Federal Appeals Court in D.C. Holds Exxon Mobil Corp. Not Immune Under Alien Tort Statute!

The Federal Appeals Court in Washington D.C. recently held that Exxon is not immune from liability for brutality allegedly caused by agents of their company against a group of Indonesian villagers. Great, ballsy decision and you know what ? The correct one! The decision flies in the face of an earlier ruling by the Federal Court of Appeals for The Second Circuit(New York) in another Alien Tort Act case .
D.C. Circuit Judge Judith Rogers wrote in the majority opinion," The law of the United States has been uniform since its founding that corporations can be held liable for the torts committed by their agents....This is confirmed in international practice, both in treaties and in legal systems throughout the world....It would create a bizarre anomaly to immunize corporations from liability for the conduct of their agents in lawsuits for shockingly egregious violations of universally recognized principles of human rights " Well said Judge Rogers .
Why condone a behavior in a "third world country" that would inevitably bring about a criminal prosecution here ?
Oh , and Second Circuit Court of Appeals, "Man Up " ! Your protection of big multi-national corporations is shameful!

Roger Clemens' Criminal Trial, Let the Game(Testimony ) Begin.

"Mr. , my sh_t doesn't stink ", Roger Clemens , will now really get his day in Court. A Federal Jury consisting of 10 woman and 2 men has been selected to hear the case . Opening statements will given as early as today. Should make for some interesting reading during the dog days of July and August, especially with football and basketball currently on the shelf.
From some of the snippets of jurors' profiles I've read about, it looks like the defense has done a good job in the selection process . Only time will tell.
I can tell you this, Washington D.C. is not where Roger wants to be spending his summer!
Prediction, guilty on some perjury counts . Unfortunately for Roger Andy Petite's testimony will carry tremendous weight.
Stay tuned.

L.A. Dodgers,Maybe You Should Move Back to Brooklyn!

Los Angeles, the home of the Lakers, USC Football, UCLA Basketball, the Kings and "the once proud Dodgers". Yes, Koufax, Drysdale, Valenzuela, Garvey, Davey Lopes, Piazza, Ron Cey and of recent vintage "Manny ". Yes, one of the most beautiful places in the country to watch baseball, with annual attendance of $4 million. Eating tacos, drinking beer and watching the Dodgers. Plus 5 championships(will doublecheck ) since arriving in L.A. Tommy Lasorda eating pasta every night in the best Italian Trattorias .....And now this!
Disgrace, bankruptcy, a messy, ugly public divorce between the owners, Major League Baseball taking over the team's financial operations. Can you imagine, Manny Ramirez being a creditor to the tune of $21 million ? The people of L.A. must be losing sleep over the thought of losing the Dodgers after losing the Rams and Raiders!
Somehow, if my dad and grandfather(2 Brooklyn boys from President Street) were still alive, I can't help thinking that a small smile would appear on their faces...Just a small amount of payback for losing their "beloved Dodgers " to the West Coast.
Bring em back to Brooklyn...Plenty of room for a new, domed stadium!

Jeter Joins "Select Company " With Hit Number 3000 on Dream-Like Day at The Stadium .

He did it! He did it! Jeter got his 3,000th hit with a homer , at home and did it in "fairy tale fashion" going 5 for 5 including the hit knocking in the go-ahead run . Derek will be the first to tell you that the pressure to get to the milestone and to do it at home was immense. The guys who sell the flash bulbs made a fortune.
I'm sure the pressure, stress and exhaustion take a lot of the fun out of things for the pursuer. Just last year we watched A-Rod's gut wrenching pursuit of 600 homers. Aaron's chase of Ruth took on a life of it's own , together with the disgusting "racist sideplot"! We saw Rose's pursuit of Cobb, McGuire and Sosa's of Maris, Bond's breaking the 70 homer mark. Even going further back Drysdale's pursuit of the scoreless inning record . Baseball, like no other sport is truly a "statistical orgy".
So Derek, you join Mays, Aaron, Carew, Gwynn, Clemente, Rose, Cobb, Tris Speaker and more. With 3-4 more productive years you may be able to creep up on Aaron's 3700 hits. Who knows? Wow !
I do know one other thing Mr. Jeter; You're a class act and a sure fire "first ballot Hall of Famer ! Congrats.

