What Caught My Eye Today

Tsunami - Bodies floated out to sea and thousands of residents camped out overnight Tuesday on a hillside above a devastated town in the western Solomon Islands after a tsunami that struck without warning washed away coastal villages, killing at least 13 people. The death toll was expected to rise. The tsunami was triggered by a magnitude 8.0 quake that struck six miles beneath the sea floor. The archipelago has more than 200 islands with a population of about 552,000 and lies on the Pacific Basin's so-called "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines where quakes are frequent. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center initially issued warning bulletins for the Solomons and neighboring Papua New Guinea, and lower-level alerts for most other South Pacific countries, eastern Australia and Hawaii. I bet this caught the attention of those guys in Indonesia as well.

Fundraising - Republican Mitt Romney reported Monday he had raised $23 million for his presidential campaign during the first three months of the year. Sen. John McCain of Arizona lagged with $12.5 million raised. The current leader in Republican presidential surveys, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said his donations totaled $15 million. New York senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic front-runner reported raising $26 million between Jan. 1 and March 31. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has yet to release his total, touching off speculation of an announcement equivalent to the figure reported by Clinton. Aides to former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said he has $14 million in new contributions. Meanwhile network television executives are salivating over what promises to be a very lucrative ad revenue season. Lucky us.

Global Warming - In a defeat for the Bush administration, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a U.S. government agency has the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that spur global warming. By a 5-4 vote, the nation's highest court said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "has offered no reasoned explanation" for its refusal to regulate carbon dioxide and other emissions from new cars and trucks that contribute to climate change. The ruling in one of the most important environmental cases to reach the Supreme Court marked the first high court decision in a case involving global warming. You just know Bush is seething over the fact that he cannot fire Supreme Court Justices in the same manner that he can U.S. attorneys. It must get his knickers in a wad to know that there are some folks who do not 'serve at the pleasure of the President.'

India - The U.S./India nuclear agreement, a centerpiece of Bush administration foreigh-policy ambition, has hit a wall. India appears to be unwilling to accept even the minimal constrations on its nuclear weapons program demanded by U.S. law. The intended deal has been controversial from the start. Congress, in the final days of GOP majorities in December, agreed to relax in India's favor some longstanding U.S rules limiting trade with nuclear-capable nations, with the the understanding that other constraints would remain in tact. India has now rejected those constraints. You have to take your hat off to the Bush administration. It would appear that its foreign policy gaffs (or outright failures) are not limited just to the Middle East, but now include our allies as well.

Technology - Europe blew away the U.S. and Asia in the World Economic Forum's 6th annual Networked Readiness Index. The 2006 results rank 122 nations on their ability to make use of information technology to promote economic growth.

Here are the top ten countries (2005 rankings in parentheses):

1 - Denmark (3)
2 - Sweden (8)
3 - Singapore (2)
4 - Finland (5)
5 - Switzerland (9)
6 - Netherlands (12)
7 - United States (1)
8 - Iceland (4)
9 - Britain (10)
10 - Norway (13)

Let's be fair here. Half the countries on this list are inside the Arctic Circle for crying out loud. Of course they're going to be more wired into technology. It's too freaking cold to do anything else.

March Madness: One of my two picks made it into the Championship game (Thank you, Florida) and clinched me the top prize in my office pool. I get to shoot my mouth off bragging about how good I am and denying that luck had anything to do with it. I'm right about that. Luck had nothing to do with my victory...it was all dumb luck.

Baseball - The 2007 season has gotten underway. Among the headlines to follow this season:
Barry Bonds: Will he get to Hank Aaron's mark of 755 homeruns, and will anyone care?
New York Yankees: This is the final season for the historic Yankees stadium.
Chicago Cubs: Tribune Co. is selling the Cubs later this year. The selling price is expected to exceed $700 million.