You have to say one thing for the Spanish government: they have the balls to hold leaders accountable for crimes and atrocities, which may have significant implications for former President George W. Bush and his administration.
Led by Baltasar Garzón, the crusading investigative judge who ordered the arrest of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, the Spanish court has taken the first steps toward opening a criminal investigation into allegations that six former high-level Bush administration officials violated international law by providing the legal framework to justify the torture of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay.
The case is reportedly focusing on six people at this point: former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales; John C. Yoo, the former Justice Department lawyer who wrote secret legal opinions saying the president had the authority to circumvent the Geneva Conventions; Douglas J. Feith, the former under secretary of defense for policy; William J. Haynes II, former general counsel for the Department of Defense; Jay S. Bybee, Mr. Yoo’s former boss at the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel; and David S. Addington, who was the chief of staff and legal adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney.
The court case was not entirely unexpected, as several human rights groups have been asking judges in different countries to indict Bush administration officials. One group was turned down by a German prosecutor.
But Judge Garzón has built an international reputation by bringing high-profile cases against human rights violators as well as international terrorist networks like Al Qaeda. Garzón’s arrest warrant for General Pinochet led to his detention in Britain, although he died before facing trial. Spain can claim jurisdiction in the case because five citizens or residents of Spain who were prisoners at Guantánamo Bay have said they were tortured there. The five had been indicted in Spain, but their cases were dismissed after the Spanish Supreme Court ruled that evidence obtained under torture was not admissible.
It was funny that this came just after I saw Will Farrell’s George W. Bush show on HBO last week and when a picture of Gonzalez appeared, Farrell quipped “boy are you going to jail.” Panels in Congress are reportedly investigating members of the Bush administration, but honestly, Democrats don’t have the political will to indict Bush, Chaney, et.al. of anything more than spitting on the sidewalk. But there is will among many people in the U.S. and the rest of the world to bring these people to justice.
The Spanish case may only be lip service and may never amount to more than window dressing, but it is heartening to see that the people on top are starting to be held accountable for their actions (even people in the middle are being held hostage by angry workers in France – see below). No more having people screw up, take their multi-million dollar golden parachute, and disappear into the ether.
To think that Bush, Cheney, Rice, Wolfowitz, Gonzalez having a kernel in their greedy, small little minds that they may one day be hauled before an international court to defend themselves and their actions. Even if it’s a long, slow, process, the wheels of justice turn slowly. Whoever would have thought that Pinochet, leaders of the Phenom Pehn in Cambodia, even some of the leaders of the Rwandan genocide along with other African dictators are being investigated and often tried. Let’s hope that the case moves forward, and let’s hope that there is a shiver of fear every time Bush or one of his minions think about booking foreign travel – there might be an arrest warrant waiting for them with their name on it.

We think that it is mostly Americans that are angry at the unbridled greed, mismanagement and corruption that is at the heart of the world’s economic crisis (maybe because we tend to be better armed and crazier than the rest of the world), but I am always taken by the stances taken by people in other countries. In fact, it should send a chill down the most arrogant U.S. CEO.
Angry French workers facing layoffs at a Caterpillar factory in Grenoble, France held four of their bosses hostage this week to protest job cuts. Four managers were taken hostage in a barricaded office and held for 24 hours at the bulldozer plant after talks between management and 733 workers facing unemployment broke down.
The workers eventually released factory director Nicolas Polutnik, the head of personnel and two other managers after Caterpillar offered to reopen talks on layoffs under mediation by the state.
In France, this was not an isolated incident; in fact there have been three incidents overall where workers have seized their bosses to protest job losses stemming from the global economic crisis. Last week, workers at a 3M plant south of Paris held the company boss for two days, and earlier this month workers at a Sony plant held a similar protest.
From the corporate suits who are having their lavish bonuses and lifestyles challenged to the common middle-of-the-line boss who often forget that those “widgets” that they order around and do most of the work in corporations are people, the common folk are rising up like the townspeople in an old Frankenstein movie.