John Mackey, NFL Great Tight End Passed Away; He Was a Man's Man!

Hall of Famer John Mackey (#88) passed away this week. He was only 69 and suffered for many years from"frontotemporal dementia ". To me , it's tragic how these great "warhorses " give their blood and guts to the game, provide lifetime lasting thrills to generations and die forgotten, poor and deteriorated. Happens far too often . Is it really worth it? To whom ? The player, the fan , the owners.....Certainly not their families. Eight or nine years of thrills vs. a lifetime of pain, injury ...premature passing. Tough stuff!
Let's talk about old #88 as a player. He played with the Colts from 1963-1971(1972 with the Chargers) and along with QB Johnny Unitas revolutionized the tight end position. He was fast , strong like an ox, fearless and dished out pain life a "runaway freight train"! Just watch old film of him...It took 5-6 guys to bring him down , defensive backs bouncing off him like a pinball machine. And a lot of TD's over 50 yards too.
One thing most don't remember about Mackey is he actually made the "original Immaculate Reception " before Franco Harris in the the 1971 Superbowl vs. Dallas. Johnny Unitas throws a pass to Colts receiver Eddie Hinton. The ball bounces off Hinton's hands, grazes the fingertips of Mel Renfro(Cowboy's Pro Bowl defensive back) and ends up downfield into the waiting arms of Mackey who takes it 75 yards for a touchdown! Colts go on to win 16-13 on a last second( actually 5 seconds) field goal. Stuff dreams are made of !
John Mackey ,you were and are special . I plan on getting my hands on some old film of you...the thrills will never go away!

Met's Owners May Have Caught a Break in Madoff Lawsuit; Judge Rakoff in Federal Court Agrees to Decide Motion to Dismiss!

The Wilpon's may have caught their first real break in the lawsuit brought by the Trustee of the "Madoff Bankruptcy " which seeks to recoup hundreds of millions of dollars.
The thrust ( in large part ) of the lawsuit filed in Bankruptcy Court is the " turning the blind eye theory " . Basically the suit seeks to hold the Wiplon's to a higher standard than "Joe Blow Investor " .
The Wilpon's recently filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and had sought to have U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff hear and decide the motion, rather than Bankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland. The Wilpon's are also seeking to have Securities Law apply rather than Bankruptcy Law.
Just this week , a somewhat sympathetic Judge Rakoff decided he will keep and decide the motion and he may very well apply Securities Law ( About which he is a renowned expert) in his analysis. All good for the Mets' ownership group.
At this point I would make one suggestion to all involved: Call your mediator Mario Cuomo right away and get the case resolved! Good luck.

Life Without the NFL or NBA, Things Won't be So Bad !

Well, this is the first time I remember two professional sports having "lockouts " at the same time , Of course it's July and we're watching baseball, tennis , golf, soccer , WNBA and now "The Tour De France " . So no withdrawl symptoms yet.
I got to be honest with you, I love the NBA (Have the NBA package) and once it gets colder I look forward to the NFL . But without NBA hoops or NFL football , will that really change things a bit for me ? Not really.
First thing I would do is to shift gears and follow college football more closely. The networks would probably move things around and come up with Sunday night, Monday night and Thursday night college football. You know what? People would realize they don't miss the NFL THAT MUCH!
As to hoops, it's a " no-brainer". College hoops is available 7 days a week as it is . Throw in some "Euro-hoops " and I'm good . Ron Artest is already talking about playing overseas as I'm sure scores of other players are too. The Europeans must be drooling!
You know , at the end of the day, you'll still be watching "quality athletics" from big time programs. Good stuff.
Maybe we all need a break from greedy-spoiled players and owners who continue to plead poverty every second of the day.
And this gives us all a perfect opportunity to get back in shape ourselves. To all the "weekend warriors "; Enjoy!