What Caught My Eye Today

Middle East - President Bush told the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian territories he is personally committed to their mission of peace, urging them to stick with it and not lose sight of their goal. Bush met separately with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the White House, and then with the two men jointly before the trio emerged for a presidential sendoff. The Bush administration pronounced itself pleased with the outcome of the conference. It drew 44 nations, including neighboring Arab states whose support is considered vital to any peace agreement. A joint understanding between the Israelis and Palestinians, in doubt until the last minute, was salvaged. And Abbas and Olmert reiterated their desire to reach a peace settlement by the end of next year.

Good news, folks. I managed to sneak a snippet of some of the chatter that went on as these guys said goodbye to each other.

Bush: So we're all in the page here, right Elmer? You too, Mohammed?
Abbas: It's Mahmoud, Mr. President.
Olmert: Let it go, Mahmoud. It's not worth the trouble. Yes, Mr President. We are in agreement. Let me say on behalf of the Israeli people, that we thank you for your hospitality, and...
Bush: Ain't nothing, Elmer. Got to do what you got to do to build that legacy, I mean keep the peace. Now don't you forget what we talked about. You get that peace deal done by November, see?
Abbas: Excuse me, Mr. President, why November?
Olmert: That's when the U.S. will elect it's next president. I'm sure President Bush would like to announce the peace settlement at a time when it will most benefit his political party.
Bush: Heck no. I don't care about that. I want that Nobel Peace Prize do-hickey. You don't know what a bug in my butt it's been having to listen to that Al Gore go on about how he finally beat me.

Iraq - Nearly 6,000 Sunni Arab residents joined a security pact with American forces in what U.S. officers described as a critical step in plugging the remaining escape routes for extremists flushed from former strongholds. For about $275 a month — nearly the salary for the typical Iraqi policeman — the tribesmen will man about 200 security checkpoints beginning Dec. 7, supplementing hundreds of Iraqi forces already in the area. About 77,000 Iraqis nationwide, mostly Sunnis, have broken with the insurgents and joined U.S.-backed self-defense groups. Those groups have played a major role in the lull in violence: 648 Iraqi civilians have been killed or found dead in November to date, compared with 2,155 in May. U.S. troop deaths in Iraq have also dropped sharply. So far this month, the military has reported 34 deaths, compared with 38 in October. In June, 101 U.S. soldiers died in Iraq. This has all the markings of General Petraeus's handiwork. I'd say let's make him the next President, but he's far too valuable to be wasted on that job. Though perhaps we can show the man our appreciation by putting him on the $50 bill. If that's a bit extreme, how about a national holiday? Wouldn't you agree that it's kind of a long stretch between Presidents Day and Memorial Day?

Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he was cutting off all contacts with the Colombian government, but left it unclear whether he was announcing an end to diplomatic relations between the two countries. Chavez's announcement came after a series of sharp exchanges with President Alvaro Uribe set off when the Colombian leader last week abruptly ended the Venezuelan's mediation between Colombia's government and leftist rebels. Uribe, Washington's closest ally in South America, removed Chavez and a Colombian senator from talks with the FARC rebels a week ago, saying the Venezuelan leader had violated the conditions of his involvement by speaking directly to the head of Colombia's army. Chavez said he was putting relations with Colombia "in the freezer," calling Uribe a "liar" and accusing him of "not wanting peace." Lemme see here,Colombia has pissed off Chavez, huh? Call me crazy, but I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a big increase in U.S. aid to Columbia in the next year. Call it positive reinforcement of desired behavior.

Stock Market - Wall Street barreled higher for the second day in a row, giving the Dow Jones industrial average its biggest two-day point gain in five years after a Federal Reserve official hinted that the central bank may lower interest rates again. The market was clearly optimistic that at least some of the damage from the months-long credit crisis was finally being mitigated. However, Wall Street has been fickle in recent months, with the Dow often rising and falling by triple digits. The Dow soared 331.01, or 2.55 percent, to 13,289.45, adding to the blue chip index's 215 point gain on Tuesday. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 40.79, or 2.86 percent, to 1,469.02 and the Nasdaq composite index shot up 82.11, or 3.18 percent, to 2,662.91. The Dow remains more than 6 percent below its Oct. 9 record close over 14,000 Tune in tomorrow for highlights of the massive sell off that will wipe away all of today's gains.

Literacy - U.S. fourth-graders have lost ground in reading ability compared with kids around the world, according to results of a global reading test. Test results showed U.S. students, who took the test last year, scored about the same as they did in 2001. The average U.S. score was above the average score in 22 countries or jurisdictions and about the same as the score in 12 others. The U.S. average fell toward the high end of a level called "intermediate." At that level, a student can identify central events, plot sequences and relevant story details in texts. The student also can make straightforward inferences from what is read and begin to make connections across parts of the text. You can't lay all the blame on these poor fourth graders. Honestly, have you seen those slackers in grades two and three? They have no ambition at all. All they care about is recess and lunch.

Motherhood - We haven't heard from our friend, Christina Aguilera, in quite some time. But we'll sure be seeing a lot of her in the coming days. Christina Aguilera flaunts her pregnancy in an upcoming issue of Marie Claire magazine. The 26-year-old singer is shown wearing a cropped jacket, hoop earrings and a ring on the cover of the January issue. The singer says she learned she was pregnant while on her recent "Back to Basics" tour. "We were planning on starting to try after the tour. And so, I had gone off the Pill to prepare my body, because I didn't know how much time it would take. You've heard it takes some time — except with Power Egg and Super Sperm here." This would be a bit more noteworthy if Demi Moore had not been there and done that in Vanity Fair close to a decade ago. And what's all this about 'power egg' and 'super sperm'. Don't tell me that girlfriend is hitting the flax seed oil.