Dear Don ...

Dear Donald:

Greetings from the Commonwealth and also from the Island of Manhattan, the place you trekked into as one of the bridge and tunnel crew from your Daddy’s place in Queens. Those two places mark my current dwellings and where I attempt to cultivate the most business.

It is that of which I write.  While we have pretty significant differences of opinion on most major policy issues - mainly because I like definitive policies with a concrete foundation and you like to fly by the seat of your Hong Kong manufactured pants, but let’s leave that for another day, OKAY?

I’m writing today to say I was so impressed with the way you shook-down the Carrier Corp, makers of air conditioners and other luxury appliances. I thought it was great that your very first major move after the election was to make a total jack-ass out of Mike Pence and do your mafia don thing to strong-arm Carrier execs, in a deal where you didn’t even both to consult with the Union heads before you announced it to the world.

Pretty savvy dealings, Donald. Nothing like ‘bustin’ the Unions before you even make it to 1600.

Anyway, since you are still President Elect (might be best to cut this deal before you are bolted down by the laws of actually being POTUS, right?), I thought I’d write to offer you a very similar deal. You can orchestrate about $5 million in tax cuts and payments directly to me and I will promise not to move my small business to Mexico or elsewhere. So many of the small business entrepreneurs are thinking of relocating to either Canada or maybe places like Aruba, Bermuda, or The Dominican.  But, I’ll Make You a Deal.

You do the exact same deal and I’ll keep my business here in the Commonwealth, and you can cozy-up to your good buddy Charlie and say what a great thing you’ve done for Massachusetts.

Since you didn’t exactly “win in a landslide” up here in New England, it will provide you with some much-needed PR and goodwill, just in case you wanna win some seats at the MidTerms or run in 2020. Giving away $5-7 million to large and small business owners is precedent setting stuff. In these United States, it’s just great, because I understand you plan to unite everyone and treat everyone equally.  That’s what you said in Ohio on your Mission Accomplished Victory tour and that’s what you said on Election Night, to help stop the riots in the streets and at the Passport application offices.

So, to be perfectly clear, please contact me and I will provide the details for direct deposit.

The terms: You send a $2.5 million deposit, and I will promise (you know how much promises mean, right) to not move my company. 

Send the second installment (another $2.5M) and I will promise not to fire 1,500 people, but might shelve 400 just to keep my end of the bargain and follow the exact same precedent of the deal you cut with Carrier in Mikey’s home State. (the place where all the young women ran away for their lives after Mikey, the VEEP elect, signed all those draconian laws last year. Remember?  (If not, ask all the company heads at Lilly and even at Angie’s List, okay?) - (crap, even the NCAA was ready to pull up stakes).

So, I’m ready if you need to negotiate and get the best of me.  I might settle for an even $4 million and will let you do one of those fake rally’s with all the white people standing behind you cheering, okay?

We’ll play The Dead’s “Shakedown Street” as your new theme song.  Since Jerry’s already gone, I’m sure they won’t diss you the way Elton, Bruce and The Stones did.

Deal?

Thanks.  Great doing business with ‘ya.

If you can keep sending everyone some $5-7M in tax breaks and people like me a cool $2.5M to keep my biz here in the Commonwealth, you will truly live up to your #1 campaign promise, to Make America Great Again.

Let’s get going, now.  Time’s a wastin’

PS: Nice job with the whole Beijing relations thing. I'm sure you were merely paying respects to General Tso inventor Chef Peng Chang-kuei, right?  I'm sure you've had it many times with Yoko at Mr Chow's on 57th, am I correct?

PSS: Let's buy Hess Trucks for all the poor kids too?

Yours truly,

T

cc: Charlie Baker, Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey (the Senator, not the Goodyear guy).

Lost in a 24-48 Hour News Cycle

A news cycle is a news cycle. For argument sake, let's say we're looking at 24-48 hours of reporting. A lot can happen in those 24-48 hours. Let's take a quick look, just off the top of my head (meaning no google research, here).

