What Caught My Eye Today

Iraq - The Pentagon is projecting that when the U.S. troop buildup in Iraq ends in July there will be about 8,000 more troops on the ground than when it began in January 2007. the troop total is likely to be 140,000. That compares with 132,000 when President Bush approved orders to send an additional five Army brigades to Iraq to improve security and avert civil war. The Pentagon believes U.S. force levels in Afghanistan will stand at 32,000 in late summer, up from about 28,000 currently. The current total is the highest since the war began in October 2001, and another 3,200 Marines are scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan this spring. Two comments on this. First--though it comes as little surprise to anyone who has been paying attention--it appears as though hopes for a troop draw down are pretty much shot to hell. Secondly, I guess President Bush doesn't care much about how the ongoing troop commitment will impact the upcoming presidential election. And maybe he shouldn't. I disagree with the dude's policies, but I'd be more irritated, if he based his policy making on whatever the latest polls suggested.

Pakistan - Alright, so now these guys have really stepped over the line. No, I'm not talking about harboring terrorism or questionable tactics employed by Pervez Musharraf to stay in power. No, this is much more serious. Most of the world's Internet users lost access to YouTube for several hours after an attempt by Pakistan's government to block access domestically affected other countries. Holy God! On Friday, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority ordered 70 Internet service providers to block access to YouTube.com, because of anti-Islamic movies on the video-sharing site. The block was intended to cover only Pakistan, but extended to about two-thirds of the global Internet population. I'm willing to overlook a lot when it comes to Pakistan, especially when it comes to Islamic stuff, but if you are going to go and mess up my Internet, well then, the gloves are going to come off, my friends.

South Africa - South Africa said that it will start killing elephants to reduce their burgeoning numbers, ending a 13-year ban and possibly setting a precedent for other African nations. That's not cool. The announcement follows months of impassioned debate, with some conservationists arguing for elephant killings to protect the ecosystem, and animal welfare groups outraged at the prospect of slaughtering one of the planet's most intelligent and self-aware creatures. South Africa has been hugely successful in protecting its elephant population, once on the verge of extinction in parts of the country. But it has become a victim of its own success. The number of elephants, which have no natural predators other than humans, is growing at a rate of more than 5% a year and is expected to double by 2020. And why is this a bad thing? Elephants can turn woodlands to grass and stubs in a matter of years. They need to roam widely to get their daily diet of about 660 pounds of grass, leaves and twigs and up to 52 gallons of water. And they increasingly clash with people. So there's the real reason. Those darned elephants are getting in the way of human development. Let's go on ahead and push these bothersome creatures back to the brink of extinction...again. After all, the world would be much better off with another strip mall than having these oafs trolling around doing nothing.

Academy Awards - Turns out the Oscars were handed out last night. Who knew. The Oscars are a ratings dud. Nielsen Media Research says preliminary ratings for the 80th annual Academy Awards telecast are 14% lower than the least-watched ceremony ever and 21% lower than last year's awards telecast. Nice to know I'm not the only one who missed out on the festivities. three-hour-and-20-minute affair had an underwhelming feel that left the clear impression it was put together on the fly. Jon Stewart, back for a second turn as host, was vastly improved from his 2006 appearance. He proved equal to the challenge posed by Oscarcast's quick turnaround. His crash-deadline material worked. And even when it didn't, he was genial, relaxed, and seemed utterly at home. The crime saga "No Country for Old Men" won a leading four Academy Awards, including best picture. All four acting prizes went to Europeans: Frenchwoman Marion Cotillard, the best-actress winner for "La Vie En Rose"; Spaniard Javier Bardem, who took supporting actor for "No Country"; and Brits Daniel Day-Lewis and Tilda Swinton, he claiming his second best-actor honor for "There Will Be Blood," she winning supporting actress for "Michael Clayton." I cannot offer much in terms of commentary. I didn't see any of these flicks. Maybe that accounts for my lack of interest in the Oscars this year.

Golf - Stewart Cink barely put up a fight against Tiger Woods in the Accenture Match Play Championship, where Woods broke a scoring record for the fourth straight tournament and collected his fifth straight victory worldwide. Woods made 14 birdies in 29 holes to overwhelm Cink for an 8-and-7 victory, the largest margin in the final match in the 10-year history of the event. His 63rd career victory moved him past Arnold Palmer and into fourth place alone on the PGA Tour's career list. His next victory will tie him with Ben Hogan. This next bit is that part that will probably scare the piss out of the rest of the Tour. Tiger didn't so much as crack a smile when someone asked him if a perfect season was within reach. "That's my intent," he said. "That's why you play. If you don't believe you can win an event, don't show up." Dude, this guy is wicked.

Baseball - The Tampa Bay Rays have had internal discussions about the prospect of pursuing Barry Bonds. team officials have conferred among themselves about Bonds and other veteran unsigned free agents, such as Kenny Lofton and Mike Piazza. Bonds, who broke Henry Aaron's career home run record last summer, has pleaded not guilty to perjury and obstruction of justice charges stemming from testimony to a federal grand jury in 2003 in which he said he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs. I guess there's nothing wrong with talking about prospects. I'm just wondering what Tampa Bay hopes to accomplish. From Bonds' perspective, I have to believe this would be a positive development. The Rays are an American League team, which means he could be a DH and inch closer to that 3,000 hit career milestone before he hangs up his cleats for good.

Cycling - American Astana rider Levi Leipheimer won the Tour of California cycle race for the second straight year. Fellow American George Hincapie won the seventh and final stage, a 150km run from Santa Clarita to Pasedena. Tour of California would like to become a Grand Tour, a three-week mega-event on par with the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana. And it appears that there is an opportunity that could be seized upon. The Vuelta is not doing too well. Once an early season event, it was forced to the near-end of the season in September 1995 to allow more time for riders to prepare for the Tour de France. Tour of California might be looking for a spot on the calendar that might be a bit warmer, drier and influenza-resistant than February, like September. One problem the Tour of California does have is the lack of a signature mountain-top finish, such as L'Alpe d'Huez in the Tour de France. Organizers have been scouting locations and think this problem can be resolved soon. In addition if the Tour of California expanded, new stages could include a start or finish in San Diego, making the race more of a statewide phenomenon. Hey, as far as I'm concerned anything that would contribute to more professional cycling in California, where I could watch the action live, I'm all in. On a related note, I've added a portlet to the blog, "Let Levi Ride," for interested readers to offer up some support for Levi Leipheimer's effort to get his team reinstated to participate in this year's Tour de France.