What Caught My Eye Today

President Bush - If the Associated Press had not done such a good job reporting this story, I would have added my usual commentary, but this is just too good...

President Bush had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day at the Sydney Opera House. He'd only reached the third sentence of Friday's speech to business leaders, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, when he committed his first gaffe. "Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit," Bush said to Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Oops. That would be APEC, the annual meeting of leaders from 21 Pacific Rim nations, not OPEC, the cartel of 12 major oil producers. Bush quickly corrected himself. "APEC summit," he said forcefully, joking that Howard had invited him to the OPEC summit next year (for the record, an impossibility, since neither Australia nor the U.S. are OPEC members). The president's next goof went uncorrected — by him anyway. Talking about Howard's visit to Iraq last year to thank his country's soldiers serving there, Bush called them "Austrian troops." That one was fixed for him. Though tapes of the speech clearly show Bush saying "Austrian," the official text released by the White House switched it to "Australian." Then, speech done, Bush confidently headed out — the wrong way. He strode away from the lectern on a path that would have sent him over a steep drop. Howard and others redirected the president to center stage, where there were steps leading down to the floor of the theater.

Osama bin Laden - The new video message from Osama bin Laden appeared on militant Islamist Web sites, a day after it was released by a U.S.-based terrorist monitoring organization. In the video, bin Laden makes no overt threats and does not directly call for attacks. Instead, he addresses Americans, telling them the Iraq war has failed and urging them to turn away from capitalism and democracy and convert to Islam. In the video, bin Laden attacked capitalism, multinational corporations and globalization. "This is why I tell you: as you liberated yourselves before from the slavery of monks, kings and feudalism, you should liberate yourselves from the deception, shackles and attrition of the capitalist system," he said. Bin Laden also derided President Bush, saying events in Iraq have gotten "out of control" and the American leader "is like the one who plows and sows the sea: He harvests nothing but failure." What talk like that you almost have to wonder if bin Laden is getting some of his material from the Democratic party.

Iran - Iran must pay $2.65 billion to the families of the 241 U.S. service members killed in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, a federal judge declared in the largest-ever such judgment by an American court against another country. Iran has been blamed for supporting the militant group Hezbollah, which carried out the suicide bombing in Beirut. It was the worst terrorist act against U.S. targets until the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The ruling allows nearly 1,000 family members and a handful of survivors to try to collect Iranian assets from various sources around the world. Iran has denied responsibility for the attack. The nation did not respond to the 6-year-old lawsuit and was represented only by an empty table. Oh I'm sure this ruling has Iran quivering in its shoes. How in the world does anyone see this judgment being enforcing?

Australia - Leaders from Russia and Australia signed a deal to export Australian uranium to fuel Russian nuclear reactors, but promised it would not be transferred to Iran's disputed atomic program. While the agreement forbids Russia from selling Australian uranium to any other nation or using it for military purposes, critics of the deal worry that it could make it easier for rogue states to obtain the raw material. Australia has the world's largest reserves of uranium, but has no nuclear program of its own. Exporting uranium for nuclear power remains a touchy issue among many Australians, who are uneasy about its environmental impact and potential for weapons use. Critics say the inflow of Australian uranium would allow Russia to divert its own supply of the atomic resource for military or export purposes. I've read several accounts describing Australia's desire to shed its traditional connections to the UK in order to stand on its own as a player on the Asian scene. I suppose this is one way to go about doing that, though not one that will likely sit well with its Western allies.

Paris Hilton - I highlight this story mostly because it uncharacteristically involves a legal dispute brought by Hilton as opposed to against her. Paris Hilton is suing over the use of her picture and catchphrase "That's hot" on a greeting card. Hilton sued Hallmark Cards Inc. in U.S. District Court seeking an injunction and unspecified damages to be determined at trial. trademark "That's hot," which was registered on Feb. 13, 2007. The lawsuit claims commercial appropriation of identity, invasion of privacy, misappropriation of publicity, false representation that Hilton endorses the product, and infringement of a federally registered trademark. The damages would be based on profits from the $2.49 cards, said Hilton's attorney. Hallmark defended the card as parody, which is normally protected under fair-use law. Girlfriend is entitled to do whatever she wants, I suppose, but 'invasion of privacy'? That's a bit of a stretch don't you think? It's a freakin' greeting card, for Chrissake.