What Caught My Eye Today

Ground Hog Day - Unless you are American, and a rather old one at that, this item will probably mean nothing to you. And if you do fall into that category, this item will probably mean next to nothing to you. Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning, leading the groundhog to forecast six more weeks of winter. The rodent was pulled from his stump by members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle, top-hat- and tuxedo-wearing businessmen who carry out the tradition.Each Feb. 2, thousands of people descend on Punxsutawney, a town of about 6,100 people some 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, to celebrate what had essentially been a German superstition. The tradition is that if a hibernating animal sees a shadow on Feb. 2 — the Christian holiday of Candlemas — winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early.

Chad - Hundreds of rebels charged into Chad's capital aboard pickup trucks Saturday, clashing with government troops around the presidential palace in the most forceful attempt yet to oust President Idriss Deby. The rebel force is believed to be a coalition of three groups, including the biggest led by Nouri, a former diplomat who defected 16 months ago, and a nephew of Deby's, Timan Erdimi. They long have been fighting to overthrow Deby, whom they accuse of corruption. Deby, himself a soldier, has suffered many defections in the past and morale is low in the army. The rebels also have said they were unhappy with the president not providing enough support to rebels in Sudan's Darfur region, some of whom are from Deby's own tribe, the Zaghawa, who are found in both Chad and Sudan. No you didn't read this wrong. This is Chad we're talking about. Kenya's political crisis was last week. I have to say that trying to keep up with the latest African nation to fall into chaos is no easy task. There are so many to keep track of. Maybe Chad will be different, after all they recently found oil deposits within their borders. That should garner some attention.

Maldives - Running out of space in its crowded capital, this republic of 1,200 islands thought it had a can't-miss solution: build another island. One day, they told themselves, the new island called Hulhumale would have it all: leafy streets, an artificial beach, a marina for megayachts, a luxury hotel and an entertainment strip. Considered sleepy even by the standards of this relatively slow-paced nation, Hulhumale has attracted only about 5,000 people since the first houses went up in 2003. That's far fewer than the 150,000 planners say could fit into the 465-acre island. The almost rectangular island is built on sand dredged from the seabed and dumped in the shallows near a reef. It is more than six feet above sea level — double the height of average Maldivian islet — to protect it against rising seas. But if the worst-case global warming scenarios come true, an extra three feet won't matter — Hulhumale, too, could find itself under water by the end of the century. I hate to dump on the Maldives, but who do you guys think you are trying to build islands--Dubai? Honestly, leave the island building to the experts. Besides, I'm thinking that this global warming deal doesn't bode well for any more islands in this part of the world, even those a whooping six feet above sea level.

2008 Presidential Race - Mitt Romney won the presidential preference voting among Maine Republicans on Saturday in the party's municipal caucuses. Romney had a little over half of the vote with about two-thirds of the towns holding caucuses reporting. John McCain worked to keep his vote above 20 percent, trailed by Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee. I had to give Maine it's brief moment in the political spotlight. After tonight, all the press will be on Super Tuesday and the 1688 Democratic delegates and 1,032 Republican delegates up for grabs. If I did my math correctly, no one can clinch their parties nomination even if they swept all the delegates. Barack Obama, currently the Democratic frontrunner would still need 349 more delegates and John McCain would still need 10 more to secure the GOP nomination. If McCain does well enough, he could clinch the nomination later in the week.

Super Bowl - In what amounts to the world's largest sports spectacle (if you happen to be American or spending the weekend in Las Vegas), the Super Bowl takes place tomorrow with the 18-0 New England Patriots taking on Peyton Manning's little brother, also known as the New York Giants. While my focus will certainly be on the eagerly anticipated Super Bowl ads (costing $2.7 million per 30 second spot), I would be remiss if I didn't provide my projection for the winner. I've got the New England Patriots icing a perfect 19-0 season with at 31-24 win over New York.