From UPDATE: A Spanish judge has approved a probe of torture complaints against former Bush officials. Details below...
Six Bush-era officials responsible for crafting the legal justifications permitting the military prison at Guantanamo Bay are the subject of a Spanish criminal probe which could place the men under serious risk of arrest if they travel outside the United States.
"[Spanish newspaper] Público identifies the targets as University of California law professor John Yoo, former Department of Defense general counsel William J. Haynes II (now a lawyer working for Chevron), former vice presidential chief-of-staff David Addington, former attorney general and White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, former Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, now a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and former Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith," noted Scott Horton at Harper's.
He called them Bush's "torture lawyers."
On March 17, Lawrence B. Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, published an editorial in the Washington Note which accused Bush officials of knowingly holding innocent men in Guantanamo Bay for years.
"The case was sent to the prosecutor's office for review by Baltasar Garzón, the crusading investigative judge who indicted the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet," reported the New York Times. "The official said that it was 'highly probable' that the case would go forward and could lead to arrest warrants."
If the judge decides to open an investigation, it will be the first such legal action outside the United States, the private Cadena Sur radio said.
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Monday, March 30, 2009
Spanish official says arrest warrants 'highly probable'
Amnesty: Alleged abuses in the context of policing demonstrations in Greece
30 March 2009
Call on the Greek government to set up an independent commission of inquiry
Greek police shot and killed 15-year-old Alexandros-Andreas (Alexis) Gregoropoulos in Athens on 6 December 2008. A longstanding history of human rights violations committed by police in Greece was highlighted by the shooting and by the conduct of officers policing subsequent demonstrations in December 2008 and January 2009.
Following these events, Amnesty International has received numerous reports of such violations by police in the context of policing the protests, including excessive use of force and firearms, torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary detention and denial of prompt access to legal assistance. Complaints of such violations have also been received from children.
Amnesty International believes that the authorities' response to the killing of Alexis Gregoropoulos and the protests which erupted in the aftermath of his death should not end with the ongoing police and judicial investigations.
In this context, a strong message must be sent to the Greek government that no one can be above the law - especially those charged with enforcing it.
Take ActionJoin Amnesty International in urging the Greek government to set up an independent commission of inquiry, mandated to investigate the full circumstances surrounding the death of Alexis Gregoropoulos and the police response to the demonstrations and the riots that began on 6 December.
IMAGE: Greek riot police threatening the use of firearms against demonstrators, Athens, Greece, 7 December 2008, © Kostas Tsironis
~ Amnesty International ~
Issues with TaxDayTeaParty.com - Explanation
Written by mmeckler on March 29, 2009 - 8:44 pm
http://taxdayteapar
An international effort to shut down the TaxDayTeaParty.
Unfortunately, these DOS attacks are very difficult to trace. In this case, the attacks have come from both domestic and international sources. All we know for certain at this point is that a group of people want to stop this movement. We will not allow this to happen. This citizens´ movement will not be stopped.
We will be issuing an official press release on this issue on Monday, March 30th.
Sunday, March 29th - TaxDayTeaParty.
Sounds good? Check out who's supporting this.
Makes one wonder about who tries to hijack all the good ideas.
Revealed: police databank on thousands of protesters (UK)
From a report by Paul Lewis and Marc Vallée in The Guardian :
"Shocking footage shot by police, accompanied by their own critical commentary, shows how their officers monitored campaigners and the media – and demanded personal information – at last August's climate camp demonstration in Kent Link to this video"
Films and details of campaigners and journalists may breach Human Rights Act
" ...Disclosures through the Freedom of Information Act, court testimony, an interview with a senior Met officer and police surveillance footage obtained by the Guardian have established that private information about activists gathered through surveillance is being stored without the knowledge of the people monitored.
Police surveillance teams are also targeting journalists who cover demonstrations, and are believed to have monitored members of the press during at least eight protests over the last year.
The Guardian has found:
•Activists "seen on a regular basis" as well as those deemed on the "periphery" of demonstrations are included on the police databases, regardless of whether they have been convicted or arrested.
•Names, political associations and photographs of protesters from across the political spectrum – from campaigners against the third runway at Heathrow to anti-war activists – are catalogued.
•Police forces are exchanging information about protesters stored on their intelligence systems, enabling officers from different forces to search which political events an individual has attended.
Lawyers said tonight they expect the Guardian's investigation to form the basis of a legal challenge against the use of police surveillance tactics.
Liberty, the human rights group, is challenging the police surveillance tactics in a judicial review at the court of appeal. But police appear not to have disclosed to the court that they were transferring private details of campaigners to a database. ..."
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Sleeper
From the Woody Allen classic
From the film's Wikipedia entry :
Different cuts of the movie
There are two known cuts of Sleeper. The first, seemingly original cut, contains a dinner scene shortly after Miles (Allen) and Luna (Keaton) return to the house where Miles was originally taken after revival. In the dialogue-less scene, Miles eats in time with a piano soundtrack while Luna watches him in amazement. In another cut distributed in the US, this scene is absent but another, in which Miles shaves using a high-tech mirror and accidentally tunes into the view from the mirror in another bathroom, is present in its place. The latter cut is on the MGM 2000 DVD, which has both a widescreen and full-screen version of the film, a trailer, Spanish dubbing, and French subtitles.
The network television version cuts the scene in which Miles and Luna discover a 1990's newspaper with the headline "Pope's Wife Gives Birth to Twins".
From The Sleeper Revived by Laurel Petriello
Having experienced a short-lived fame revival, the house is perhaps best recalled as the setting of Woody Allen’s 1973 sci-fi cult classic, Sleeper. Beyond its pop culture celebrity, the Sculptured House became nothing more than a dilapidated haven for various wildlife, teenage boredom and vandalism.
The house lay dormant for over 30 years at the time of Charles Deaton’s death in December 1996. Additionally, the first incarnation of his vision, the original plaster mold of the house was accidentally knocked over and destroyed at his funeral service.
Cut to the scene where Prince Charming wakes the sleeping princess. John Huggins, a Colorado native and Internet software millionaire, was fascinated by the proverbial house on the hill since he was a child. In 1999, he purchased the Sculptured House for $1.3 million with the intent to restore and complete construction.
Working closely with Deaton’s daughter, Charlee, and her husband, architect Nick Antonopoulos, Deaton’s former protégé, Huggins succeeded in completing the home according to Deaton’s original plans. Huggins was faithful to Deaton’s design while adding modern creature comforts. The finished product included a 5000-square-foot addition originally drafted by Deaton, featuring a five-car underground garage, caretaker quarters, media room and massive patio, among others.
image from http://www.spitting-image.net
