What Caught My Eye Today

Congress - Anti-war Democrats prevailed on a near-party line vote of 36-28 in the House Appropriations Committee gaining approval for a troop withdrawal deadline of Sept. 1, 2008, brushing aside a week-old veto threat from the administration and overcoming unyielding opposition from Republicans. In the Senate, after weeks of skirmishing, Republicans easily turned back Democratic legislation requiring a troop withdrawal to begin within 120 days. The measure set no fixed deadline for completion of the redeployment, but set a goal of March 31, 2008. The vote was 50-48 against the measure, 12 short of the 60 needed for passage. Tell me if you've heard this one before--the House acts while the Senate seems hell bent on deadlocking itself into obscurity.

Cuba - Fidel Castro will be in "perfect shape" to run for re-election to parliament next spring, the first step toward securing yet another term as Cuba's president, according to the head of Cuba's National Assembly. I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say Castro will be the front runner. Would you risk running against him?

Al-Qaeda - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's capture four years ago didn't shut down al-Qaida or bring the Americans to Osama bin Laden. But if his mega-confession is to be believed, his arrest was a crushing blow to bin Laden's plans for even more deadly attacks in the wake of 9/11. Experts agree the arrest was a major setback for bin Laden's terror network, and one from which the group has never quite recovered. True, but they've done a pretty good job of getting everyone else around them to hate us.

American Idol - Simon Cowell says he's bigger than The Boss. "I sell more records than Bruce Springsteen, sure," Cowell says of the 57-year-old rocker, who signed a contract that was reported to be in the neighborhood of $100 million. I assume Cowell is referring to his ego. Talent-wise, Simon doesn't come close to approaching the same universe that Bruce Springsteen occupies.

Golf - Stop the presses! Tiger Woods shares the lead (-6) after the first round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational. "It is definitely the best round of the year (although) I haven't played that many," said Woods, who is making his fourth start of 2007. Yeah, I think the PGA has noticed that.

March Madness - Round #1 Update. Halfway through the first round, my bracket is 13 and 3. According to Yahoo, that's good enough for the 86th percentile. I got hammered on my upset picks (guess that's why they're called upsets) as the higher seeds, by and large, held serve. That is except for one notable exception. What is the deal with the Duke Blue Devils? Dude, you guys suck. Lucky for me, I had you choking in Round #2.