It’s about damn time…

I am probably the last comics guy to make it to the theater to see “Watchmen,” but family responsibilities come first, and besides, I’d waited 23 years for a film to be made of it, what’s a couple of weeks more.
All I can say is – BRAVO! It was wonderfully done and captured the story without watering it down or making a parody of itself. As I wrote in an earlier entry, “Watchmen” imagines what the world would be like if superheroes were real; not just on a surface level, but what these beings would do to the whole world all the way to altering the geopolitical forces we live under.
The film enveloped me in that world and while there are tons of shots that are right out of the comics, I was enthralled by the world.
Director Zach Snyder did a wonderful job of being true to the story, while just tweaking the narrative a bit to tie up some loose ends, and make some apparently random events in the printed version more focused in the movie version, and to a certain extent more creepy. In addition, Snyder’s version included more 1985 references (the book takes place in a different 1985, where Richard Nixon is in his fifth term as President of the United States and America is the leading superpower due to the presence of Dr. Manhattan). There were scenes of Nixon and Henry Kissinger in a “war room” that looked (not so incidentally) like the war room in Dr. Strangelove. To have an actor playing Lee Iacocca (and to have him killed in a gruesome display), was a courageous act. (I can’t imagine how they got Mr. Iacocca to agree to have his image used in this way – maybe a very large check).
Now let’s discuss the acting. It was interesting to see Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley in another, but vastly different, film together. The last time the two were on screen, it was in 2005’s “Little Children” where Wilson played a repressed father who eventually has an affair with Kate Winslet, and Haley was nominated for the best supporting actor Academy Award for playing a pedophile in the same neighborhood.
Here, Wilson plays another repressed character until events (the belief that someone is killing former masked avengers, and the shadow of nuclear war) lead him to put back on his battle gear and go out to fight crime. Haley played Rorschach, the psychotic hero who is the “hero” of the piece, who investigates the murder of fellow crime fighter, The Comedian. Rorschach is the most interesting character in the book, and Haley plays the character in just the right way.
Television veteran Jeffrey Dean Morgan plays The Comedian, who appears, as in the novel, mostly in flashback, and his sense of depravity, immorality, and eventually, sadness came through very well. Billy Crudup, probably the best known actor on the screen, played Dr. Manhattan mostly as a computer generated naked superman, and he was convincing. Some people, especially the movie critis of the Chicago Tribune, said that Malin Akerman (Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II) was the worst actress in the history of film. I don’t think she was that bad. I agree that she lacked the intelligence and world-weariness of the character as shown in the comic, but she was alright, and very attractive. Adrian Veidt, played by Matthew Goode, had all of the calculation, menace necessary for the role, and had a hint of effeminateness that was also alluded to in the comic.
The film never dragged over its 162 minute running time (and I cannot wait for the Director’s Cut that clocks in at 3 hours and 10 minutes to come to DVD – reportedly in July). I though director Snyder did a decent job with his remake of “Dawn of the Dead,” and I really liked his version of Frank Miller’s Spartan epic “300,” but I hoped that Snyder would “do right” by “Watchmen,” the “Citizen Kane” or “Ulysses” of comics. He did great!

It obviously takes a great deal of talent and a very healthy ego to play professional sports, but sometimes there are athletes whose ego has escaped from reality and has grown to Godzilla-like proportions.
The latest victim of that is former Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback Michael Vick. Vick is currently finishing his sentence for having operated a dog fighting venture on his property and having murdered several dogs that either didn’t fight or weren’t vicious enough. As a result of the conviction, the Falcons demanded and received much of their bonus money returned; sponsors disappeared; and, as a result, Vick was forced to file for bankruptcy protection.
Soon, Vick will be ending his sentence and hopes to return to the NFL, and some team will probably take a chance on the felon, but teams are not going to pay top dollar to a player who hasn’t played in three seasons; has been living on prison food, and will definitely put a strain on that team’s public relations department.
Vick however (or at least his attorneys) believes that he will step back into the NFL as though nothing happened, at least financially. In bankruptcy filings obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and reprinted on Yahoo.com sports, Vick is hoping to earn as much as $10 million a year or more. Under the plan submitted to the court, Vick would keep the first $750,000 of his annual income over the next five years. After that, a percentage would go to his creditors based on a sliding scale.
