What Caught My Eye Today

Britain - Emergency workers rescued hundreds of trapped people Monday as water swallowed swaths of central England in the worst flooding to hit the country for 60 years. Torrential rains have plagued Britain over the past month and more downpours were predicted this week. The British weather was consistent with conditions caused by the La Nina weather system, which is caused by cooling ocean waters and leads to extreme weather, Britain's Meteorology Office said. However, scientists said there was no clear explanation for the unusually long spell of wet weather. Britain had one of its hottest and driest summers on record last year. So basically, these guys are hosed either way. It's either too hot and dry or its flooding. No wonder they drink so much.

It must be a bad weather day or something...

China - Flooding and landslides in China during one of the country's deadliest rainy seasons in decades killed at least 100 people and forced tens of thousands out of their homes in the east. The government-run Xinhua news agency said that the intense flooding in the past week has affected half of China, wreaking havoc on thousands of hectares of farmland and leaving more than 4,000 homes in ruins. In order to ensure that no fatal epidemic diseases break out, the health ministry has required all provincial health departments to report daily with their disease monitoring results. As long as they don't eat any of the food that they produce, they should be just fine. Shouldn't be a problem; they export all that crap to us anyway.

Pentagon - Pentagon officials are considering whether to halt the drawdown of U.S. troops in Europe because of the war in Iraq and other world developments. A Defense Department official said that some defense leaders are studying whether the 2002 plan to cut troops on the continent by nearly half still makes sense today with America's ongoing wars, worsening relations with Russia and Iran and a recent plan to expand the Army. The decrease in troops so far — amid repeated deployments to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by those remaining in Europe — has forced officials to cancel military exercises and other activities with European allies, the official said. The idea of cutting troops from 68,000 in 2001 to 28,000 by 2012 was part of an initiative by former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to transform the military into a leaner, more cost-effective force. You cannot be suggesting that Rumsfeld came up with a non-sensical plan? Not him. He's a patriot, by golly. Anyone who thinks otherwise should be arrested as a traitor to the realm and burned at the stake!

Golf - Padraig Harrington, who has finished at least tied for fifth five times in three different majors and who was tied for seventh at this year's Masters, finally got his hands on the British Open Claret Jug trophy by beating Sergio Garcia in a four-hole playoff at Carnoustie on Sunday. Harrington thought his chance was gone after a double-bogey six on the 18th. But Garcia's par putt lipped out, and the Irishman holed a three-footer at the fourth extra hole to claim the title. Tiger Woods' attempt to become the first golfer in more than a half-century to win three straight Open championships ended quietly Sunday, without providing even the glimmer of a rousing comeback. He teed off trailing third-round leader Sergio Garcia by a daunting eight strokes, and he knew by the turn it was over. Woods needed to go low but he could only manage a 1-under-par 70. Just my opinion, but what the last round lack in skill (Harrington and Garcia both choked big time), it made up for in sheer entertainment value.

Baseball - 753. Lemme see here. Barry Bonds has 2 to tie and 3 to break Hank Aaron's homerun record and the Giants start a 7 game homestand today. Anyone want to bet against him breaking the record this week? In related news, Bud Selig has not stated publicly whether he will follow Bonds' pursuit of Hank Aaron's all-time home run record after watching the San Francisco Giants' three-game series in Milwaukee over the weekend. His likely decision not to attend Monday's game, as Bonds sits at 753 home runs, could be the latest indication that Selig will not chase Bonds as he chases Aaron. Does anyone really care whether or not Selig shows at this point?

Cycling - Here's the latest on the Tour de France. Feeling increasing pressure on the course and off it, Michael Rasmussen has refused to crack and his hold on the Tour de France lead is looking increasingly solid with five days of racing left. The Dane reeled in repeated breakaway attempts by Alberto Contador, his last major challenger for the yellow jersey, in Monday's punishing ride along five climbs in the Pyrenees. One-time race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov won the 15th stage along the Spanish border, his second stage victory this year, continuing a pattern of toggling between a bad showing one day with an exceptional performance the next.

Meanwhile, Rasmussen hasn't even won the Tour yet and he's being dogged by suspicions of doping. The Danish cycling union said last week it had kicked him off the national team because he had missed drug tests before the Tour began. A day later, a former amateur mountain bike racer claimed that Rasmussen had tricked him into carrying a human blood substitute to Italy five years ago. The head of cycling's governing body, the International Cycling Union, joined in with his doubts about Rasmussen. "With all this speculation around him it would be better if somebody else were to win," UCI chief Pat McQuaid told The Associated Press on Monday. "The last thing this sport needs is more speculation about doping." Gee, that's nice. Here's a thought. Why don't you get some actual proof before dragging this guy through the mud. By the way, nice job of wrapping up that deal with last year's winner, Floyd Landis. Oh wait a minute. You haven't proved that one either, have you?

Harry Potter - You may have noticed that I took a long weekend (or maybe not). Had my hands full with the last installment of Harry Potter. Simply brilliant. I refuse to give any details away--read the book if you're interested. I will say this. J K Rowlings didn't let me down. Other than Book One, this was probably my favorite. The rumors that floated around before the book was released...Pretty much rubbish. Some folks got lucky with a few (it's not like we'd didn't know some characters were going to snuff it). My thanks, Ms. Rowlings for entertaining me some much these past few years. At least there are two more movies and that little theme park in Orlando to keep Harry going.