Hotel Rwanda

"Hutus kill Tutsis, then Tutsis kill Hutus--if that's really all there is to it, then no wonder we can't be bothered with it." -- Philip Gourevitch

"We'll watch it on TV, say that it's terrible, and go right on eating our dinner." - Joaquin Phoenix as Jack, Hotel Rwanda

Went and saw Hotel Rwanda this past weekend, and words can't really describe how powerful a film it is, and sickening at the same time. Powerful, because it is based on the true story of hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu who risked his life for his family and more than 1,000 other Tutsis, victims of the Hutu inspired genocide of 800,000 Tutsi in 1994. Powerful, because like the stories of people like Oskar Schindler, it demonstrates how "normal" people can perform incredible feats with ingenuity, moral conviction and some luck. Sickening, because it is another story of man's capacity for excessive inhumanity towards his fellow man, made even worse by the fact that the world stood by and watched. While the filmmakers took some liberties with the story, the bottom line is dead on -- Paul Rusesbagina was an African hotel manager who saved the lives of more than 1000 Tutsis, an unlikely hero who simply decided to stand up and say enough.

This is a film that should shame any person who watches it, because this situation was largely preventable with the intervention of the West and or other African nations, who simply turned their backs on mass murder. It should shame any person who's opinion on foreign policy is strictly based on what tangible benefit it has for one's country. It's not as simple as that, because intervention would require the use of the military, and would certainly lead to military deaths. It's not that simple, because maybe the U.S should not be the world's policeman. But when it comes down to it, some things are just right, and preventing genocide should be a staple, if not of U.S. policy, than NATO policy, because God knows the UN is toothless. I doubt that any film or book can change the way a nation thinks, or acts, or responds to crisis. But I think that this movie makes a difference, maybe one viewer at a time.

Two books discussing the genocide that I recommend:
"We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will be Killed With Our Families: Stories from Rwanda" by Philip Gourevitch
"A Problem from Hell" : America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power

The Rites of Spring

Breathe that fresh air! While the NHL is imploding, hope springs eternal in baseball, as Cubs and Sox pitchers and catchers reported to spring training yesterday. Still skeptical about the Cubs' chances -- while I love the staff, assuming they stay healthy, and their hitting is okay (still missing one solid hitter I think), the team's bullpen, specifically the lack of a proven closer, will hurt their chances. One good thing is that the Astros and Cardinals lost a lot more than the Cubs did, which will hopefully even things out a bit. Nothing like spring training to make you feel good about a team that hasn't made it to the Series in 60 years...

Back From the DL

I've been sick the last couple of weeks, which is why I haven't blogged. The dirty little secret about having kids is dealing with the various illnesses they bring home that have vicious adult strains. In this case, it was a pretty nasty cold that led to pinkeye. Never had it before, and here's hoping I won't get it again, as the cold virus that brought it on is a nasty little bug that's still messing with my breathing. At any rate, feels good to blog on!

Cubs Sign Burnitz to Patrol RF

Goodbye Sammy, Hello Jeromy. Cubs signed Rockies RF Jeromy Burnitz to a 1 year deal with a second year mutual option. While Burnitz's numbers were inflated by playing in Colorado, he'll likely hit 30-35 HRs with 90-100 RBIs if healthy. If he can hit .275 and limit his Ks to 125, I think he'll be worth the $4.5M the Cubs paid. He should definitely help fill the void in the middle of the lineup, although it would be nice to see the Cubs have one more move up their sleeve to replace Alou's production.

Super Bowl Pick -- It's the Pats

Super Bowl XXXIX -- New England 27, Philadelphia 17

After picking both championship games right, my record stands at 6-4, with the big one to go. Believe me, I want to pick the Eagles. Not because I have any hatred for the Patriots, I just prefer to have new blood win the big ones every now and then. However, I just can't see the Eagles beating the Patriots with or without Terrell Owens. The Pats are too battle tested, too well coached, and too good of a team. While the Eagles are a good team, I don't think they're a great team as they struggled to beat AFC teams; they narrowly won at Cleveland (!) (34-31) and Baltimore (15-10), neither of whom made the playoffs, and they were pounded by Pittsburgh 27-3 and Cincinnati 38-10, although the Cincy loss was in the last two weeks of the season, when the Eagles starters were rested for the playoffs.

