What Caught My Eye Today

Polygamy - More than 400 children, mostly girls in pioneer dresses, were swept into state custody from a polygamist sect. I say it's a cult, but I'll let you judge for yourselves. The members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints spent their days raising numerous children, tilling small gardens and doing chores. The community emphasized self-sufficiency because they believed the apocalypse was near. Of course it was. The women were not allowed to wear red — the color was said belonged to Jesus Right. — and were not allowed to cut their hair. They were also kept isolated from the outside world. Gee, I wonder why. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints broke away from the Mormon church after the latter disavowed polygamy more than a century ago. Okay, so like if these guys are too radical for the Mormons. I'm thinking red flag. I'm all for freedom of religion, but dude religion is a far cry from cult. And if it looks like a cult, walks like a cult and talks like a cult--it's probably a cult.

Olympic Torch Relay - Paris' Olympic torch relay descended into chaos with protesters scaling the Eiffel Tower, grabbing for the flame and forcing security officials to repeatedly snuff out the torch and transport it by bus past demonstrators yelling "Free Tibet!" The relentless anti-Chinese demonstrations ignited across the capital with unexpected power and ingenuity, foiling 3,000 police officers deployed on motorcycles, in jogging gear and even inline skates. Uh, so I can see duping a couple of dim witted officers, but 3,000? My goodness, that cannot bode well for the reputation of Paris' finest. Chinese organizers finally gave up on the relay, canceling the last third of what China had hoped would be a joyous jog by torch-bearing VIPs past some of Paris' most famous landmarks. These guys couldn't possibly have deluded themselves into believing that this torch relay was going to go off without a hitch, could they? France's former sports minister, Jean-Francois Lamour, stressed that though the torch was extinguished along the route, the Olympic flame itself still burned in a lantern where it is kept overnight and on airplane flights. A Chinese official said that flame was used to re-light the torch each time it was brought aboard the bus. Well that's a relief. Think about the weirdness there would have been if the flame actually went out. They'd have to go back to Ancient Olympia and start the whole darned thing all over again. Police had hoped to prevent the chaos that marred the relay in London a day earlier. There, police had repeatedly scuffled with activists and 37 people were arrested. Beijing organizers criticized the London protests as a "disgusting" form of sabotage by Tibetan separatists. In San Francisco, where the torch is due to arrive Wednesday, three protesters wearing harnesses and helmets climbed up the Golden Gate Bridge and tied the Tibetan flag and two banners to its cables. If the Chinese thought things were chaotic in London and Paris, wait until they come to Frisco. As a Bay Area native, I feel I can say this with some degree of credibility--we're certifiably nuts.

Princess Diana - Princess Diana and her lover Dodi al-Fayed were unlawfully killed by the grossly negligent driving of their chauffeur and paparazzi photographers pursuing them into a Paris road tunnel 10 years ago, an inquest ruled. You don't say. Here I was thinking that her life was cut short according to the letter of the law. On the evening they died, Diana and Dodi fled from the back entrance of the Ritz Hotel in Paris in a futile effort to avoid swarms of paparazzi photographers. They pursued the couple on high-powered motorbikes into the Alma tunnel and took pictures of the dying princess in the wrecked Mercedes after it smashed into pillar 13. Dodi's father, luxury store owner Mohamed al-Fayed, had accused Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip, Diana's former father-in-law, of ordering British security services to kill her and stop her marrying a Muslim and having his baby. Henri Paul, the chauffeur, was an employee of the Ritz Hotel, owned by al-Fayed. Paul died in the crash. The jury foreman said in court: "The crash was caused, or contributed to, by the speed and manner of the driver of the Mercedes and the speed and manner of the following vehicles." The foreman said contributing factors were: the fact Paul's judgment was impaired by alcohol, Diana was not wearing a seat belt and that the car hit a pillar. Both French and British police inquiries concluded the crash was a tragic accident caused by Paul being drunk and driving too fast. Well there you have it; another tragic case of drunk driving. Still, one wonders why it took ten years to come to this tidy little conclusion. Too tidy if you ask me. You know, I bet the conspiracy theorists are right. It was a cover-up, darn it. How else can you explain why it took 10 years and $20 millions to come up with that same result as a simple blood test?

Colombia - President Bush sent Congress a controversial free trade agreement with Colombia — a move that will force lawmakers to vote within 90 days on the pact, which is heavily opposed by Democrats. There's a big surprise. Democrats contend that Colombia has not done enough to halt violence, protect labor activists and demobilize paramilitary organizations. The president disagrees, saying Colombia has addressed the issues. The president, who has staked out free trade as one of his top legacies, is also hoping to win congressional approval before he leaves office on pending free trade agreements with Panama and South Korea. I thought the Iraq war was going to be Bush's legacy. But I suppose useless trade agreements with countries that contribute next to nothing to our economy is just as good. Today, nearly all of Colombia's exports enter the United States duty-free, while American products exported to Colombia face tariffs of up to 35% for nonagricultural goods, and higher tariffs for many agricultural products. Bush said failure to approve a free-trade deal with Colombia would encourage Venezuela President Hugo Chavez's anti-American regime and cast the United States as untrustworthy and impotent across South America. Ah, so there's the real reason. Bush just wants to piss in Chavez's pool.