Bobby Knight supports Trump

Trump wins in Indiana

Cruz bows out

Carly Fiorena has shortest veep role in history

Cruz elbows his wife, twice.

Bernie Sanders wins in Indiana

Hillary Clinton doesn't win

John McCain issues a non-supportive, vague backing of Trump, then flip-flopped

Presidents Bush (41) and (43) extend distance from Trump, no GOP convention

President Obama visits Flint, Michigan, drinks the water

Kasich bows out

Trump has a taco salad, while insulting every Hispanic on earth

Speaker Ryan distances himself from Trump

That was about everything, right?

In the year 2016, it's the pictures that tell the story and decide the "real" value of the news, correct?

If some YouTube video is getting views, even if it's a continent away, it's worthy news for WBZ-TV as long as the Kardashian-Jay-Z/Beyonce-Adele fans tune-in and later fall for the click bait online. News directors in 2016 are simply air traffic controllers, mixing in some local information between the more alluring "trending" stories vetted by Facebook, Twitter and the other associate producers who've elbowed their way past the receptionists and right into the decision-makers den, the so-called "room where it happens."

While we were watching Carly fall, Cruz elbow and all the politicians running for office in 2016 embarrass themselves (and our country) once again, there was an interesting speech delivered in Flint, Michigan, right where those Cronkite-Huntley-Brinkley-loving media cameras focused on nothing but a sip of H2O.

Right there, right in front of their eyes and cameras, the following was said:

... "And as is true when disasters strike in other ways, people pitch in, they come together.  Because they imagine, “All right, that could have been me.”  That’s the good news.

  

The bad news is that this should not have happened in the first place.  (Applause.) 

And even though the scope of the response looks sort of like the efforts we’re used to seeing after a natural disaster, that’s not what this was.  This was a manmade disaster.  This was avoidable.  This was preventable.

Now, I’m not here to go through the full history of what happened.  Like a lot of manufacturing towns, Flint’s economy has been taking hits for decades now -- plants closing, jobs moving away.  Manufacturing has shrunk.  And that’s made it harder for the city to maintain city services.  And let’s face it, government officials at every level weren’t attentive to potential problems the way they should have been.  So they start getting short-staffed, they start getting a shrinking tax base, more demand for services.  Things start getting strained, and there’s not enough help from the outside.  And then when Flint’s finances collapsed, an emergency manager was put in place whose mandate was primarily to cut at all costs.  And then some very poor decisions were made.  All these things contributed to this crisis.  Many of you know the story.

Now, I do not believe that anybody consciously wanted to hurt the people in Flint.  And this is not the place to sort out every screw-up that resulted in contaminated water.  But I do think there is a larger issue that we have to acknowledge, because I do think that part of what contributed to this crisis was a broader mindset, a bigger attitude, a corrosive attitude that exists in our politics and exists in too many levels of our government.  (Applause.) 

And it’s a mindset that believes that less government is the highest good no matter what.  It’s a mindset that says environmental rules designed to keep your water clean or your air clean are optional, or not that important, or unnecessarily burden businesses or taxpayers.  It’s an ideology that undervalues the common good, says we’re all on our own and what’s in it for me, and how do I do well, but I’m not going to invest in what we need as a community.  And, as a consequence, you end up seeing an underinvestment in the things that we all share that make us safe, that make us whole, that give us the ability to pursue our own individual dreams.  So we underinvest in pipes underground.  We underinvest in bridges that we drive on, and the roads that connect us, and the schools that move us forward.  (Applause.)

And this is part of the attitude, this is part of the mindset:  We especially underinvest when the communities that are put at risk are poor, or don't have a lot of political clout -- (applause) -- and so are not as often heard in the corridors of power. 

And this kind of thinking -- this myth that government is always the enemy; that forgets that our government is us -- it’s us; that it’s an extension of us, ourselves -- that attitude is as corrosive to our democracy as the stuff that resulted in lead in your water.  Because what happens is it leads to systematic neglect.  It leads to carelessness and callousness.  (Applause.)  It leads to a lot of hidden disasters that you don't always read about and aren’t as flashy, but that over time diminish the life of a community and make it harder for our young people to succeed.