Bottom line, I think Brady, Dillon and the Pats' receivers will do more against Philly's defense than McNabb, Westbrook, TO (?), and the Eagles' receivers. Let the dynasty talk begin -- ugh.

September 11 Ten Years Later

The Atlantic Monthly has an interesting article by Richard A. Clarke imagining the future of terrorist attacks in America through 2011, given the present and projected state of our political, economic and security infrastructure. While it's clearly written as a wakeup call, and hence as a near worst-case scenario, it's component parts are each plausible scenarios -- I'm just not sure I believe that most of what's depicted in the article could happen altogether, even over a period of ten years.

Sammy So Long

It's finally happened. This Tuesday or Wednesday, the Cubs will officially announce that they have traded former city icon and future Hall of Famer Sammy Sosa to Baltimore for Jerry Hairston, Jr., Mike Fontenot and Dave Crouthers. Could the Cubs have gotten more? I think that's beside the point given that the Cubs and Sosa burned their bridges once the club decided to call Sosa out by releasing video of him leaving Wrigley 13 minutes after the Cubs' final game started. While Cubs GM Jim Hendry insisted publicly that he was approaching the upcoming season as though Sosa would be a Cub, it was clearly a smokescreen given the fact that neither Hendry, Dusty Baker or Sosa had picked up the phone to even attempt to hash things out, and Sosa's "apology" was issued through an agent.

While Sosa may put up good numbers in Baltimore, it's clear the Cubs organization (particularly his teammates) as well as Cubs fans, were through putting up with his selfish play and incessant promotion of himself. Cubs fans, myself included, have been hypocrites here; Cubdom was much more willing to put up with Sosa's antics when he was playing well. But Sosa ultimately has only himself to blame. As Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN puts it, "You want to know why Sosa is no longer a Cub? Because he forgot how to take the temperature of a city that can stomach losing but despises frauds. He underestimated the long-term effects of his annual late arrivals to spring training, his no-shows at the yearly Cubs Convention, the 2003 corked-bat incident, the 2004 hissy fits when Baker had no choice but to drop him in the batting order, the ditch-and-lie incident of Oct. 3. Had Sosa made any effort to repair the public relations damage, he'd still be a Cub today." What Wojciechowski only touches on is the fact that in addition to his public relations problems, Sosa was a former 5 tool player who became one dimensional in the end -- he couldn't run, he couldn't throw, he was a brutal fielder, and he wouldn't or was incapable of playing team baseball -- if he didn't hit the ball over the fence more likely than not any runners on base weren't advancing.

In the end, I think Sosa is a sure fire Hall of Famer, and I think he'll go in with a Cubs cap. But he's definitely tarnished his former image of a fun-loving, hard hitting Chicago icon; how much is for history to decide.

The No. 1 Fighting Illini

I've got to say that while I'm impressed by the U of I basketball team and how exciting it is for Illinois backers, I've never really been much of a fan. When I was a kid, DePaul basketball was the big draw, they had great (albeit disappointing) teams, with stars like Mark Aguirre, Terry Cummings, Clyde Bradshaw, Teddy Grubbs, and a host of others, they were the Big Boys in Chicago. When I got older, I was interested in Illinois hoops, but never could quite embrace them. Now, I'm still a bigger fan of the University of Dayton and the University of Tulane programs, since I went to both schools. However, I appreciate good basketball, and Illinois has been playing some outstanding ball to date, particularly their win against Wisconsin the other night. So while I'm not quite ready to say, "You're my boys!" the Illini are no longer the ugly stepchild for me either...

Bulls Jump the .500 Mark!

Doesn't seem like that long ago when I, and the rest of Chicago, were under the sway of the NBA Champion Bulls. At the same time, given the utter failures of the team since the Jordan days, those days also, paradoxically, seem decades ago. There's a light at the end of tunnel, and by the end of the year we should know exactly how bright it is. Don't get me wrong, this version of the Bulls is headed in the right direction, a nice mix of young and old players who aren't afraid to D it up and get floor burns in pursuit of a win. At the same time, I think this team at present, is a 5 games over .500 at best team -- they're young, and they're still learning how to win. If the GM can keep the core of this team together for the next 2-3 years, and add in a stud scorer, Chicago may be headed back to NBA glory...

