What Caught My Eye Today

2008 Presidential Race - Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton kicked off their final debate before Super Tuesday contests on a cordial note, and reached out to backers of former rival John Edwards in their chase for delegates. Facing only each other in a debate for the first time, both candidates acknowledged policy differences but also sought to ratchet back what had become increasingly personal attacks. I guess my problem with this attempt at being cordial, is that neither of these candidates probably mean it. They know that the big prize is in November and, rightly so, neither wants to do something stupid to screw up their shot at it. But do Barack and Hillary really like each other? I doubt it.

Meanwhile, while the Democrats are taking a breather on personal attacks, the Republicans are picking up the slack. Mitt Romney accused his rival John McCain of adopting underhanded tactics from Richard Nixon, the GOP president who resigned in disgrace. Romney said in his most pointed rebuttal yet to front-runner McCain's claim that the former Massachusetts governor favors a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. Romney denies this charge and most media analyses have concluded that Romney wasn't using `timetable' in the same way Democratic candidates have. McCain's decision to level the timetable charge this week without leaving Romney time to rebut it before Florida Republicans voted in their primary "was reminiscent of the Nixon era," Romney said. McCain ended up winning the Florida contest Tuesday. Okay sure, McCain's tactics may not have been nice, but it sure looks like they worked. When was the last time you saw Miss Congeniality win a beauty pageant? Before Romney gets on his high horse maybe he should consider what he would have done if the roles were reversed. Maybe McCain struck a low blow and maybe he didn't. Given the same opportunity, would Romney have acted any differently?

Al-Qaeda - A senior Al-Qaeda leader in Afghanistan, described by Western authorities as one of Osama bin Laden's top six lieutenants, has been killed. An Al-Qaeda linked web site reported Abu Laith al-Libi had been killed in Pakistan, suggesting he may have died in a suspected U.S. missile strike that killed up to 13 foreign militants in Pakistan's North Waziristan border area this week. Al-Libi is believed to have been responsible for a brazen bomb attack during a visit last year by Vice President Dick Cheney to Afghanistan. The killing of such a major al-Qaeda figure is likely to embarrass Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, who has repeatedly said he would not sanction U.S. military action against al-Qaeda members believed to be regrouping in the wild borderlands near Afghanistan. Well golly, I guess we should have checked with him first, shouldn't we? I mean, really. The last thing the United States would want to do is step on the toes of a stauch ally in the war against terror. Especially, one like Musharraf who has demonstrated that he has a firm grasp on the situation in Pakistan. Embarrassment? Dude, that is the least of this idiot's problems.

Greenland - I'd have to check the archives on this, but I'm pretty sure this is my first posting on Greenland. Denmark plans to investigate claims that the CIA secretly used an airport on the Nordic country's remote Arctic territory of Greenland to transport prisoners in the U.S. war on terror. Denmark, like many other European countries, began investigating reports in 2005 that the U.S. intelligence agency quietly touched down on their territory as part of the CIA's so-called "extraordinary rendition" program. Human rights groups have criticized the practice, in which suspects are transported for interrogation to countries outside the U.S. for interrogation. In 2005, the government confirmed that at least 14 flights by aircraft suspected of being used in the CIA program entered Danish airspace since 2001, but said it was not clear who was on board. A February 2007 report by the European Parliament said at least 1,245 undeclared flights operated by the CIA flew into European airspace or stopped over at European airfields, including in Denmark, after the September 11 terror attacks of 2001. I'm probably missing the point here, but if I were going to look for an out of the way place to make a pitstop out of public view, I have to say that Greenland would be pretty high on my list. On another note, it's not like any improprieties actually took place on Danish soil, so what's the big deal? Our guys waited until wheels up before beating the living daylights...Let me try that again. Our guys waited until wheels up before interrogating any terrorist suspects. (If it isn't obvious, please trust that my commentary is dripping in sarcasm).

Rwanda - Yep, I think this is another first time shout out as well, this time to my peeps in Rwanda. The central bank of Rwanda has launched its own securities exchange in the country's capital, Kigali. The hope is that the exchange will aid the economy, which has yet to bounce back after the 1994 genocide. More than 800,000 people were killed and the country's infrastructure was destroyed in the civil war. The securities exchange is being seen as a source of cheaper financing than that offered by commercial banks. The central bank's governor said that at first the stock exchange would only be open to Rwandan companies. Good for them, though I'm not sure that they needed restrict the exchange only to domestic companies. Call me a skeptic, but I don't see the likes of Wal-Mart or Microsoft tripping over themselves to get listed on the Rwandan stock exchange.

Golf - Not that this should come as much of a surprise, but Tiger Woods shot a 7-under par 65 in the first round of the Dubai Classic to open up a two stroke advantage over the rest of the field. The funny thing about this is that he's probably pocketing more in appearance fees than he will if he wins the tournament.