In a March 4 court filing, Vick’s attorneys say he “has every reason to believe upon his release, he will be reinstated into the NFL, resume his career and be able to earn a substantial living.” “He is hopeful to play quarterback,” Daniel Meachum, an attorney and business manager for Vick, said in an interview. “There is no person with his talent in that position in all the league.”
Yes, Michael Vick was a special talent. His arm strength and running ability made him a threat on every play. But he is three years older now; hasn’t played in all that time; and while he led the Falcons to the playoffs, he never showed the consistency to be an elite QB. His lifetime quarterback rating is approximately 76, not exactly star caliber.
On top of that, Vick’s morals come into question since many animal lovers consider him “Public Enemy Number 1,” and feel that his apologies before going to prison were half hearted and inconclusive.
There is no question that Michael Vick should have good years remaining to him: while a knock is that he hasn’t taken a snap in three years, at the same time, he hasn’t been tackled by linebackers and defensive linemen either. But if he thinks that he will immediately return to the NFL and receive a starter’s salary, I think he is deluding himself. Whatever team takes a chance on him will undoubtedly sign him to a contract with little money up front and huge incentives. Will he be able to stay clean, polish his public image, and turn into a quarterback who also runs, instead of a “running quarterback” will be the challenge.

If it weren’t for the stranglehold that Catholicism has on the Spanish speaking world, it is very possible that the Vatican would go the route of the druids. The latest incident involves Notre Dame inviting new President Barack Obama to speak at its convocation. The university hosted Jimmy Carter in 1977, Ronald Reagan in 1981, and George W. Bush in 2001.
Now, you know I have no great love of Notre Dame, but that’s as a sporting institution; I do respect the school, especially its academic standards. Now I also respect their feel for inclusion and having people with alternate opinions speak at the school. Obama’s appearance has been met by a barrage of criticism that has left some students fearing their commencement ceremony will turn into a circus.
Many Catholics are angered by the May 17th appearance because of his decisions to provide federal funding for embryonic stem cell research and international family planning groups that provide abortions or educate about the procedure.
At first, it was just conservative groups doing their usual bitching, but now, some of the Catholic Bishops are adding their two cents. Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of the Phoenix Diocese wrote a letter that called Obama’s selection a “public act of disobedience” and “a grave mistake” (although who cares what a bishop 2,000 miles away thinks is beyond me). But it continues closer to home: Bishop John D’Arcy of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese, which includes Notre Dame, said he would not attend the ceremony because of Obama’s policies.
People who run academic institutions should welcome differing opinions, and to his credit, Notre Dame President, the Rev. John Jenkins has said while the university does not condone all of Obama’s policies, it’s important to engage in conversation.
Now, I’m not trying to be a second rate Bill Maher, but it’s long past time for the Catholic Church to move into the 20th, if not the 21st Century (with the exception of molesting children, which it has been very good at for decades). Most people in this country agree with investigating the potential positive benefits of stem cell research, and most believe in a woman’s right to choose. There are some priests who have recently said that the Church’s stand on priest celibacy should be eliminated and some believe that it will over time. Catholic churches have been losing a large percentage of its traditional constituency because of the break between today’s reality and a Church still trying to impose 3rd Century morality.
When people refuse to listen, discuss, or even deal with people with alternate viewpoints, they engage in the worst form of closed-mindedness. And if a speech by a politician can rattle one’s religious beliefs, they your beliefs aren’t very strong to begin with.
In this matter, Catholics are proving that they are no better than the Islamic militants who want to return the world to their version of the Dark Ages – forcing everyone to think the way they do. The Islamic militants want jihad – the Catholics had the Crusades and the Inquisition, but still the world went on and still the majority of the world does not agree with them. This type of thinking is dangerous, backwards, and is in direct opposition to and insults the type of intellectual exploration that a successful university is supposed to encourage.