In one of the roundtables, I was listening to somebody -- I think it was a pastor who told me, you know, it made us feel like we didn't count.  And you can't have a democracy where people feel like they don't count, where people feel like they're not heard.

And that attitude ignores how this country was built, our entire history -- which is based on the idea that we're all connected and that what happens in a community like Flint matters everybody, and that there are things that we can only do together, as a nation, as a people, as a state, as a city that no man is an island.

We've been debating this since the Republic began:  What are our individual responsibilities and what are our collective responsibilities.  And that's a good debate.  But I’ve always believed what the first Republican President, a guy named Abraham Lincoln, said.  He said we should do individually those things that we do best by ourselves.  But through our government, we should do together what we can't do as well for ourselves.  (Applause.)

So it doesn't matter how hard you work, how responsible you are, or how well you raise your kids -- you can't set up a whole water system for a city.  That's not something you do by yourself.  You do it with other people.  You can't hire your own fire department, or your own police force, or your own army.  There are things we have to do together -- basic things that we all benefit from.  And that’s how we invested in a rail system and a highway system.  That's how we invested in public schools.  That's how we invested in science and research. (These) ... how we invested in community colleges and land grant colleges like Michigan State.  (Applause.)

"Can I get some water?  (Applause.)  Come on up here.  Give me some water.  I want a glass of water.  I want a glass of water.  Sit down.  I’m all right.  I’m going to get a glass of water right here.  Let’s make sure we find one.  It will be filtered.  Hold on, I’m going to talk about that in a second.  Settle down, everybody.

Where was I?  We invested in our communities and our cities.  And by making those investments in the common good, we invested in ourselves.  That's the platform we create that allows each of us independently to succeed.  That’s what made America great.

So the people in Flint, and across Michigan, and around the country -- individuals and church groups and non-for-profits and community organizations -- you've proven that the American people will step up when required.  And our volunteers, our non-for-profits, they're the lifeblood of our communities.  We so appreciate what you do.  (Applause.) 

But volunteers don’t build county water systems and keep lead from leaching into our drinking glasses.  We can’t rely on faith groups to reinforce bridges and repave runways at the airport.  We can’t ask second-graders, even ones as patriotic as Isiah Britt who raised all that money, to raise enough money to keep our kids healthy.

You hear a lot about government overreach, how Obama -- he’s for big government.  Listen, it’s not government over-reach to say that our government is responsible for making sure you can wash your hands in your own sink, or shower in your own home, or cook for your family.  (Applause.)  These are the most basic services.  There is no more basic element sustaining human life than water.  It’s not too much to expect for all Americans that their water is going to be safe."

***

Toss that into the 24-48 hour news cycle and there was barely an American - whether a person truly in-the-know or one that binges on Fox News - that was exposed to those important words and mindset because the actual important news was buried between the trendy viral tidbits that drive ratings or online impressions. If it were to be truly reported, sadly no one would spend the time to listen.

With that in mind, I'm not writing to bash the media and I'm not, oh so idealistic to state that I expect everyone to stop, read, watch, print-out transcripts, delve deeper than their regular sources of news and information, seek the truth or some (biased or not) opinions of the truth and/or facts reported to them. I'm not that naive.

I simply wonder what happened.

Why was the speech over-looked?

Don't the ideals of our President's speech deserve mention and then some discussion on the bigger issue he laid-out for us? (Calling Scott Pelley, here).

I don't know why. Do you?

Ode to Donald Trump, Bobby Knight and the Indiana Primary

How many of you remember Bobby Knight's expletive-laced, raving maniac, totally out-of-control - "I'm not losing to Purdue" - rant?

Well, I was thinking about the new and perfect marriage of the former head basketball coach of the Indiana Hoosiers with the crazy, dangerous, demagogue Donald Trump, currently seeking nomination for the most important job in the United States of America.

