What Caught My Eye Today

Iraq - The Iraqi commander of the Baghdad security crackdown announced Tuesday that Iraq will close its borders with Syria and Iran for 72 hours as part of the drive to end the violence that has threatened to divide the capital along sectarian lines. 72 whole hours, like in a row? Just out of curiosity...then what?

Al-Qaeda - Al-Qaeda's No. 2 said President Bush was an alcoholic and a lying gambler who wagered on Iraq and lost, according to a new audiotape released Tuesday. Ayman al-Zawahri said in the tape, "Bush suffers from an addictive personality, and was an alcoholic. I don't know his present condition...but the one who examines his personality finds that he is addicted to two other faults — lying and gambling." Hate to burst your bubble, bro'. This is way old news.

Congress - The Democratic leadership set aside most of the week for the historic debate on the Iraq war, expected to culminate in a vote on Friday on a bare-bones, nonbinding resolution that "disapproves of the decision of President George W. Bush...to deploy more than 20,000 additional United States combat troops to Iraq." The debate was Congress' first on Iraq since Democrats gained control of the House and Senate in midterm elections shadowed by voter opposition to the war. Decorum carried the day in the chamber — where catcalls are part of near-daily discourse — as Democrats and Republicans took their five-minute speaking turns across the hours. Ok, I'll come clean...I turned on C-SPAN to catch a glimpse of the goings-on. All I can say is, I want my Cheddar Vision!

North Korea - A hard-won disarmament pact that the U.S. and four other nations struck with North Korea on Tuesday requires the communist nation to halt its nuclear programs in exchange for oil while leaving the ultimate abandonment of those weapons projects to a potentially trouble-filled future. By tackling so many issues in a process likely to take years, the deal could unravel, pulled apart by differing agendas of its six signers, which also include China, South Korea, Russia and Japan. "We have a lot of work to do," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill told reporters. "It's certainly not the end of the process, it's really just the end of the beginning of the process." I read a related story saying that the Chinese are quite taken with Secretary Hill's good manners and general demeanor. Looks like our man Hill is chill.

Boston Celtics - 18 losses in a row. 'Nuff said.

Surveys - Finally, on a lighter note, Salary.com is conducting its annual survey to determine what the sexiest job is. Last year's winner was Firefighter. Here are the contenders for 2007:

Pilot, Landscaper, Soldier, Lawyer, Teacher, Event Planner, Cowboy, Flight Attendant, Interior Designer, Police Officer, Bartender, Reporter, UPS Driver, Personal Trainer, Investment Banker, Photographer, Surgeon, Veterinarian, Firefighter, CEO, Nurse, Professor, Construction Worker.

My vote goes for Mike Rowe's hosting gig on the Discovery Channel, Dirty Jobs.