What Caught My Eye Today

Myanmar - About 4,000 monks have been rounded up in the past week as the military government has tried to stamp out pro-democracy protests. Sources from a government-sponsored militia said they would soon be moved away from Rangoon. The monks have been disrobed and shackled. The country has seen almost two weeks of sustained popular unrest, in the most serious challenge to the military leadership for more than two decades. The authorities said 10 people were killed as the protests were dispersed, though diplomats and activists say the number of dead was many times higher. Last week several monasteries were raided, and there were reports of monks being beaten and killed. With many monks behind bars, the demonstrations have now died down. Things don't look very promising for these monks. One has to question whether or not the international community--especially China and India--will be able to respond before the junta does anything to these captives. Clearly the Myanmar government isn't too concerned about what the rest of the world thinks.

Iraq - The number of American troops and Iraqi civilians killed in the war fell in September to levels not seen in more than a year. The U.S. military said the lower count was at least partly a result of new strategies and 30,000 additional U.S. forces deployed this year. Although it is difficult to draw conclusions from a single month's tally, the figures could suggest U.S.-led forces are making headway against extremist factions and disrupting their ability to strike back. The U.S. military toll for September was 64, the lowest since July 2006. More dramatic, however, was the decline in Iraqi civilian, police and military deaths. The figure was 988 in September — 50 percent lower than the previous month and the lowest tally since June 2006, when 847 Iraqis died. The Iraqi death count is considered a minimum based on AP reporting. The actual number is likely higher, as many killings go unreported. Promising numbers to be sure, assuming the trend continues, but nearly 1000 civilian deaths being considered 'good'? I guess everything is relative.

War on Terrorism - Thwarted in efforts to bring troops home from Iraq, Senate Democrats on Monday helped pass a defense policy bill authorizing another $150 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The 92-3 vote comes as the House planned to approve separate legislation Tuesday that requires President Bush to give Congress a plan for eventual troop withdrawals. The developments underscored the difficulty facing Democrats in the Iraq debate: They lack the votes to pass legislation ordering troops home and are divided on whether to cut money for combat, despite a mandate by supporters to end the war. While the Senate policy bill authorizes the money to be spent, it does not guarantee it; Bush will have to wait until Congress passes a separate appropriations bill before war funds are transferred to military coffers. The House passed its version of the defense authorization bill in May by a 397-27 vote. That $646 billion measure would trim hundreds of millions of dollars from some weapons modernization programs and use the money instead to aid troops in combat. I'm not sure this is what the American public had in mind when it voted to give control of Congress to the Democrats.

Sports - Lots of stuff over the weekend. Here's what kept me from doing anything productive for yet another weekend.

Baseball - The baseball season is over...almost. In the NL West, Colorado hosts San Diego for a one game playoff to see who will win the wildcard and face Philadelpia. Here are the matchups for the divisional playoffs along with my always reliably wrong picks:

Los Angeles Angels vs Boston Red Sox - Boston has home field advantage, so I'm going with the BoSox in 4.

New York Yankees vs Cleveland Indians - Despite being the road team, I have the Yanks in a sweep.

Chicago Cubs vs Arizona Diamondbacks - The agony continues for Cubs Fans--Diamondbacks in 4.

NL Wildcard vs. Philadelphia Phillies - I got the Phils in 4 over Colorado...assuming, of course, they win today.

Golf - This is my first mention of the bi-annual President's Cup pitting a U.S. team against an International team. The U.S. started off strong on Thursday taking a 5.5 to 0.5 lead in the first round of competition. The Internationals responded by taking 4.5 of the 6 points available on Friday. Then on Saturday, the Americans swept the Internationals 5 to 0 in the morning session and spliting the afternoon session 2.5 to 2.5. Going into Sunday, the U.S. led 14.5 to 7.5, needing to win only 3 of the 12 singles matches on Sunday to win the Cup. They won 5.