Using your imagination, fade to black as you conjure up the image of Trump and Knight addressing a team of campaign workers later on today, the day of the Indiana primary.

***

“If you’re not going to (work), then I’m getting the F#$& outta here. If you’re not going to cover (Ted Cruz), if you’re just going to let him drive by you, and if the rest of you are just going to let them get the (votes) (outside the three-second-lane), and drive all the way in here without one guy challenging him, then I'm leaving, and you guys will run ’til you can’t eat supper. I’m tied out this S#$&. I’m sick and F@#$ing tired of our (996 delegate) record.

“I’m sick and F#$%ing tired of losing (Tippecanoe County). I’m not here to F#$% around this week. You may be. I’m not,

“Now, I’ll F#$%ing guarantee you, that if we don’t (get the nomination) Tuesday night, your not going to believe the next four F@#$ing days,

“I am not here to get my ass beat (in Cleveland).

“You better F@#$ing understand that right now. This is absolute F@#$ing bulls#$%.

“I will run your ass right into the ground, you’ll think last night was a F@#$ing picnic.

“I’m not going to sit around here for another year with (996 delegates) in this F@#$ing (party). You will not put me in that F@#$ing position again, or you will G-Damn pay for it like you would not F#$@ing believe.

“Well, you better get your head out of your ass."

The original (not safe for office speakers).

Ramble On ...

Donald Trump took the oh-so typical but short-sighted route when he cancelled his May 18th appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman after the show's host turned on the heat vs. Trump and branded him as a racist for Trump's early campaign tactics of questioning President Obama's nationality.  Trump might have a very short list of media opportunities if he uses that tactic in his ill-conceived run to the Republican national convention.  For instance, we're pretty sure he'll take a pass of commenting directly to "The Blog @ TerryLyons.com."

Trump comes from the school of  'shutting down access' to any media outlet who questions him or places him in a negative light. That might work in his (small) world of New York mogul/tycoon/kahuna where he can pick and choose his media opps but, in the world of national politics, it doesn't fly.

For instance, will Trump boycott all the DC media who laughed out loud when President Obama poked jokes at himself and the Donald at the annual DC correspondent's dinner last night?  With punch-lines galore, the POTUS chose to roast Trump over many of the other so-called candidates, like (O)-Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin or even the already out of the running Haley Barbour.

The WSJ didn't stop at roasting Trump, they lamb-basted him with a "Celebrity Apprentice Oval Office" lampooning the real estate mogul with this article.  Trump's recommendation to President Obama, according to the WSJ is, "to get tough with all the nations that are ripping off the USA." 

Trump's platform as a candidate might not be his foreign relations view.  If you're wondering why, see THIS.

The telling moments in the correspondent's dinner were the countless times Trump stared stone-faced when the POTUS cracked a number of funny punchlines.  No sense of humor equals no votes, sir.

***

NASCAR has made some changes in the front office, including the hiring of former NBA TV producer Steve Herbst to fire-up NASCAR's future television relationships.  Good stuff.

***

In the aftermath of the royal wedding in England and the media frenzy over the fashion statements made by Pippa Middleton, the lyrics to "Dear Ol' Donegal" officially have been altered by the Irish to now read: "Shake hands with your Uncle Mike, me boy, and kiss Kate's sister."

***

Match-ups are always the key storyline as the NBA's playoff series begin and media outlets make their predictions on how the various series will pan out.  The Memphis Grizzlies matched-up favorably as they defeated the San Antonio Spurs in their first round series, just as the Atlanta Hawks did over the Orlando Magic. Meanwhile, the Dallas Mavericks were able to overcome their match-up deficiencies as they eliminated the Portland Trail Blazers - a series that many thought would lean towards the Blazers.

