What Caught My Eye Today

Middle East - President Bush delivered a sophisticated weapons sale for Saudi Arabia trying to bolster defenses against threats from U.S. adversary Iran and muster support in this oil-rich kingdom for a long-stalled Mideast peace agreement. Nothing like a good old fashioned bribe among friends. Among ordinary Saudis and across much of the Mideast, Bush is unpopular, particularly because of the Iraq war and unflinching U.S. support for Israel. Imagine that. Bush, who dislikes late nights, also stayed up well past his regular 9:30 p.m. bedtime for after-dinner talks with the king in the walled compound of his opulent palace. Its marble floors and walls contain sheets of gold, colored with precious stones and embedded jewels. Way to take one for the old Stars and Stripes, Mr. President. I guess that's why they say 'war is hell.' The weapons sales are a key element in Bush's strategy to shore up defenses against Iran, which the president has deemed the world's top state sponsor of terrorism. Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states, with majority Sunni Muslim populations, harbor deep suspicions about Shiite Iran's rising power and want to make sure the U.S. remains committed to keeping Tehran's ambitions in check. Correct me if I'm wrong. Didn't we pretty much employ the same logic with Iraq? Seems to me that didn't work out to well for us in the end.

Cocaine - How long has it been since we've had a good drug story? Too long, I say. U.S.-directed seizures and disruptions of cocaine shipments from Latin America dropped sharply in 2007 from the year before, reflecting in part a successful shift in tactics by drug traffickers to avoid detection at sea. The 2007 figure was the lowest since 2003, other officials said. Last year's drop broke a string of yearly increases in cocaine seizures and disruptions dating to the late 1990s. The commander of U.S. Southern Command, which is responsible for U.S. military operations in the region, said seizures fell from 262 metric tons in 2006 to about 210 tons last year. "It's difficult to say why that is," he said. I think the Navy brass is complicating something that's rather simple. The numbers are down, because the drug traffickers are finding different ways to hump the stuff in. Sounds pretty simple to me. Maybe you guys should stop sampling the product that you seize.

2008 Presidential Race - First up, the Republicans... Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and John McCain traded charges over the economy and abortion, in what has become a bitter personal duel on the eve of the important Michigan primary. One day before the Republican contest in Michigan, where Romney and McCain are neck-and-neck in new polls, the focus was on the state's slumping economy. Romney is hunting for a breakthrough win in Michigan on Tuesday after second-place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire. A third failure could effectively end his White House dreams. Victory by McCain would cement him as Republican front-runner but he would still face challenges from Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani in upcoming contests in South Carolina and Florida. Well its about time for some good old fashioned mudslinging. This is a campaign, boys, not a beauty pageant. Take the gloves off and start acting like politicians, for crying out loud. You don't see the Democrats playing nice do you?

Speaking of which, here's an update on the Democrats... Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama stepped back from a controversy over race agreeing that a prolonged clash over civil rights could harm their party's overall drive to win the White House. Nooooo!!! Obama was the first to try and quell the controversy that flared in the Democratic campaign in recent days. Referring to Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards, he said that while they may have disagreements, "we share the same goals. We're all Democrats, we all believe in civil rights, we all believe in equal rights." Clinton's campaign issued a statement in the same vein about an hour or so after Obama spoke, saying it was time to seek common ground. "And in that spirit, let's come together, because I want more than anything else to ensure that our family stays together on the front lines of the struggle to expand rights for all Americans," she said. Just when things were starting to get entertaining...I mean interesting...these guys kiss and make up. What is this country coming to? On a more serious note, the Democratic candidates are pretty much MIA for the Michigan primary, because the Democratic National Committee is punishing Michigan for moving up its primary date by not counting its delegates. Yeah, there's a wise move. Let's piss off the state nice and early so they have plenty of time to come up with a way to get even in November.

Sports - Here's my take on recent happenings in the world of sports:

Golf - The PGA got under way this weekend with K.J. Choi winning the Sony Open in Hawaii by 3 strokes over Rory Sabbatini. At the risk of stating the obvious, Tiger Woods skipped this tournament. Looking into my crystal ball, I'm putting myself down for Tiger getting at least 8 victories, including wins at the Masters and British Open.

Tennis - After a lengthy off season of about a day or so the season's first Grand Slam--the Australian Open--got under way this week. Seeing as I've got the bloody thing out already, lets see who the crystal ball has winning the event. On the women's side of the draw: I'll go with Justine Henin (1) vs. Serena Williams (7) and Venus Williams (8) vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova (2) in the semi-finals and an all Williams final with Serena taking the title. On the men's draw: Like it matters. It'll be Roger Federer (1) and Rafael Nadal (2) in the final. Gimme Federer.

Football - Okay so I forgot that the playoffs started last week. The real action was this past weekend in the divisional playoffs. I was a bit bummed when the San Diego Chargers (#4 seed) knocked off the Indianapolis Colts (#2 seed), but the New York Giants (#5 seed) made up for it by whacking the Dallas Cowboys (#1 seed). So for my final prediction of the week, I'll take Green Bay over the Giants for the NFC Conference title, and New England over San Diego for the AFC title. For the Super Bowl, let's just say I'm on the Pats bandwagon for a perfect 19-0 season.