What Caught My Eye Today

2008 Presidential Race - Hillary Clinton, the prohibitive favorite in the Democratic presidential race just months ago, faces the possible end of her White House road on Tuesday in Ohio and Texas as she tries to halt rival Barack Obama's streak of 11 consecutive wins in their hard-fought duel to be the Democratic presidential nominee. And let's not forget that Rhode Island and Vermont are also up for grabs. Last time I checked, a delegate was a delegate regardless of what state he or she represents. Clinton's husband, former President Bill Clinton, has said she needs to win both states to continue her campaign, a view shared by many analysts. Polls show tight races in both. Even a split decision in the two states would leave her with a steep climb to overtake Obama's lead of roughly 150 pledged convention delegates who select the nominee, and increase the pressure on her to quit. The pressure might be there, but I'm not counting Hillary out until she says she's out--and I just don't see that happening anytime soon. Over on the Republican side, the race for the nomination is still going on, though if you've been paying attention, the outcome has been a foregone conclusion for almost a month.Republican front-runner John McCain can come close to clinching the nomination tomorrow with expected wins over his last remaining major challenger, Mike Huckabee. McCain said he was "guardedly confident" he could reach the 1,191 delegates needed to clinch the Republican nomination and move on to a general election campaign. "Guardedly confident?" Dude, you would have to pretty much drop-dead (literally) in order to not get the nomination. I'm all for humility, but this is a bit much.

China - The Chinese military continues to increase spending on efforts to break into U.S. military computer systems, expand its Navy, and invest in intercontinental nuclear missiles and weapons to destroy satellites, according to the latest U.S report on China's military power. The report says China's total military spending in 2007 was between $97 billion and $139 billion, but it is hard to tell exactly how much was spent and on what. In comparison, the U.S. military budget request for 2008 is $481.4 billion, not including war requests. And I bet it is even harder to tell what we're spending the money on. The United States says the lack of transparency by the Chinese on its spending poses "risks to stability by increasing the potential for misunderstanding and miscalculation," and that China has yet to explain to the international community the purpose of its military expansion. That's right, China. There's only enough room in this hen house for one rooster, and we're it. So you guys just back off and do we tell you to do, while we do whatever the heck we want. The nerve of these guys trying to mess with the natural pecking order.

South America - There is a political mess brewing in South America involving Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. Ecuador broke off diplomatic ties with Colombia and Venezuela says it will expel Colombia's ambassador after that country conducted a strike against leftist rebels inside Ecuador. Colombian officials responded by saying documents found on a laptop computer seized in the raid offered evidence that the governments of Venezuela and Ecuador provided political and financial support to Colombia's largest guerrilla group. Among the documents found on the seized laptop computer are ones that suggest Venezuela recently paid $300 million to FARC and that the rebels had appeared interested in buying uranium. Another document suggests that rebels have had financial ties with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez since 1992. Colombian officials have long complained rebels are allowed to take refuge across its borders in both Ecuador and Venezuela. If this just involved Colombia and Ecuador, I'd be much more optimistic of a peaceful resolution. There are enough powers in the region (like us, or Mexico or even Chile) to bring these folks to the table to broker a peaceful solution. But unfortunately, there is a wild card--Venezuela--that threatens to destabilize the whole situation into what could easily boil over into war. And frankly, that's the last thing the U.S. needs right about now. We've already got our hands full in the Middle East.

Speaking of the Middle East...

Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, heading home after a two-day visit to Iraq, again touted his country's closer relations with Iraq and reiterated his criticism of the United States. "No one likes them," Ahmadinejad said. Stop the presses! Them thar is fighting words. He repeated his criticism of the U.S. position that Iran was backing violence in Iraq. "We do not care about their statements and remarks because they make statements based on erroneous information. We cannot count on what they say," Ahmadinejad said. Like it or not, psycho boy does have a point. We never did find the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, did we? The United States has accused Iran of supporting insurgent groups in Iraq, including supplying explosively formed penetrators, the deadliest and most sophisticated type of roadside bomb.

Oil - Oil prices have surged to a new record high in reaction to the falling dollar and fading hopes of more supply. It also looks increasingly unlikely that oil exporters' cartel OPEC will raise production to help ease prices. OPEC has blamed speculators for driving oil prices higher and is unlikely to raise production when it meets in Vienna this week. Seeing as the economy is already in the toilet, lets add fuel to the fire, by jacking up oil prices.