In the second round, err, Conference Semifinals, all eyes are on the Boston Celtics vs. Miami Heat, a playoff match-up worthy of the NBA Finals but one that will play out much earlier in the NBA playoff marathon than most expected.  Thanks to the Chicago Bulls and their 62-20 regular season record, the Heat (58-24) will face the Celtics (56-26) in the Eastern Conference match-up of the century.  The Celtics, with the edge at head coach, point guard, power forward and depth should be able to handle the Heat's mighty "big 3" of Dwayne Wade, Lebron James and Chris Bosh in six tough games.  Much will depend on Boston's Paul Pierce and his ability to defend James, Wade's ability to help contain Boston point guard Rajon Rondo and the Battle of the Fours between Bosh and Boston's Kevin Garnett. 

Boston bigs Jermaine O'Neal and Shaquille O'Neal will certainly play a role in the series.  Miami will miss power forward Udonis Haslem who has been injured for most of the season. 

***

Regular season records and therefore, home court advantages of the remaining NBA playoff teams:

Chicago:   62-20

Miami:      58-24

LA:            57-23

Dallas:      57-23

Boston:     56-26

OKC:         55-27

Memphis: 46-26

Atlanta:     44-38

***

More importantly, here are the Gas and Milk standings from this week:

Gallon of Gas:  $3.89-4.12

Gallon Milk:     $3.58-4.99

***

The impact of Facebook and Twitter is undeniable.  The latest example of the strategic use of Twitter was C.J. Watson of the Chicago Bulls being utilized to announce the annual NBA Most Valuable Player award via his personal Twitter account.  Brilliant.  Rose quickly countered the report, saying "He hadn't been told by the NBA."  Rose did not say he "hadn't been told, period, as he was more likely to hear the news from a Chicago front office member.

***

The best way to help the people of Alabama and the southern state region - American Red Cross.

Ramble On (Early edition) ... Lots of News ... and my Picks

News Item: KG and the NBA Playoffs and Larry Bird League Picks for 2009

Oh, the humanity. Just what are we supposed to do with the uncertainty of Kevin Garnett's health during these days of the first round of the NBA Playoffs. ALl of the KG nay-sayers believe he is out. Even Doc Rivers predicted the worst was yet to come.

To add insult to the KG injury, I was sitting at #3 in our annual "Larry Bird" playoff fantasy league. With either Kobe/Lebron at #1 and either Lebron/Kobe at #2, at my #3, I had the choice of:

Pau Gasol
Paul Pierce
Chris Paul (I had him last year in the playoffs, along with David West)
If Manu hadn't gone down, I would have considered Tim Duncan at #3.

When the time came, I took the safer pick and selected Gasol who under our statistical formula, devised by Larry Bird himself, is actualy a shade better than Kobe in per game fantasy points. I was hoping that Dwyane Wade would fall to me in the second round, as I believe Miami has a significant chance to advance to the point where they can upset the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Wade was gone, however, an early round pick (#5) to Reid, former Bosdton Globie and current St. Louis Post guru.

In the second round, I took my guy - Rajon Rondo - who will put up monster numbers against the Bulls.  The do or die, make or break my team pick came in the fourth round when I selected the one and only "KG" who was still on the draft board after Doc Rivers put the fear of a Bill Walton-type injury into everyone on the planet that follows hoops.  I am thinking that KG is super-human and will do ANYTHING to play and to win, as his (and the Celtics') proverbial "window of opportunity" is closing fast.  In other wordsm I truly believe, "HE'LL BE BACK."

So, for Larry Bird's benefit, along with Terry S. and Steve S., here is my "Terry's on the Side" NBA fantasy league playoff team:

1. Pau Gasol

2. Rajon Rondo

3. Nene

4. KG
5. Jermaine O'Neal

6. Kedrick Perkins

7. Udonis Haslem

8. Big Baby Glen Davis

9. Eddie House

10. Steph Marbury

If I had it to do over again, I would've selected Leon Powe rather than Steph.