I know that the World Baseball Classic was intended as a showcase for the sport around the world now that baseball has been dropped as an Olympic sport, but it really is an incredible waste of time despite what MLB Commissioner Bud Selig says.
First, it comes during spring training, when players are trying to get into final playing shape for the long, upcoming season, and so, it often puts players in a difficult bind – do I play in this silly tournament or stay with my team? Do you think that the coaches, managers and general managers like the idea of the WBC? I would bet that the answer is a resounding “NO” but, being employees of the Major League teams that are fully behind this travesty, they can’t say anything.
Yesterday, the Chicago Tribune published an interview with Cub first baseman Derrick Lee, a class guy who said that MLB officials were “disrespectful” for pressuring him to replace Kevin Youkilis on Team USA’s roster for the World Baseball Classic. Lee said that after saying last week that he wouldn’t be able to play in the WBC, “they started calling me. They needed a first baseman. But I couldn’t go, not being 100 percent. I thought it was disrespectful, to be truthful,” he said. “They knew I wasn’t playing here [in camp]. How do they expect me to get off the trainer’s table and start playing there?
And, for the second consecutive year, Japan won the tournament with the USA, the country in which the game was invented and it’s reported national pastime, didn’t even make it to the finals. Why, you ask? Simple – the players are preparing to play 162 grueling games over the next six months. There has been an argument that NBA players shouldn’t participate in the Summer Olympics because the players end up worn out before their season even starts. The same thing applies here.
Once again, this is another glaring example of mismanagement by Commissioner Selig. He refused to admit complicity in the steroids issue; he made the All Star Game decide home field advantage for the World Series; and now this. It is possible that he is the worst commissioner of baseball since racist Kinesaw “Mountain” Landis shuffled off this mortal coil in 1944 (and that’s saying something because Bowie Kuhn wasn’t exactly Abraham Lincoln).
The best thing that Selig could do now is admit that this is a sham; that the average fan doesn’t care; and cancel the stupid thing. That way, spring training is shorter and the players can work their way into playing shape with less chance of injury and lower incident of weariness by August.

No one in all of football should be surprised that Terrell Owens was a no-show yesterday for the start of the Bills voluntary offseason conditioning program.
Interestingly, the people who are laughing it off now are the players and coaches. Sports Illustrated.com quoted new Bills center Geoff Hangartner: “I’m really excited about meeting the guy. I’ve heard he’s a great teammate.” Hangartner, a free agent himself who signed with Buffalo on Feb. 28, even got a joke in at Owens’ expense. With an obvious wink and a smile, Hangartner complained his free-agent signing has since been overshadowed by Owens, who made a far bigger splash a week later when he signed a one-year, $6.5 million deal. “I’m pretty angry about it really,” Hangartner said, barely able to contain his laughter. “I figured all along I’d be like the big-name free-agent signing.”
Again, according to SI.com, Owens’ absence was not a big concern for Bills strength and conditioning coach John Allaire. Stressing that the program is voluntary, Allaire said he was already impressed with the shape Owens was in when the two met shortly before the player signed with the Bills on March 7. “He’s a physical specimen,” Allaire said. “He has a very good history of being in shape, ready to go. We’re not anticipating anything different this year.”
I think that everyone in the sport was shocked when the Bills even thought about signing the mercurial wide receiver. The Bills are an old school franchise who has historically stayed far away from flamboyant players, especially with a low-key disciplinarian head coach like former Bear Dick Jauron However, it appears Ralph Wilson wants to win now, and is willing to bring the talented flake to Buffalo.
But, if things go according to the norm, Owens will be a model citizen until the middle of the season, and perhaps the whole season if the Bills are able to win. After that, he will complain that he isn’t getting the ball enough, and he will be a headache to the organization and Jauron in particular until his big mouth gets him run out of town. It is obvious that T.O. is extremely talented, even at the age of 35, but he has all the emotional maturity of a 4-year-old (and trust me, I know about 4-year-olds, namely The Indignant Oldest Daughter). Trust me; they’ll be handing out aspirins like Flintstones vitamins by the time one-quarter of the season has been played.