were on American soil and were about to deplane, he served papers on Joran for 3 counts. Simultaneously, the Vandersloot parents were served in NYC ... the father charged with 1 count. Greta...

OTTAWA (CP) - A new Hollywood film will dramatize the story of how contaminated blood from Arkansas prisoners found its way into the veins of thousands of Canadian hemophiliacs, killing many. Blood Trail will make revelations that point to criminal negligence and raise suspicions of murder, says Elizabeth Fowler of Clear Pictures Entertainment "There's bits here and bits there and that's how they managed to get away with it. You put it all together and you go, 'Whoa!' " An RCMP investigation has been underway for close to five years, but no charges have been laid in connection with the...

HOLLYWOOD star Tom Hanks' production firm has signed a deal with the man known as Deep Throat to turn his story into a movie, industry press said today. Former FBI agent Mark Felt, who last month revealed he was the Deep Throat who helped reporters expose US president Richard Nixon's role in the Watergate scandal, is understood to have inked the deal with Universal Pictures on behalf of Hanks' Playtone company. The rights, along with those to a book, were sold for around $US1 million ($1.3 million), according to The New York Times. Entertainment industry bible Daily Variety said the...

Universal Pictures and PublicAffairs have agreed to pay close to $1 million to buy the film and book rights to the life story of W. Mark Felt, people involved in the deal said yesterday. Mr. Felt is the former F.B.I. official who recently said he was Deep Throat, the secret source for Bob Woodward, the Washington Post reporter, during the Watergate investigation. The potential sale has been the subject of intense speculation in the publishing industry and in Hollywood since Mr. Felt's identity was revealed last month in an article in Vanity Fair magazine. The contracts, which are expected to...

Deep Throat has a book deal and a movie deal, and he could end up being played by Tom Hanks. The family of 91-year-old W. Mark Felt, who revealed his role as The Washington Post's key Watergate source two weeks ago, has chosen PublicAffairs Books to publish a combination of autobiography and biography, publisher and CEO Peter Osnos said last night. Osnos said that Universal Pictures has optioned Felt's life story and the book for a movie to be developed by Hanks's production company, Playtone. He said the book will blend Felt's own writing about his life, including his out-of-print...

JUDITH Regan did everything possible to keep her $500,000 deal with "Runaway Bride" Jennifer Wilbanks a secret. But PAGE SIX has obtained a copy of the "deal memo" that led to Wilbanks' interview with NBC's Katie Couric, plus an e-mail from Regan's office swearing Wilbanks and her family to secrecy. "I must stress the importance of keeping this deal and all its details absolutely confidential," Regan's assistant, Doug Grad, e-mailed the Wilbanks family this month. "Nobody can know that this deal has gone through — and those who do know . . . must keep it secret. Any leaks can...

Tom Hanks' production company has bought the film rights to the life story of Mark Felt, the former FBI official recently revealed to have been Deep Throat, it was reported today. Universal Pictures is understood to have secured the rights for development by Playtone, the company co-owned by Hanks and Gary Goetzman, the New York Times reported today. The rights, along with those for a book to be published by respected non-fiction house PublicAffairs, are believed to have been sold for almost $1 million (£550,000). Peter Osnos, the chief executive of PublicAffairs, said the book is expected to be published...

Runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks made a deal with a company that is pitching a movie about her life to networks - annoying officials who spent thousands of dollars searching for her. ReganMedia, a New York multimedia company, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution for a story in Thursday's papers it has acquired all media rights to the "life stories" of Wilbanks and her fiance, John Mason. The company did not say whether any money had changed hands. "I am looking forward to developing the scripted project with Wilbanks and Mason," company president Judith Regan said in a statement. "Theirs is an unexpected...

Matt Damon and George Clooney come back together for political thriller Matt Damon and George Clooney, who are currently working together on Steven Soder-bergh's Ocean's Eleven sequel - Ocean's Twelve, will reteam for the Stephen Gaghan-helmed political thriller Syriana. In addition, Amanda Peet is in final negotiations to join the project. Set up at Warner Bros., Clooney and Soderbergh's studio-based Section Eight will produce the project with shooting slated to begin during the summer. Gaghan adapted the script, which is loosely based on the Robert Baer non-fiction novel See No Evil: The True Story of a Foot Soldier in the...

Tin SoldierAn American Vigilante In Afghanistan, Using the Press for Profit and Glory By Mariah Blake In April 2004, a former U.S. Special Forces soldier named Jonathan Keith Idema started shopping a sizzling story to the media. He claimed terrorists in Afghanistan planned to use bomb-laden taxicabs to kill key U.S. and Afghan officials, and that he himself intended to thwart the attack. Shortly thereafter, he headed to Afghanistan, where he spent the next two months conducting a series of raids with his team, which he called Task Force Saber 7. By late June, he claimed to have captured the...