What Caught My Eye Today

Britain - British sailors and marines freed by Iran said Friday they were blindfolded, isolated in cold stone cells and tricked into fearing execution while being coerced into falsely saying they had entered Iranian waters. They said there was no doubt the 15 crew members were in Iraq's territorial waters when they were seized by heavily armed boats of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. They also said their jailers had singled out the only woman among the captives for use in propaganda. Iran, which has been celebrating the incident as a victory, quickly rejected the charges, dismissing a news conference held by six of the freed personnel as "propaganda" and "a show." So this is interesting--both sides accuse the other of using these servicepeople for propoganda. I can see the recruiting posters now, Sign up now to see the world, serve your country and become an instrument of propoganda for...hmmm. Let's see. If you are a western country I guess that would read 'an instrument for radical Islamic rogue states' and if you are Iran it would say 'an instrument for the evil Zionist regimes.' Kind of catchy, don't you think?

Global Warming - Climate experts issued their starkest warning yet about the impact of global warming, ranging from hunger in Africa to a fast thaw in the Himalayas, in a report on Friday that increased pressure on governments to act. The report said warming, widely blamed on human emissions of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, would cause desertification, droughts and rising seas and would hit hard in the tropics, from sub-Saharan Africa to Pacific islands. Overall, the report was the strongest U.N. assessment yet of the threat of climate change, predicting water shortages that could affect billions of people and a rise in ocean levels that could go on for centuries. For those of you who aren't terribly interested in reading what is probably a rather dull report, I hear that there is a movie version. I think its called, "An Inconvenient Truth." I hear its pretty good. Got an Oscar and everything.

Good Friday - Pope Benedict led a procession around the ancient ruins of the Colosseum in Rome on Good Friday and listened to meditations including one lamenting the abuse and marginalisation of women across the world. The 14 meditations, written by a church official and read aloud, painted a bleak picture of an abusive and neglectful world. One spoke in painful detail about offences against women. The meditations also lamented the torture of prisoners "in thousands of sadistic and perverse forms, in the darkness of so many prison cells." Doesn't sound like much of a Good Friday, does it? And another thing, the Pope is the last guy I'd want manning the phones for a suicide hotline.

Disney - The 'Happiest Place on Earth' just got a little happier for same sex couples. The Walt Disney Co. had limited its Fairy Tale Wedding program to couples with valid marriage licenses, but it is now making ceremonies at its parks available to gay couples as well. "We believe this change is consistent with Disney's long-standing policy of welcoming every guest in an inclusive environment," a Disney Parks and Resorts spokesman said. "We want everyone who comes to celebrate a special occasion at Disney to feel welcome and respected." I'm guessing it will take a day maybe two for some conservative group to impose some sort of boycott to protest this blatant disregard for 'moral values.'

The Masters - If you didn't know better, you'd swear this was the leaderboard for the U.S. Open. We're down to 3 players under par (the leaders are at -2) and a total of 7 at even par or better. Tiger Woods, who carded a 2-over 73 is tie for 15th place and just 5 strokes back. Among the notables who missed the cut (an incredible +8) were Ernie Els, Colin Montgomerie, Sergio Garcia and Chris DiMarco. This more a test of survival than a golf tournament.