What Caught My Eye Today

Senate - A defiant Sen. Larry Craig denied any wrongdoing Tuesday despite his guilty plea this summer in a men's room police sting at the Minneapolis Airport, emphatically adding, "I am not gay. I have never been gay." Craig, a third-term senator from Idaho, proclaimed his innocence as well as his sexuality less than an hour after Senate leaders from his own Republican Party called for an ethics committee review of his case. His account contrasted sharply with the complaint in the case, in which an undercover officer said that Craig, while occupying a stall in the men's room, engaged in actions "often used by persons communicating a desire to engage in sexual conduct." Craig was read his rights, fingerprinted and required to submit to a mug shot at the time of his arrest. Police notes also show that on June 22, 11 days after the arrest, Craig returned to the police station and said no one had yet contacted him about his case. The senator signed and dated his guilty plea to a charge of disorderly conduct on Aug. 1, and court papers indicate it was submitted by mail and filed a week later. The court docket said Craig paid $575 in fines and fees and was put on unsupervised probation for a year. A sentence of 10 days in the county workhouse was stayed. For an educated man, as I assume Senator Craig to be, he doesn't seem to be acting to intelligently here. If he wasn't guilty of the charges, why would he go back to the police 11 days after the arrest to ask about his case? Dude, just take your medicine. Trying to cover it up is only going to make you look more guilty than you already are.

Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared that U.S. political influence in Iraq is "collapsing rapidly" and said his government is ready to help fill any power vacuum. The hard-line leader also defended Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a fellow Shiite Muslim who has been harshly criticized by American politicians for his unsuccessful efforts to reconcile Iraq's Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. "The political power of the occupiers is collapsing rapidly," Ahmadinejad said. "Soon, we will see a huge power vacuum in the region. Of course, we are prepared to fill the gap, with the help of neighbors and regional friends like Saudi Arabia, and with the help of the Iraqi nation." Ahmadinejad did not elaborate on his remarks, an unusual declaration of Iran's interest in influencing its neighbor's future. The mention of a Saudi role appeared aimed at allaying the fears of Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Muslim nations that Iran wants to dominate in Iraq. I appreciate that I'm probably in the minority here, but I say, have at Mr. President. And good luck. If things don't work out the way we like, we can invade them the same way with did Iraq, in the name of national security...assuming, of course, we can find some way to blame them for September 11 as well.

NASA - Former astronaut Lisa Nowak is pursuing a temporary insanity defense on charges that she assaulted and tried to kidnap a romantic rival. Nowak, 44, was arrested in February after confronting Colleen Shipman, the girlfriend of a former space shuttle pilot Nowak had been seeing. The former astronaut allegedly stalked Shipman at the Orlando airport, then attacked her as Shipman arrived at her car. Police say the married mother of three had driven nearly 1,000 miles from Houston to Orlando, using diapers to avoid taking breaks, and then pepper-sprayed Shipman while trying to get into her vehicle. Shipman was able to drive away, and Nowak was arrested. Police said she had a duffel bag with her that contained a steel mallet, 4-inch knife and a BB gun. Nowak was charged with attempted kidnapping, battery and burglary with assault and has pleaded not guilty. Her defense attorney said, Nowak suffered from major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, insomnia and "brief psychotic disorder with marked stressors." He also noted that the already petite Nowak recently lost 15 percent of her body weight and struggled with "marital separation." I'm not sure this is necessarily a good thing, but this defense sounds like it might actually work. This broad certainly sounds nuts.

Greece - Firefighting teams from across Europe are continuing to battle forest fires raging across southern Greece, which have claimed at least 63 lives. Several EU countries have sent their own firefighters, backed by planes and helicopters, to help tackle the blazes. Some 27 villages have been entirely abandoned and many parts of the Peloponnese peninsula are still ablaze. The Greek opposition has attacked the government's response to the crisis, calling it "totally incompetent". The EU help is said to be the union's largest offer of emergency assistance to a member state. Check out this map from the BBC to see the affected areas. It's almost beyond belief.

Tennis - The year's last major, The U.S. Open began yesterday. The first round concludes today. So far on the men's side, no major upsets. Among the seeded players, the highest seed player to lose was #21, Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero. Familiar names like Federer, Roddick, Blake, Nadal and Hewitt all advanced. On the women's side, it was pretty much the same story. Daniela Hantuchova (9) was the top seeded to get ousted, but then again she always bombs out early in majors. Henin, Sharapova, Jankovic and both Williams sisters cruised through to the second round. So for my picks, here we go:

Men's Draw: Nadal (2) over Federer(1) in the final; Dark horse pick: Lleyton Hewitt (16)
Women's Draw: Serena Williams (8) over Sharapova (2) in the final; Dark horse: Venus Williams (10)