Right to Privacy

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled yesterday in an Illinois case that a dog sniff conducted during a legal traffic stop that uncovers the location of contraband does not violate the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. Having read the opinion, the 6-2 vote surprised me, particularly given the fact that Justice Stevens write the opinion and Justice Breyer agreed. The court focused the brunt of its argument on the fact that the stop itself was legal, the stop did not last an inordinate amount of time; one state trooper wrote the ticket while another conducted what amounted to a drug search with a trained dog. The argument seems to miss the point entirely, in my opinion, because it is wholly lacking in demonstrating the nexis between the probable cause for the drug search and the seizure of the marijuana itself. It's pretty chilling to me to think that any one of us could be subjected to the same.

Here's the opinion.

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/24jan20051130/www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/03-923.pdf

Genocide - Word or Action?

Scott Straus, a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin, wrote an interesting article on the genocide in Darfur for Foreign Affairs' January/February 2005 issue, "Darfur and the Genocide Debate." Straus notes that for the first time since the Holocaust, the U.S. government has labeled a foreign crisis "genocide." -- the "ethnic cleansing" in the Darfur region, in Sudan. He notes that since the Genocide Convention, which was established by the United Nations after WWII, the U.S. has never publicly termed such a crisis as "genocide", and that analysts have always figured that this was because the U.S., as a signatory to the Convention, would be bound to act under the terms and conditions of the convention (which the U.S. only signed in 1988, but which would have been tested in Rwanda, Bosnia and Sarajevo had the U.S. acted).

Straus notes, however, that in the instance of Darfur, both Colin Powell and President Bush have publicly termed the ethnic murders as "genocide," but that neither the U.S., Europe, nor the Organization of African States is in any rush to get involved. While the politics are never quite as simple as rushing into a foreign intervention headfirst, one has to wonder what the point of such conventions are, and what lessons were truly learned from the Holocaust if we stand idly by while such atrocities occur.

Got Controversy? Revisited

The Chicago Tribune reports today that on Friday, January 21, Governor Blagojevich signed Illinois equal rights bill for homosexuals, making Illinois one of only fifteen states to explicitly write equal protection for gay citizens into the law. Local news reports on the issue have been strangely muted from both sides of the debate. The governor interestingly invoked Scripture in signalling his approval for the measure; "What we're doing today is as old as the Scripture: Love thy neighbor," Blagojevich said. "It's what Jesus said when he gave his Sermon on the Mount: `Do unto others what you have others do unto you.'"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0501220273jan22,1,7233964.story?coll=chi-news-hed

NFL Playoff Picks III

Evened up my record at 4-4 after going 3-1 this past weekend, only blew the Eagles game. That being said -

AFC Championship

New England at Pittsburgh -- Patriots 21-17

I'd love to see New England go down, but this team just seems incapable of losing a big game. The Pats will still be without Seymour, Law and Poole on the defensive side, but given the way the D shut down the Colts in Foxboro, it seems to me they can do the same to a less talented offense despite being on the road. Now it's Bill Cowher's turn to see if he can win a big game.

NFC Championship

Atlanta at Philadelphia -- Eagles 31-21

I bet against McNabb and Co. last week and they manhandled the Vikings. I think the fourth time's the charm for this team in the NFC Championship game, so long as Brian Westbrook stays healthy. Mike Vick concerns me, but the Eagles have a fast defense that should do a better job of containing Vick's mad scrambles.

Mell vs. Blago -- Now It's Personal

The Chicago Tribune reports today that Alderman Richard Mell, father-in-law of Governor Rod Blagojevich, has turned up the heat in what is turning out to be quite a nasty little political fight. Mell made allegations to Attorney General Lisa Madigan (daughter of house speaker, and Blago political foe Michael Madigan) and Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine that Christopher Kelly, the chairman of the governor's election fund (and an unpaid advisor) gave 120 donors who donated a total of $1.9M to the campaign political appointments out of the 700 appointments made by the governor's office. Interestingly, the governor claims he asked his inspector general, Zaldwaynaka Scott, to look into the same allegations mere hours before Madigan and Devine announced their investigation. All of this comes to light two days after a visibly shaken Mell publicly asked for a ceasefire with the governor.

