What Caught My Eye Today

President Bush - President Bush left open the possibility of an eventual pardon for former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby a day after commuting Libby's 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak case. Bush said he had weighed his decision carefully to erase Libby's prison time for lying and conspiracy. He said the jury's conviction should stand but the prison term was too severe. Democrats have charged cronyism in Bush's sparing Libby jail time. Some lawyers said Bush's statement about Libby's harsh sentence showed that the administration was out of touch with the reality of today's federal sentencing guidelines. People like Libby — first-time, nonviolent offenders — frequently receive lengthy sentences. Honestly, did this catch anyone by surprise? Sure the Democrats are going to criticize this move. They criticize everything Bush does. I'm not saying what Bush did was right, but I'm not surprised.

Pakistan - Nine people were shot dead in clashes between Pakistani paramilitary forces and radical Muslim students at an Islamabad mosque run by a Taliban-style movement. The clashes began when about 150 students attacked a security post at a government office near the mosque, snatched weapons and took four officials hostage, according to police. Paramilitary forces fired teargas to disperse hundreds of students outside the mosque, and then came under fire. Someone in the mosque later used a loudspeaker to call for suicide attacks, though a cleric denied that any such order had been given. Stories like this bring me back to the same question. What is it about the current state of affairs throughout the world that drives so many to radicalism? Clearly there are some very angry, disenfranchised people out there that feel like their interests are not being adequately addressed.

Britain - Gordon Brown has outlined a series of constitutional changes which he says will make the British government a "better servant of the people". In his first address to the House of Commons as prime minister, Mr. Brown said he would "surrender or limit" powers in 12 areas, including royal prerogatives such as declaring war without parliamentary approval. Mr Brown also said the prime minister should lose the right to choose Church of England bishops. He added that MPs would hold US-style confirmation hearings for appointees to important public posts to ratify international treaties. He also suggested the possibility of lowering the voting age from 18 to 16. Well, blimey and bloody hell. This bloke is certainly starting off his government with a loud bang. What's all this rubbish about giving Parliament more power. That sort of behavior would never be tolerated in the U.S.

Auto Industry - General Motors Corp.'s U.S. sales plunged 21.3 percent in June and Ford dropped 8.1 percent while Toyota reported a 10.2 percent sales surge compared with a year ago. Meanwhile, Nissan said its U.S. sales rose 22.7 percent and DaimlerChrysler AG's sales dropped 1.8 percent. So in case you had not noticed, U.S. automakers continue to suck wind while Toyota keeps chugging along.

Movie Industry - While the three May blockbusters — Sony's "Spider-Man 3," DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek the Third" and Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" — have combined for nearly $1 billion in domestic revenue, overall business and movie attendance are well below the record pace many show business types had expected. Attendance is running behind 2006 and has even fallen below that of summer 2005. Hollywood's best summer for revenues came in 2004, when the industry took in $3.95 billion domestically for the entire season. Based on admission prices, which rise every year, the best summer for actual movie attendance was 2002, with 653 million tickets sold. Here's my problem with the movie industry. You pay through the nose for a seat in a theatre with crappy seats, screaming kids, jerks on their cell phones, then have to sit through about an hour's worth of advertisements and previews, just so you can have the experience of watching mediocre plotlines on a big screen. Call me crazy, but I'll wait for the flick to show up on DVD or cable.

Yachting - Try to hold back your tears now. The America's Cup is over. Swiss syndicate Alinghi were left ecstatic after retaining the America's Cup, sailing's most prestigious competition, in a 5-2 series win over Emirates Team New Zealand. In the seventh race, Alinghi overcame a shattered spinnaker pole in the final drag race to creep past the Kiwis to win by just one second, the closest ever margin of victory in the 156-year-old competition. It was also only the fourth time in America's Cup history that a defending yacht has retained the "Auld Mug" - world sport's oldest trophy. Hope you got your fill. The next competition is four years from now.