NASCAR - The third Chase for the Nextel Cup race was a memorable one. The LifeLock 400 at Kansas Speedway ended up being the LifeLock 315. The race started with six of the Chase for the championship drivers separated by just 28 points in the standings. When it finally ended -- under caution and cut short because of darkness -- the Chase field had imploded and Greg Biffle scored his first win of the season by winning a race that was stopped twice for rain delays, was shortened 85 miles because of darkness, ended under caution and had six Chase drivers finish 29th or worse. And when Biffle's sputtering car slowed before the finish line, title contenders Clint Bowyer and Jimmie Johnson passed him and both believed they finished ahead of him. A NASCAR spokesman said Biffle was the winner because the race ended under caution, the field was frozen and passing is not allowed under caution. Rain caused two delays totaling almost three hours, Kyle Busch was wrecked early by the driver who got him fired from Hendrick Motorsports, and two-time series champion Tony Stewart gambled twice -- the first one put him in position to win, and the second one took him out of contention. It put Johnson back in the lead with a six-point lead over teammate Gordon, and Bowyer is in third, 14 points out. Stewart, who started the day just two points out of the lead, finished 39th and dropped to fourth -- 117 points out. Kevin Harvick finished sixth to jump four spots in the standings to fifth, 126 points out. Busch, who came into the race 10 points out of the lead, finished 41st. He's sixth in the standings, 136 points out. I said it once and I'll say it again...NASCAR rocks!!!

Soccer - The Women's World Cup concluded yesterday. In the championship game, Germany downed Brazil 2-0 to win its second straight World Cup. Birgit Prinz and Simone Laudehr scored for Germany, which did not allow a goal in six games. In the third place game, the U.S. beat Norway 4-1. Abby Wambach scored two goals and Lori Chalupny and Heather O'Reilly added the other two. The days leading to the third-place game were rough and bumpy for the Americans: a humiliating 4-0 loss to Brazil in the semifinals to end a 51-game unbeaten string, followed by the expulsion of goalkeeper Hope Solo for criticizing coach Greg Ryan for benching her against the South Americans. Solo's comments threatened to split the team. Instead they created a rallying point -- a reason to win a normally lackluster bronze-medal game. The victory gives the U.S. three bronze medals to go with titles in 1991 and 1999. Christine Lilly Lilly went off a few minutes from the end, probably her last World Cup appearance. She's the only woman to play in all five. As she left to a loud ovation, the 36-year-old star handed over the armband to 36-year-old Scurry. It was Scurry who replaced Solo in goal. Despite Solo's apology to the team, Ryan excluded her from the Norway game, putting her future with the national team in doubt. She didn't attend the game, but team officials said Sunday she remained in China. It was unclear if she will travel to the U.S. with the team.

College Football - On a wild day in college football, when half the top 10 lost, USC avoided the upset bug that struck Oklahoma, Florida, Texas and Rutgers. But a sloppy 27-24 victory at Washington on Saturday night cost the Trojans the No. 1 ranking they've held all season. USC is the first team to lose the No. 1 ranking after a victory since Nov. 3, 2002. LSU, which recovered from its own first-half malaise to beat Tulane 34-9 on Saturday, received 33 first-place votes from the media panel and 1,593 points. USC got 32 first-place votes, 11 fewer than last week, and 1,591 points. Overall, nine ranked teams went down, seven to unranked opponents. California moved up three spots to No. 3, Ohio State jumped four places to No. 4 and Wisconsin moved up four spots to No. 5. South Florida, which knocked off No. 5 West Virginia 21-13 on Thursday night, made it into the poll for the first time two weeks ago. Now the Bulls are No. 6 in the country and West Virginia dropped eight spots to 13th. No. 7 Boston College is in the top 10 for the first time since 1992. No. 8 Kentucky has a top-10 ranking for the first time since 1977. No. 9 Florida, which lost 20-17 on a last-second field goal to Auburn, fell five spots. Oklahoma, which lost to Colorado on a field goal as time expired, dropped seven spots to No. 10. No. 23 Purdue was newcomer to the rankings, along with Kansas State at No. 24. Falling out of the rankings were Penn State and Alabama. It's a beautiful time of the year for sports, my friends. College football on Saturdays and NASCAR on Sundays. Someone get me a beer!