Mell now says he has no personal knowledge of his allegations, but was merely basing them on a Tribune investigation. The governor isn't buying it, and called out Mell, telling the Tribune, "A reckless and defamatory accusation was made that is completely and totally false. The person who made it needs to be held accountable. If he is now backtracking on what he apparently said, you should go talk to him. I want independent agencies to go talk to all the people involved and to prove what I know is the case, that we do things right. And if you make a reckless, defamatory accusation publicly and you've been in the business as long as he's been you got to be held accountable for making those."

Given the fact that this feud won't go away, and that new accusations are being leveled by both parties, I've got to wonder whether this points to a deeper rift in the Democratic party in Illinois, and whether there aren't bigger political skeletons in the closets of Alderman Mell and the Governor that may be brought to light by these investigations. Seems to me that the Governor is being taken to task for refusing to play the game the way the Chicago machine expects it to be played...

Got Controversy?

On Monday, The Illinois Senate passed a bill, 30-27, to ban discrimination against gays and lesbians in the areas of housing and employment. The bill as written would add "sexual orientation" to existing law banning discrimination in matters of housing, lending and employment. The Illinois House passed the bill by a 65-51 vote on Tuesday, and Governor Rod Blagojevich vowed to sign the bill when it is presented to him. As expected, gay rights activists have hailed the bill as an important step in affording gays and lesbians equal protection, while foes of the bill have intimated passage is the first step in a slippery slope leading to state recognition of a broader agenda for gays and lesbians, such as recognition of same sex civil unions or marriages. Given the Governor's support, it's clear this bill will become law. Given the narrow way the bill is written (providing equal protection rather than creating a special status for sexual orientation), there's a good possibility the law could survive a legal challenge by foes. As such, it's a good bet this issue will shape a number of upcoming state elections. Stay tuned...

Blago vs. Mell -- Steel Cage Match!

The family feud between Chicago alderman Richard Mell and his son-in-law, Governor Rod Blagojevich is making for some tasty political theater. Mell, who is connected with the Democratic old guard in Chicago, played king-maker for the governor, getting out the vote and creating a fundraising system that tapped the deep wells of Chicago's Democratic machine. Mell is now fuming because the governor is attempting to distance himself from the pound of flesh usually required by the machine -- his political soul. The governor, who is extremely aware of his white knight reputation, is attempting to make good on his "clean up Illinois" campaign promises by seemingly taking every opportunity to stick it to Chicago Dems, calling out Mike Madigan early in his administration, shutting down (temporarily) a dump connected to Mell, among other actions. There have even been suggestions that Blagojevich has created a fake feud between himself and his father-in-law to burnish his reputation as a reformer, which would take some truly Machiavellian chutzpah if true. What I can't figure out is which is the true Blagojevich (who I did vote for) -- the reformer, or a politician with his eye on a bigger national office who knows that it plays well in the media to appear to be his own man, or someone in between? Although, I must admit, as long as he keeps signing legislation and pushing reforms that I like, the answer to this question matters less to me.

...Not To Beltran

The Mets signed Carlos Beltran to a 7 year, $119M contract. Word on the Cubs' offer is that it topped out at 5 years, $75M; apparently management was seeking a discount for the opportunity to play at Wrigley and lead the Cubs to postseason glory. I'm not about to jump on the Mets' bandwagon; regardless of the fact that they signed Beltran and Pedro Martinez, they still have too many question marks to be considered serious contenders. With respect to the Cubs, however, you've got to wonder what they're thinking. They clearly need a power hitting OF to replace Moises Alou, regardless of how the Sosa situation resolves itself. By not making a serious run at Beltran, or at Magglio Ordonez while the Beltran derby was on, they hurt their negotiations with fgree agents like Ordonez, by allowing the field of available OF to be winnowed down. Once again, here's hoping Jim Hendry has a few more bb's in his pellet rifle, because the idea of a Jason Dubois/Todd Holandsworth platoon in LF smacks of trouble. It pains me to say, but at this point, I think the White Sox's free agent moves look better than the Cubs'...

