What Caught My Eye Today

G8 Summit - President Bush's European trip was jarred as it began Monday by deteriorating relations with Russia and threatening words from President Vladimir Putin. Bush and Putin will see each other at the annual summit of industrialized nations. In a diplomatic poke in the eye at Putin, Bush bracketed the summit with stops in the Czech Republic and Poland — the two countries where the United States wants to build a missile defense system for Europe. Already complaining of being encircled by NATO's expansion, Putin said putting missile defenses on Russia's doorstep would ignite a new arms race. He threatened to retarget Russia's missiles toward Europe. Putin's sharp words at Washington — and Britain, as well — set an unusually chilly tone for the three-day summit. I'm not saying we should lay down and let the rest of the world walk all over us, but wouldn't it be nice if once, just once mind you, Bush managed to not to piss off the international community.

Terrorism - Four men accused of plotting to bomb a fuel pipeline feeding the New York City's busiest airport were so taken by an informant that they were sure God had sent him to them. The informant made several overseas trips to discuss the plot against John F. Kennedy International Airport, even visiting a radical Muslim group's compound in Trinidad, officials said. He also joined the plotters on airport surveillance trips — where authorities were waiting. The suspects were convinced he was guided by a higher purpose: The ringleader believed the informant "had been sent by Allah to be the one" to pull off the bombing, according to a federal complaint. I don't want to trivialize the threat that these guys posed, but you have to admit they're not the sharpest tools in the shed are they?

Iraq - The U.S. commander in Iraq said it was too early to judge whether a Baghdad security crackdown was successful because the last of five extra brigades had yet to be deployed. Earlier, a U.S. military spokesman said U.S. and Iraqi troops controlled only about a third of the Iraqi capital. U.S. troops are dying at rates not seen for more than two years, almost four months after Washington began to send thousands more troops to Iraq in a last-ditch attempt to drag the country back from the brink of all-out sectarian civil war. So here's what I don't get—President Bush refused to pass any legislation that carried any substantitive benchmarks. Without a way to measure progress, how are we supposed to know if we're making any?

Paris Hilton - Justice has been served, my friends. Paris Hilton completed the first night of her probation sentence as morning arrived Monday in her new surroundings — a Los Angeles County jail cell that will be her home for much of this month. The 26-year-old hotel heiress worked the red carpet at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday afternoon, then traded her strapless designer gown for a jail-issue jumpsuit and a solitary cell to serve 23 days for violating her probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case. She is due out on June 26. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that there will be more than one TV crew on hand to cover that deal, and wouldn't be surprised if that ended up being the headline story for most primetime newscasts. Kind of a sad commentary on what our society views as 'newsworthy.'

Harry Potter - I'm a bit late on this one. Warner Bros. and Universal Orlando Resort are partnering to create the world’s first fully immersive Harry Potter themed environment based on the bestselling books by J.K. Rowling and blockbuster feature films from Warner Bros. Inspired by J.K. Rowling’s compelling stories and characters – and faithful to the visual landscapes of the films – “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” will provide a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience the magical world of Harry and his friends. The fully immersive, themed land will enable guests to visit some of the most iconic locations found in the books and the films including the village of Hogsmeade, the mysterious Forbidden Forest, and even Hogwarts castle itself. You know that I am so totally going to be there for the opening.