What Caught My Eye Today

Surfing - A 24-year-old California surfer won Saturday's big-wave surf contest off the Northern California coast near Half Moon Bay. Greg Long of San Clemente was named the winner of the Mavericks surf contest after competing in the all-day event against 23 other elite surfers. Long and his fellow surfers were whisked out on jetskis to conquer the giant storm-generated swells about a half-mile offshore from Pillar Point Harbor, about 20 miles south of San Francisco. Some waves towered more than three-stories tall. Thousands of surf fans gathered on cliffs and beaches to watch the contest, which was also broadcast live at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Grant "Twiggy" Baker of South Africa came in second and Jamie Sterling of Hawaii came in third. Alright, surfer bros'. That's all the surfing that you're likely to see on the blog for the rest of 2008. See ya, next year.

Middle East - President Bush said he is open to the possibility of slowing or stopping plans to bring home more U.S. troops from Iraq, defying domestic demands to speed the withdrawals. Updated on war developments, Bush said the U.S. presence in Iraq will outlast his presidency. The president was cheered by news that Iraq's parliament had approved legislation reinstating thousands of former supporters of Saddam Hussein's dissolved Baath party to government jobs. Bush had prodded Iraqi leaders for more than a year to enact the law. The war, now in its fifth year, was a dominant theme during Bush's stops in Kuwait and Bahrain, two Persian Gulf nations crucial to U.S. military efforts in the region. Iran also is a main issue of Bush's trip, particularly in the five Gulf nations he is visiting. Nervous about Iran's military might and rising influence, Gulf leaders also are anxious about last week's confrontation between U.S. and Iranian naval vessels off their shore. Arab allies want assurances that Bush is not interested in starting a war that could threaten military bases on their soil or the lucrative oil trade through the Strait of Hormuz. But they also want security commitments from the president. Despite all the grief that the president has taken over his handling of the war in Iraq (not that he cares about what anyone else has to say on the subject), it must be liberating to know that he can pretty much do whatever he wants between now and January 20, 2009. The dude has nothing to lose.

Literacy - Nearly one-third of Arabs are illiterate, including half of Arab women, according to a report from the Arab League. Three-quartes of the 100 million illiterate people in 21 Arab countries are between the ages of 15 and 45. The Arab League is urging Arab countries to focus on adult literacy, especially for women to avoid "a severe threat to the social development of Arab nations." I'm sure this probably has to do with the fact that I'm a brainwashed Westerner, but if you ask me, I'd say that ship has already sailed. And another thing, maybe instead of spending tens of billions of dollars on a war that no one supports anymore, maybe we could invest that money (and probably a lot less of it) into literacy programs for Arab women and children. You know, its possible that these Arab countries might even appreciate the gesture.

Gold - Earlier this month, gold soared to $859 an ounce in intraday trading, above its highest ever close of $850. But consider this: in 2007, gold rose less than corn or oil and, is still well below its inflation-adjusted peak of about $2000, which it hit in 1980. Gold rose 30% in 2007. By comparison, corn rose 122% and oil rose 77%. Among the biggest gold producers, South Africa ranked first at 12%, followed by the U.S., China and Australia at 10%, Peru at 8%, Russia at 7%, Indonesia at 5% and Canada at 4% (For you math whizzes out there, the rest of the world accounts for the remaining 34%). Nothing particularly good or bad about these statistics. I just happened to find them rather interesting. And being the self-absorbed, greedy, capitalist pig that I am, I'm rather obsessed with the topic of money, or in this case, gold.

Movies - Will Smith set an opening weekend record for films released in December with his latest flick, I Am Legend, which raked in $77.2 million in its first days of release. But he's not the box office champ--Daniel Radcliffe, aka Harry Potter, is. Here are the numbers to back up young Mr. Potter:

	Daniel Radcliffe	Will Smith	Tom Cruise	Tom Hanks
Number of films	5	17	28	28
Avg Opening Weekend	$90.4 million	$36.5 million	$22.6 million	$17.1 million
Avg U.S. Box Office	$235.2 million	$120.2 million	$96.8 million	$103.9 million
Top Grossing Film	Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, $317.6 million	Independence Day, $306.2 million	War of the Worlds, $234.3 million	Forrest Gump, $329.7 million