What Caught My Eye Today

Guantanamo Bay - I didn't see this one coming. The Bush administration is nearing a decision to close the Guantanamo Bay detainee facility and move the terror suspects there to military prisons elsewhere. The advisers will consider a proposal to shut the center and transfer detainees to one or more Defense Department facilities, including the maximum security military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, where they could face trial. Cheney's office and the Justice Department have been dead set against the step, arguing that moving "unlawful" enemy combatant suspects to the U.S. would give them undeserved legal rights. They could still block the proposal, but pressure to close Guantanamo has been building since a Supreme Court decision last year that found a previous system for prosecuting enemy combatants illegal. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't read it. Bush is actually contemplating the possibility of following a ruling that he disagrees with? What next, pigs growing wings?

U.S. Military - Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he does not anticipate extending U.S. troop deployments in Iraq beyond 15 months, calling the idea a "worst-case scenario." Gates endorsed the military's efforts to work with some Iraqi insurgents who initially fought against U.S. forces. That may be the only way to bring peace to the bitterly divided nation, he said. Military deployments were recently extended to a maximum of 15 months from 12 months. Gates said it was his hope to move as soon as possible back to 12-month deployments, with a year at home, and then eventually to 12-month terms with two years at home. But he also said that a recent report's recommendation that troops get one month off for every three they serve on the front lines would be "a challenge to manage" at this time. Is it just me or does this guy make far too much sense to working for President Bush?

Fuel Standards - The Senate voted to increase fuel economy standards to 35 miles per gallon for cars and SUVs, the first significant boost demanded of automakers in nearly 20 years. Automakers are currently required to meet an average of 27.5 mpg for cars and 22.2 mpg for SUVs and small trucks. The car standard has not changed since 1989. The measure tacked onto the energy bill would require a 35 mpg fleet average — including SUVs and pickup trucks — by 2020, and require that automakers make half of their vehicles capable of running on 85 percent ethanol fuel by 2015. It scaled back tougher standards already in the Senate's energy bill but was still considered strong enough to have wide support from environmentalists. Good news for the environment, I guess. But honestly, we're talking 12 years out. Who knows what the state of the environment (or fossil fuels, for that matter) will be by then. I'm more impressed by the fact that the Senate actually did something.

Taliban - A Taliban spokesman claimed in an interview that the militant Islamist group is changing tactics and will target Afghanistan's capital, Kabul. Here's the part of the interview that creeped me out, "A lot of people are coming to our suicide bombing centre to volunteer." Let's assume for a moment that this dude is firing on all cylinders. What does it say of Western civilization that the local population is lining up to blow themselves up just to get rid of us?

Movies - "Citizen Kane," Orson Welles' powerful portrait of an unscrupulous media baron, beat back an assault from "The Godfather," to retain its title as the greatest American film. Film critics, historians and experts voted "Kane" as the top U.S. film for the second time in a decade in a poll conducted by the American Film Institute. The rest of the top ten, in order, are: Casablance (#2), The Godfather (#3), Gone With The Wind (#4), Lawrence of Arabia (#5), The Wizard of Oz (#6), The Graduate (#7), On The Waterfront(#8), Schindler's List (#9) and Singin' In The Rain(#10). Hold up, dawg. Where's Borat? This list is bogus without Borat.