What Caught My Eye Today

Attorney General - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' resignation, after months of draining controversy, drew expressions of relief from Republicans and a vow from Democrats to pursue their investigation into fired federal prosecutors. Apart from the president, there were few Republican expressions of regret following the departure of Gonzales. As counsel, Gonzales helped get Bush excused from jury duty in 1996, which kept him from having to disclose a drunken driving arrest in Maine in 1976. The episode became public in the final days of the 2000 presidential campaign. Gonzales was White House counsel during the president's first term, then replaced Ashcroft as attorney general soon after the beginning of the second. Both jobs gave him key responsibilities in the administration's global war on terror that followed the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. In a legal memo in 2002, he contended that Bush had the right to waive anti-torture laws and international treaties that protected prisoners of war. The memo said some of the prisoner-of-war protections contained in the Geneva Conventions were "quaint" and that in any event, the treaty did not apply to enemy combatants in the war on terror. Human rights groups later contended his memo led directly to the abuses exposed in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq. I've of the belief that this was the only course of action that Bush and Gonzales could take at this point. As for Bush complaining that Gonzales was dragged through the mud, that may well be, but it was Gonzales who put himself there in the first place.

Virginia Tech - Students returning to the Virginia Tech campus held a memorial for the 27 students and 5 faculty members murdered on campus last spring. More than 10,000 people atttend the unveiling of the memorial--32 300-pound stones engraved with the names of the students and faculty massacred by Seung-Hui Cho before he killed himself. I applaud the Virginia Tech community for carrying on. You should never forget the tragedy of last May, but you cannot stop living either.

Brazil - Brazil will begin offering free sex-change operations to transsexuals. The move was prompted by a federal court ruling that the procedures must be covered by the public health system. Patients must be 21 years old and mentally healthy, apart from their gender dysphoria. Local officials will determine who qualifies for the coverage. Hats off to the dude who convinces the court to rule this way. That must have been one hell of a compelling argument. And how fascinating would it be to sit in with some of these local officials to evaluate a petition for a sex-change?

Estonia - A temperance movement has sprung up in Estonia in respone to an epidemic of binge drinking. Alcohol kills up to 2,000 Estonians a year, in a nation of just 1.3 million. Estonia has been awash in cheap booze since it split from the Soviet Union, in 1991. Excessive drinking causes high rates of cirrhosis and alcohol poisoning, and drunken Estonians frequently have unprotected sex, resulting in an HIV rate among the highest in Europe. You know, if you take out the word "Estonia" from this story, you could be talking about the average big campus university here in the States. Kind of disturbing, isn't it?

America - America might not be called "America" if it were not for a 500 year old publishing error. Amerigo Vespucci, the Italian explorer that America is named for, may not really be deserving of the honor. The former gem trader and pimp did cross the Atlantic at least twice after Columbus pioneered the way, but Vespucci was a better storyteller than a navigator. He set sail under the Spanish flag in 1499 and again in 1502, making several minor discoveries. He then published a "tarted up" account of his adventures in a 1504 best seller. Three years later geographers working in France came across the book, read the false claims, then quickly added the word "America" to their influential book of world maps. By the time the error was discovered, the name had already stuck. It's just as well I suppose. How lame would it be to call ourselves the United States of Christopher Columbus?

Cars - At long last there has been a poll released for the worst car designs of all time. Here are the top five:

1. AMC Pacer
2. Yugo - its worth noting that the entire company was called out, not just one model
3. Ford Pinto
4. Pontiac Aztek
5. Chevolet Vega

Let's here it for the mighty U.S. of A. (or Columbus, if you prefer) for take 4 of the top 5 spots.