What Caught My Eye Today

Lottery - Lottery machines cranked out tickets at a dizzying rate Tuesday, boosting the jackpot in the multistate Mega Millions game to an estimated $370 million. Mega Millions officials also raised the estimated payout at midday from $355 million to $370 million, if taken as annuity. The jackpot's estimated cash option value was $221.1 million, before taxes. The odds of winning: about 1 in 176 million. Mega Millions tickets are sold in California, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Washington state. If I win, don't be surprised if you don't hear from me, ever.

Scooter Libby - Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was convicted Tuesday of lying and obstructing a leak investigation that reached into the highest levels of the Bush administration. Libby is the highest-ranking White House official to be convicted of a felony since the Iran-Contra scandal of the mid-1980s. The verdict culminated a nearly four-year investigation into how CIA official Valerie Plame's name was leaked to reporters in 2003. The trial revealed that top members of the administration were eager to discredit Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who accused the administration of doctoring prewar intelligence on Iraq. Reaction to the conviction on Capitol Hill was swift. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid welcomed the jury's verdict and called on Bush to pledge not to pardon Libby. Before the trial began, the Justice Department had said that it had no pardon file active for Libby. "It's about time someone in the Bush Administration has been held accountable for the campaign to manipulate intelligence and discredit war critics," Reid said. I don't consider myself much of a conspiracy theorist, but this smacks of a big time cover up with this guy left holding the bag. Has anyone noticed that no one in the Administration is slamming Libby? If he did all that he is accused of doing, you'd think the White House would be distancing itself from him.

Iraq - President Bush said Tuesday his decision to send more troops to Baghdad is yielding "gradual but important" progress in Iraq. He portrayed himself as steadfast while Democrats squabble over strategy. Bush said a security crackdown in Baghdad is showing "encouraging signs." The White House sees stability in the Iraqi capital as the centerpiece of a political, military and diplomatic plan to winning the war. In related news, Two suicide bombers turned a procession of Shiite pilgrims into a blood-drenched stampede Tuesday, killing scores with a first blast and then claiming more lives among fleeing crowds. At least 106 were killed amid a wave of deadly strikes against Shiites heading for a solemn religious ritual. If Bush is suggesting that these attacks are actually "encouraging", I'd hate to see what "discouraging" would look like.

Human Rights - The U.S. says the violence which ravaged Sudan's Darfur region - which it views as genocide - constituted the world's worst human rights abuse in 2006. In its annual human rights assessment, the US also flagged up a decline in government accountability in Russia and a deteriorating situation in China. Violence in Iraq and Afghanistan was said to be hampering rights advances. Oddly enough, Guantanomo Bay didn't make the list. Isn't this sort of like 'the pot calling the kettle black'?

Wall Street - Wall Street rebounded Tuesday as investors were encouraged by a recovery on world markets and moved to recoup some of the big losses suffered in last week's sharp pullback. The Dow Jones industrials rose more than 150 points. Investors came off the sidelines to buy stocks that have languished in five turbulent sessions. The Dow made back about 26 percent of the ground it lost over the past week in spite of lingering questions about whether the correction that has swept around the globe has truly run its course. Screw the lottery. I'm sticking with the stock market. I'm all in, baby!

Olympics - China will spend considerably less on Olympic security than recent host countries, but organizers said they were confident the safety of the 2008 Games could be ensured at a low cost. Security expenses for major sporting events have soared since the September 11 attack on the United States, but Beijing has maintained that it can hold a safe Olympics for a fraction of the $1.8 billion spent on the Athens Games in 2004. Chinese media said organizers had budgeted just $300 million for security in 2005 and a spokesman for Security Command Center for the Olympics said on Tuesday that a specific figure had never been disclosed by the police. Here's how I think they pull it off--They arrest everyone who isn't competing and throw them in jail for the duration of the Olympics.