Ingrid of the Jungle

A Dr. sipmac translation (original text taken from Tijera Press)

"This should never have happened. Everything was so crystal clear in my mind: Larry King, Oprah, then the Nobel Prize, best-selling books about my captivity in Spanish, English and French, a major motion picture in Hollywood, the Awards ceremony, negligence lawsuit against the Colombian state, the presidency, and then ... " Perhaps I exaggerate, but more than one of these things certainly thought Ingrid Betancourt during and after his captivity. The story of her mighty tantrum originated because she didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize says a lot.

Accustomed as we are to their miscalculations, it took us completely by surprise the obvious: writers Serge Scotto and Eric Stoffel, teamed up with illustrator Richard di Martino and prepared between July 2008 and December 2009 the perfect blow to the arrogance and ambition of the former hostage, a comic satire of her well known behavior in and out of captivity. A simple idea, but it never ocurred until now in this proud land of "humorists".

Currently scheduled to go on sale one week before the captivity memoir "There is no silence that does not end", the graphic satire and is already an Internet sensation. The web forums are full of prospective buyers, willing to buy a Spanish version.

Yet to be known is if the parody will be successful in France, where there was certainly a lot of backlash, and saturation with everything having to do with Ingrid Betancourt; but is almost certain that it could be completely successful in the country that loves to hate her. Meanwhile, she continues with its strong levels of unpopularity, which I doubt can be alleviated with an exclusive interview with reputed writer and intellectual Héctor Abad. Even Larry King at its best couldn't have been able to rescue her image. Another gaffetastic miscalculation.

We should recall that her first miscalculation was to enter a combat zone in spite of the warnings.

An Open Letter to D.A. Jack McCoy

In the war on crime, one of the worst things that uses to happen is bringing politics into the administration of Justice. Using the political prism for consideration, serious charges are likely to be trivialised and disminished, giving the opportunity to an offender to walk free, just because he is the darling of a movement or political party or has the right ideological sympathies. Fortunately, there are people that still consider that a crime is still a crime, especially when the defendant pleads guilty. These are their stories.

Ka-chunk!

Dear Mr. McCoy,

for many years I’ve been a big fan of your fine work as a District Attorney in New York City. Your genuine desire for see justice done, is enough for a remarkable person like you to keep on going for almost twenty years. And despite your well known personal flaws, you are still an inspiration for your co-workers and the audience, deserving all the respect you get.

In this order of ideas, we just saw on the September 25 episode which conviniently re-ran Saturday night, “Memo from the Dark Side,” how you were willing to prosecute the people responsible of torturing in Abu Ghraib, up to the one and only, the former VP Dick Cheney. Your message may be disgusting for some political interests, but very clear: Torture is a punishable crime, no matter who commits it, no matter for which interest it was committed.

That gives me confidence to ask you to prosecute and convict Mr. Roman Polanski, the celebrated film director, for the rape of a 13-year-old girl on the night of March 10th, 1977, in Los Angeles, California. For reasons I can’t comprehend there is a lot of outrage in France, Poland and the United States, but just because he was arrested in Zurich (Switzerland), before he, the accomplished filmmaker, was going to be honored with a lifetime achievement award. Facing extradition already, this should be a no-brainer for you after your last case: he already pleaded guilty, but fled on January 1st, 1978, to London, so that any previous agreement he reached with the early prosecution should be null and void by now.

Not your jurisdiction? Please, for someone like you, used to find and use tenuous rationales to charge defendants before they can walk, this should be easier than falling from a tree. Please don’t let this sex offender get away with rape. If necessary, police detectives Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson of the S.V.U. would be of great help.

Thanks in advance for your great victory. According to the “ripped from the headlines” policy of your series, I’m confident that I will see justice prevail in an yet-to-be-shoot-but-sure-to-be-shoot episode.

Very Truly Yours,


Dr. sipmac