NFL Playoff Picks -- Part Deux

One for four in the wild card round -- need a big conference semi round to turn things around...

AFC

Indianapolis at New England -- Patriots 38-35

I really want to pick the Colts here, particularly with the injuries to Richard Seymour and the Pats' secondary. However, the head is saying that Belichick and his defense are in Peyton Manning's head, and Manning's history against the Pats is woeful. I'm going to stick with NE in a tight game decided by a Manning TO.

NY Jets at Pittsburgh -- Steelers 24-14

At some point in the post-season, Ben Roethlisberger is going to play like Bubby Brister instead of Terry Bradshaw -- it's inevitable because the kid is a rookie. However, Pittsburgh's D and its running backs had Big Ben's back all season long, and I can't beleive the Steelers won't find a way to get it done here.

NFC

Minnesota at Philadelphia -- Minnesota 31-24

The question is which Vikings team will show up? The team that started the year 7-4 and walloped the Pack in Lambeau last week, or the gutless wonders who finished 1-4 and find ways to play well below their talent? The other question is whether the Eagles' O can outscore Minnesota, even with the Vikes' porous defense (which for the life of me I can't understand when you look at that D top to bottom). I'm saying Vikings, so make sure you pick Philly if you're a betting man or woman.

St. Louis at Atlanta -- Atlanta 35-21

I don't think the Rams can sustain their play of the last three weeks, nor do I think they'll be able to contain Mike Vick. The biggest concern is how the Falcons will respond to their first meaningful game in about a month. The thought here is that they'll be okay...

Beltran Or Not to Beltran?

Tonight is the likely signing deadline for Carlos Beltran, the latest superstar outfielder in baseball given his age (28), five tool skills and monster postseason for Houston last year. When the hot stove league first warmed up, all signs pointed to the Cubs making a serious offer to Beltran, whether the Cubs could move Sammy Sosa or not. At the time of this writing, however, it does not appear the Cubs are anywhere close to contending for Beltran's services, despite desperately needing a power hitting OF. Instead, it seems that Houston, and both NY teams will head toward tonight's likely signing deadline (Houston loses the ability to re-sign Beltran after today's date, meaning Beltran loses a suitor to drive up his price if Houston loses its rights) with the realistic shots at signing him.

While there are decent arguments for not signing him to the 7 year, $119M total contract favored by Beltran's agent Scott Boras (such as while a five tool star, Beltran's never hit higher than .307, never hit more than 38 HRs, and never once driven in 110 runs), Beltran's best years should be ahead of him, and how many chances do you get to sign a stud entering the prime years of his career, particularly when you need an OF of his caliber? The other problem I have with the seeming lack of Cubs interest is ownership's continuing arbitrary budgeting -- the Cubs could easily pay Beltran and Sosa for a year (especially given the fact that Beltran's contract is likely to be backloaded) at the very least to give Cubs fans the illusion the team is more committed to winning than revenue streams.

Here's hoping Jim Hendry has one more card to play here...

Duffs Under Seige

The Chicago Tribune reported Friday on James Duff's attempt to enter a guilty plea in the federal government's fraud case against a longtime associate and contributor to Mayor Richard J. Daley. Duff allegedly made his mother a company figurehead in a successful attempt to win $100 million in city affirmative action contracts as a minority or woman owned-business, when in fact he and his associates called the shots. The case is a major embarassment to the Daley administration given the mayor's apparent extensive contacts with the James Duff. One would think the mayor would know James Duff isn't a minority or female, and that awarding a contract to a business "run" by his mother would at the least stink of cronyism, no? Despite these facts, it's business as usual at City Hall, where the mayor's selective memory of such things has allowed him to say yet again, that he has no knowledge of any wrongdoing. The case took an even more interesting turn yesterday when the prosecution objected to Mr. Duff's guilty plea, arguing that the defendant didn't plead guilty to the actual charges against him, but a modified version of the charges possibly meant to allow him to challenge the plea at a later date.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/premium/printedition/Friday/chi-0501070273jan07,2,7783508.column?coll=chi-printnewsfriday-hed