Also, for the record, here are my NBA picks series by series:

East:

Celtics over Bulls (6)

Magic over Sixers (7)

Heat over Hawks (6)

Cavs over Pistons (6)

Celtics over Magic (7)

Heat over Cavs (6)

Celtics over Heat (7)

West:

Lakers over Jazz (6)

Blazers over Rockets (7)

Spurs over Mavericks (7)

Nuggets over Hornets (7)

Lakers over Blazers (5)

Nuggets over Spurs (7)

Lakers over Nuggets (6)

And, unfortunately for the fans in the The Hub ... In the Finals, with KG back to about 75%...Lakers over Celtics (6)

News Item: CNN SI's Ian Thomsen on European Hoops:

Ian wrote: "The next goal for Europe is to build one or more basketball leagues that operate at a profit while continuing to feed players to the NBA. That in itself is going to be an enormous undertaking, and maybe it will happen someday in partnership with the NBA so that the European leagues will serve as a kind of farm system to the NBA." Thomsen continued, "If European basketball is ever able to sustain itself as a business that makes money, then we'll be much closer to discussing the NBA expansion overseas than we are today"

News Item: Trump Thinks it is a good time for Entrepreneurial skills and Smart Investors.

TL comment: Amen, brother. Read this clip from CNN transcript:

King: Why [is it a] good time for an entrepreneur and not necessarily for others?

Trump: Well, this is a time for smart people. This is a time for entrepreneurial people. This is a great time for people like me -- and maybe people like you, Larry, because I know you're a great investor. ...

News Item: Around the Horne

A veteran NHL Exec VP, Business and Strategic Development guru headed off the ice to pursue other opportunities. In a report in the Sports Business Daily, they wrote:

NHL Senior Exec VP/Club Business & Strategic Development ED HORNE is leaving the league. NHL Commissioner GARY BETTMAN informed club execs of the news in an e-mail this morning. Horne, a New Jersey native who played hockey at Fairfield Univ. in Connecticut, joined the league as VP/Corporate Marketing in '94 and helped devise the NHL's "Cup Crazy" promotional campaign and several other initiatives. He was named president of NHL Enterprises in '00 and oversaw the league's expansion of blue-chip sponsors like Quiznos and Nextel. After JOHN COLLINS joined the NHL in November '06, Horne's influence and responsibilities began to decrease. In his e-mail, Bettman wrote, "In his 15 years at the League, Ed made significant contributions to the growth of the NHL, raised the profile of the League in the sports community and initiated our Club Consulting practice. He has inspired us all with his love of hockey, his loyalty to the League and his commitment to the growth of the game."

Here's a few items from a profile on Horne done about a year ago:

An idea I wish I had thought of: GPS. I don't know what I ever did without it!

A fantasy job: Coaching an NCAA Division I hockey team.

My job: Every day is different. Even on the tough days, it's better than most anything else I could imagine.

Sports: No matter how many games I watch, I always see something I've never seen before.

Sports business: The warp-speed evolution, not only season-to-season but day-to-day, is remarkable.

Pro sports: These athletes make incredibly difficult things look so easy that anybody could do them.

College sports: The energy, the passion, the bands.

Competing in this business: The competition is always internal -- to be better than I was yesterday.

The future of sports business: Globalization is only a matter of time. The sports world is getting smaller by the second.

News Item: New tech for fingerprinting can open up the "Cold Cases"
The CNN story caught my eye right away this past Thursday morning. I thought it was great and immediately wondered if it could help determine, once and for all, the murderers of Bobby Kennedy and his older brother, JFK. Let's hope it gives a few families some peace of mind, knowing the killers were prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The lead of the story read:

LONDON, England (CNN) -- It was early one Sunday morning when the killer rang at a front door that was decorated with a wreath for Christmas. When his victim answered, he fired four fatal shots, ran off and disappeared.

The unsolved murder of Marianne Wilkinson, 68, in a town near Dallas, Texas, in December 2007 has left investigators with few clues and few leads. They recovered the gun used in the crime a few months later, but the gunman's identity -- and his motive -- remain a mystery.

Now, a groundbreaking technique developed across the Atlantic Ocean in Britain may help Texas police and others to crack cold cases like this.

