What Caught My Eye Today

Space Shuttle - The space shuttle Atlantis returned safely to Earth Friday, ending a two-week, five-million-mile mission for its crew of seven. Friday's landing came as the clock ticked down on the shuttle's batteries with only having one more day of life left. While docked at the International Space Station, the astronauts successfully installed a new truss segment, expanding the station's laboratory with a new set of power-generating solar arrays. NASA plans at least 12 more shuttle missions, with Atlantis next set to head to the ISS in about six months' time. Three more shuttle missions are planned this year, as the US space agency races to finish building the 100-billion-dollar ISS by 2010, when the space agency retires its three remaining orbiters. It considers the station a vital part of US ambitions to send a manned mission to Mars. The next shuttle mission is scheduled for August 9 when Endeavour will continue space station construction by delivering a third starboard truss segment. Welcome home, astronauts. Well done.

Iraq - Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top day-to-day commander of U.S. forces in Iraq said the U.S. may be able to reduce combat forces in Iraq by next spring if Iraq's own security forces continue to grow and improve. He said U.S. and Iraqi troops have made important progress. He also cautioned that, because the insurgents in Iraq have proven so resilient and adaptive, making any prediction is risky. So what it boils down to is maybe the troops will come home at some future date. Thanks for clearing that up for us, General.

Pentagon - The Pentagon seriously considered developing a 'gay bomb' that would turn enemy troops homosexual and make them irresistibly attracted to one another. Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information request show that in 1994, the Air Force asked for $7.5 million to develop an aphrodisiac as a chemical weapon. Honestly, I have no words. Alot of shame and embarrassment, but no words.

U. S. Constitution - Here's an interesting perspective from the L.A. Times. The U.S. Constitution prescribes a 'clumsy, indirect system' for electing presidents. As shown in the 2000 presidential race, Americans do not actually vote for their preferred candidate, but rather they choose a slate of presidential electors. The electors, in turn, vote for the candidate who receives the most votes in their state. On four occasions the Electoral College has elected presidents who lost the popular vote--John Quincy Adams (1824), Rutherford Hayes (1876), Benjamin Harrison (1888) and George W. Bush (2000). Anyone want to give odds that a Constitutional amendment to change how the Electoral College works would survive while the current President is still in office? Me neither.

Brand Marketing - A survey of 1000 undergraduates found that students tend to mistakenly identify familiar brands as Japanese, American or German based on assumptions about countries perceived strengths. Here are some examples:

Nokia (Finland): % of correct answers: 4.4; Most common answer: Japan (53.6)
Lego (Denmark): % of correct answers: 8.4; Most common answer: U.S. (61.1)
Samsung (Korea): % of correct answers: 9.8; Most common answer: Japan (57.8)
Ericsson (Sweden): % of correct answers: 9.9; Most common answer: U.S. (30.3)
Adidas (Germany): % of correct answers: 12.2; Most common answer: U.S. (48.5)

Action Movies: Here are the top 10 action movies of all time according to Entertainment weekly:

10. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
9. Hard-Boiled (1992)
8. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
7. Gladiator (2000)
6. Seven Samurai (1954)
5. The Matrix (1999)
4. The Road Warrior (1982)
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
2. Aliens (1986)
1. Die Hard (1988)

All I have to say to that is 'yippee-ki-yay...' Well, you know the rest.

Baseball - Homerun hitters are making some noise this week. Barry Bonds continued his glacial progress toward Hank Aaron's mark. Bonds hit #749 in a losing cause against the Yankees on Friday. Speaking of the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez went 4-4. A-Rod is up to 491 career homeruns. Oh and by the way, he's only 31. Lastly, our good friend Sammy Sosa spent this past week hitting homeruns #600 and #601. Way to go, Sammy. Of course, I wouldn't be banking on that Hall of Fame invite jsut yet. There was that little steriods flap of yours in front of Congress that still isn't sitting to well with a fair number of voters.

America's Cup - You better sit down for this one. Alinghi began its America's Cup title defense Saturday by defeating challenger Emirates Team New Zealand by 35 seconds, the start of the showdown for the oldest trophy in international sports. This was the sixth straight win for Alinghi, dating to its 5-0 sweep of the Kiwis in 2003.