What Caught My Eye Today

Utah - A drill punched a sixth hole through a mine shaft and found no sign of six miners last seen before a massive collapse nearly three weeks ago. Crandall Canyon Mine co-owner Bob Murray has said this hole, the sixth to be drilled deep into the mountain, will be the last effort to find a sign of the miners, who may not have survived the massive cave-in Aug. 6. Previous holes have yielded only grainy video images and poor air samples. Efforts to signal the miners have been met with silence. Tunneling into the mine was abandoned after another collapse killed three rescue workers and injured six others on Aug. 16. Federal officials and mine company executives have said the mountain's instability makes it too dangerous to drill a hole wide enough for a one-person rescue capsule unless there are signs of life. It certainly appears more and more likely that this mine is going to take on a purpose--that of a tomb.

War on Terror - GOP Sen. John Warner, who wants U.S. troops to start coming home from Iraq by Christmas, said he may support Democratic legislation ordering withdrawals if President Bush refuses to set a return timetable soon. Warner, a former Navy Secretary and one-time chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is seen as someone who could influence the debate among senators who have grown increasingly uneasy about the unpopular war. He said it would be best for the president, not Congress, to make a decision on withdrawals and that overriding a presidential veto would be difficult. But Warner made clear his view that people are losing patience with the administration's strategy in Iraq, a significant change is needed in September and troop withdrawals were the best way to accomplish that. Despite his best efforts to avoid this situation, it seems that President Bush is losing support at an increasing pace and is backing himself into a corner. Like it or not, Bush is going to have to decide on what terms the U.S. troops are going to be withdrawn--his or Congress'.

Iraq - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is fighting to hold his government together, issued a series of stinging ripostes against a variety of foreign officials who recently have spoken negatively about his leadership. Al-Maliki launched the verbal counteroffensive in the final days before the American commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker are due in Washington to report to Congress on progress in Iraq since the introduction of 30,000 more America troops. The Shiite prime minister said a negative report by Petraeus would not cause him to change course, although he said he expected that the U.S. general would "be supportive of the government and will disappoint the politicians who are relying on it" to be negative. Speaking of leaders without much room to manuever, al-Maliki is completely screwed. Even if you discount foreign criticisms, most of his own Cabinet has walked out on him.

Pakistan - And, oh yes, I almost forgot about President General Pervez Musharraf. Pakistan's Supreme Court ruled that his arch rival, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, whom Musharraf ousted in a 1999 coup, can return from exile, leaving the general vulnerable at home and abroad ahead of crucial elections. Talks with another ex-prime minister on a pact that would keep Musharraf in office are proving tough. And U.S. impatience with his failure to eliminate Taliban and al-Qaida strongholds near the Afghan border is growing. Musharraf has been on the defensive since an ill-advised attempt in March to fire the country's chief justice. Attempts to quell protests and suppress television coverage of the crisis damaged the Pakistani president's standing, even among his own supporters. It also made it harder for Washington to defend its critical support for the military strongman. Seriously, dude, consider retirement. There are worse ways to spend your time than sipping pina coladas on some tropical island.

Greece - Massive fires consuming large areas of southern Greece for a third day raced toward the site of the ancient Olympics on Sunday, engulfing villages and forests as the flames reached one of the most revered sites of antiquity. Elsewhere, flames were less than two miles from the Temple of Apollo Epikourios, a 2,500-year-old monument. At least 58 people have been killed in the country's worst wildfires in decades. Government and firefighting officials have suggested arson caused many of the blazes, and several people had been arrested. Arson is often suspected, mostly to clear land for development. No construction is allowed in Greece in areas designated as forest land, and fires are sometimes set to circumvent the law. Nearly 4,000 soldiers, backed by military helicopters, were sent to reinforce firefighters over the past three days, and at least 12 countries were sending aid. One account that I read suggested that almost half the country had been torched by 60 different fires. That is almost beyond comprehension.

Money - After six decades in which the venerable greenback never changed its look, the U.S. currency has undergone a slew of makeovers. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing announced that a new security thread has been approved for the $100 bill. It combines micro-printing with tiny lenses — 650,000 for a single $100 bill. The lenses magnify the micro-printing in a truly remarkable way. Move the bill side to side and the image appears to move up and down. Move the bill up and down and the image appears to move from side to side. The new look is part of an effort to thwart counterfeiters who are armed with ever-more sophisticated computers, scanners and color copiers. The C-note, with features the likeness of Benjamin Franklin, is the most frequent target of counterfeiters operating outside the United States. The redesign of the $100 is about one-third of the way complete. The bill is expected to go into circulation late next year. I'm all for combatting counterfeiters, but how smart is it really, to explain in such detail what those security measures are and how they work? Doesn't that basically give these guys a blueprint to work from in perfecting their imitations?