What Caught My Eye Today

Iraq - Fresh off his eighth Iraq visit, Sen. John McCain declared that "we are succeeding" and said he wouldn't change course — even as the U.S. death toll rose to 4,000 and the war entered its sixth year. I suppose the concept of success is rather subjective depending on your viewpoint, but I have to ask, in what universe would 4,000 deaths and a war with no end in sight, be considered a success? In the midst of a western fundraising swing after a week abroad, including visits to Iraq, the Middle East and Europe, the Arizona senator didn't mention the grim casualty milestone or the last weeks fifth anniversary of the conflict. Also left unsaid during the event was the fact that 2007 was the war's deadliest year with 901 American troop deaths. That was when Bush took McCain's advice and sent thousands more U.S. troops to Iraq to quell violence in Baghdad. Funny how talk of casualties in an unpopular war can put the damper on fundraising. Asked later if he was offering the war-weary public any different path forward in Iraq than Bush, McCain reached back to the past. "I'm offering them the record of having objected strenuously to a failed strategy for nearly four years. That I argued against and fought against and said that the secretary of defense of my own party, and my own president, I had no confidence in. That's how far I went in advocating the new strategy that is succeeding." Translation: "When the war was going bad, it was the President's fault. Now that it isn't, I'm the reason why." Of course, That doesn't actually address the issue that no one wants the war to continue, even if it is succeeding, but since when has a politician ever actually answered the question that was asked?

Olympics - Even before the Olympic flame was lit today in Ancient Olympia, Greece, a protester of China's human rights policies disrupted the solemn ceremony, foreshadowing the prospect of demonstrations throughout the 85,000-mile torch-relay route right up to the Beijing Games themselves. Three men advocating press freedom evaded massive security and ran onto the field at the ceremony in Ancient Olympia before they were seized by police. Minutes later, a Tibetan woman covered in fake blood briefly blocked the path of the torch relay. Protests are bound to follow the torch throughout its 136-day route across five continents and 20 countries. So it would seem. China pledged strict security measures to ensure its segment of the relay won't be marred by protests. I'm inclined to believe that they'll do what they say. China has promised a smooth run-up to the Summer Games and is hoping a successful games will bolster its international image. I wonder what the Chinese define 'a smooth run-up' to mean? As far as I can tell, this isn't exactly the smoothest start to the Olympic torch relay.

Food Prices - Consumers worldwide face rising food prices in what analysts call a perfect storm of conditions. Freak weather is a factor. But so are dramatic changes in the global economy, including higher oil prices, lower food reserves and growing consumer demand in China and India. The world's poorest nations still harbor the greatest hunger risk. Clashes over bread in Egypt killed at least two people last week, and similar food riots broke out in Burkina Faso and Cameroon this month. Among the driving forces are petroleum prices, which increase the cost of everything from fertilizers to transport to food processing. Rising demand for meat and dairy in rapidly developing countries such as China and India is sending up the cost of grain, used for cattle feed, as is the demand for raw materials to make biofuels. As of December, 37 countries faced food crises, and 20 had imposed some sort of food-price controls. If you are a regular visitor to this blog, you probably know my reaction to all this. But for the 99% of you who aren't, I tell you. It's those darned ethanol lobbyists in Iowa. Somehow, a handful of corn growers in the middle of nowhere are managing to screw up the global food supply. Oh sure, the Chinese are probably culpable as well, but they are having enough problems with this whole Olympics deal, so we'll just have to blame it on the lobbyists.

Sports - Here's a whirlwind tour of the happenings in the world of sport over the weekend.

Golf - Tiger Woods did not win for the first time in 6 months. Despite shooting a 4-under 68 in the final round of the WGC CA Championships at Doral, Woods managed only a fifth place finish, two shots behind Geoff Ogilvy who carded a 17 under, 271. Who else besides Tiger would be thought of as slumping with a fifth place finish.

Soccer - The U.S. men's soccer team lost 1-0 to Honduras in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship game. On the bright side, both teams qualified just by making the finals. However, I don't know that I'd be betting on the U.S. making it to the medal round in Beijing.

College Basketball - Let me put it this way. My March Madness brackets started off with a St. Patrick's Day theme (mostly green), then as the first round progressed, we shifted to more of a Christmas motif. By the end of the second round, I was pretty much sporting a Valentine's Day color palette (mostly red). My record going into the Sweet 16 is 34 out of 48 (good enough for the 86th percentile). And I suppose I can take some pride in the fact that my Final Four is still intact (UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas and Texas).