The technique enables scientists to detect fingerprints on spent bullets and shell casings, even when the print had been wiped off. It works by detecting the minute corrosion of metal caused by sweat, which corrodes the metal in the shape of the fingerprint.

"That sweat is in the pattern of the original fingerprint that was deposited," said John Bond, a forensic scientist for England's Northamptonshire Police and a researcher at the University of Leicester, who developed the technique.

The corrosion is often impossible to see with the naked eye because it's so small -- as small as a micron, which is a millionth of a meter, Bond said.

His method involves dusting the metal with a fine black powder that adheres to the corroded areas, allowing scientists to see the fingerprint.

A detective from the police department in North Richland Hills, Texas, where Wilkinson lived in a gabled home with her husband, went to meet Bond late last year, Bond and the department said.

Bond was able to obtain a print from the shell casings in the Wilkinson case, meaning police could be able to discern who loaded the gun, if they can find a match, North Richland Hills Police Investigator Larry Irving told CNN.

Police are optimistic Bond's technique will bring them another step closer to solving the case.

"Prior to (the detective) coming over, and one of the reasons he came over, is they had little or no forensic evidence for this murder," Bond said. "So my own feeling would be that finding fingerprints would be significant."

Investigators believe Wilkinson may have been the victim of mistaken identity, according to a profile of the case posted on the Web site for the television show "America's Most Wanted," which featured the case.

A neighbor whose address is very similar to Wilkinson's told police she had recently gone through a bitter divorce, and that she and her ex-husband had an ongoing business dispute, according to the Web site.

Large amounts of money were at stake, the show said, and the woman believed she was the intended target.

Investigators traced the gun's history to a man who is now deceased and, authorities believe, had no connection to the slaying, according to the television show's Web site. Police believe the gun has changed hands several times since then and are still seeking information on its latest owners.

The bullet fingerprinting technique won't necessarily solve crimes like the Wilkinson case but could unearth new clues, Bond said.

"It's helping police get evidence they didn't have before," he said. "It's simply a new line of inquiry and can be especially valuable with cold cases."

In September, Bond found fingerprints on a shell casing from another murder case -- a 1999 double homicide in Kingsland, Georgia.

In that case, the suspect or suspects entered a Title Pawn business downtown, shot and killed the two employees and stole a small amount of money, said Kingsland police lieutenant Todd Tetterton.

Police assigned a full-time cold case detective, Christopher King, to the case because of "some things that had changed." The department read about Bond's technique in a magazine article and contacted him to see if he could help, he said.

"We were interested in trying anything we could," Tetterton said.

Four shell casings had been found at the crime scene, but fingerprint testing using traditional techniques didn't reveal anything of use. Bond was able to find fingerprint ridges on three of the four casings, and one of them yielded enough ridge detail to possibly provide an identification, a University of Leicester statement said, quoting King.

Tetterton would only say that more than one shell casing was found at the scene, and said Bond was able to get results for detectives. He declined to say more, citing the ongoing investigation.

"The results are surprising," the university statement quoted King as saying. "I feel very optimistic. These results are better than I had expected and better than I hoped for."

Bond doesn't advertise his services, which he performs free of charge.

"All of the inquiries we've had from the U.S. police forces have all been initiated by them," he told CNN. "We never say no, so anybody who says, 'I've got some shell casings, we have some over 30 years old' -- we always say send them and we'll have a look."

Bond says he tries to know as little about a case as possible before he looks for fingerprints, so no one can accuse him later of looking for something specific.

In one case, he said, he found a partial print on a shell casing sent in by police in Boulder, Colorado. The detective told him it was a fingerprint they expected him to find.

"That was confirmation for me" that the technique worked, Bond said.

The technique won't work, however, if a person has just washed their hands or put on gloves before loading a gun. But Bond said that's not too much of a concern.

"Because of the nature of who these people are and the nature of what they're committing, personal hygiene is not foremost in their mind when they're doing this," Bond said. "It's also the heat of the moment. They might be sweating, perspiring, because you know you're going to go out and break the law."