What Caught My Eye Today

Mexico - Tens of thousands of tourists fled the beaches of the Mayan Riviera on Monday as monstrous Hurricane Dean roared toward the ancient ruins and modern oil installations of the Yucatan Peninsula. Cancun seemed likely to be spared a direct hit, but visitors abandoned its swank hotels to swarm outbound flights. Officials evacuated more rustic lodgings farther south, where Dean — which has killed at least 12 people across the Caribbean — is expected to smash ashore early Tuesday. Dean already had winds of 150 mph as it brushed past the Cayman Islands on Monday, but the U.S. National Hurricane Center said the storm could grow even stronger — into a giant Category 5 hurricane — before striking Mexico. Dean, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, raked Jamaica and the Cayman Islands on Sunday, but both escaped the full brunt of the storm. Here's hoping this hurricane doesn't take any more lives. It certainly does seem as though officials are taking the necessary precautions to protect local populations.

Utah - Faced with a backlash over dimming hopes, a coal mine boss broke his self-imposed silence Monday to issue e-mails lowering expectations that six trapped coal miners will ever be recovered, dead or alive. As the rescue effort entered its third week, families pushed for rescuers to bore a hole into the mountain wide enough to accommodate a rescue capsule. Such capsules have been used to save miners in other disasters, but the men in the Crandall Canyon mine were thought to be more than 1,500 feet deeper than in previous rescues. Mine owners and federal officials have insisted for nearly two weeks that the men might be alive. But repeated efforts to signal the men have been met with silence, and air readings from a fourth narrow hole drilled more than 1,500 feet into the mountainside detected insufficient oxygen to support life in that part of the mine. Previous bore holes indicated better air in other cavities but no signs of the miners. As much as one can try to sympathize with the grief that these families are going through, it is hard to find fault in suspending underground rescue attempts after three rescuers lost their lives last week.

Space Shuttle - With the last bit of shuttle imagery analyzed, NASA cleared Endeavour on Monday for its return to Earth, bringing the spaceship home a day early because of hurricane worries that later evaporated. Mission managers gave the go-ahead after engineers finished evaluating the latest laser images of the shuttle's wings and nose and concluded there were no holes or cracks from micrometeorites or space junk. NASA reiterated Monday that the unrepaired gouge in Endeavour's belly will pose no danger to the shuttle or its seven astronauts during the hourlong descent. A week of thermal analyses and tests also indicated that no lengthy postflight repairs should be required either. NASA does not plan to launch another space shuttle until the problem is solved. A permanent solution, replacing the aluminum alloy brackets with titanium ones requiring less insulating foam, won't be ready until spring. That leaves three missions at risk, including the next one, currently set for October. What I don't get is that if the problem is not that serious (and let's not forget, that the astronauts have been trained to repair such damage in space), why is NASA suspending future missions. Something just doesn't sound right.

North America - President Bush met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to craft a plan to secure their borders in the event of a terrorist strike or other emergency without creating traffic tie-ups that slowed commerce at crossings after the Sept. 11 attacks. More broadly, the goal of the North American summit was to seek middle ground on shared concerns about the border and a host of other issues ranging from energy to trade, food safety to immigration. Few, if any, formal announcements were expected. The meeting served to address thorny problems between the U.S. and its neighbors to the North and South and bolster a compact — dubbed the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America — that serves as a way for the nations to team up on health, security and commerce. Calderon and Harper both want tight relations with Bush, yet don't want to be seen as proteges of the unpopular president or leave the impression that the U.S. is encroaching on their sovereignty. This is too close to call. Who is the bigger boob? Calderon and Harper for caring more about their 'public images' than doing the right thing for their countries, or Bush for making these guys have to worry about their 'images' in the first place? Let's call it a draw...They're all boobs.

Iraq - U.S. military officials are narrowing the range of Iraq strategy options and appear to be focusing on reducing the U.S. combat role in 2008 while increasing training of Iraqi forces, a senior military official told The Associated Press on Monday. The military has not yet developed a plan for a substantial withdrawal of forces next year. But officials are laying the groundwork for possible overtures to Turkey and Jordan on using their territory to move some troops and equipment out of Iraq, the official said. The main exit would remain Kuwait, but additional routes would make it easier and more secure for U.S. troops leaving western and northern Iraq. It is widely anticipated that the five extra Army brigades that were sent to the Baghdad area this year will be withdrawn by late next summer. But it is far less clear whether the Bush administration will follow that immediately with additional drawdowns, as many Democrats in Congress are advocating. It may not be perfect (or even close to that), but at least it is a start. I'm thrilled that there is finally a plan on the table for bringing troops home. Sure, we're only talking about reducing the troop levels in Iraq to pre-surge levels, but that's better than keeping them at the current deployment levels.