What Caught My Eye Today - Aloha Edition

Hawaii At A Glance
Today's Headline: "Death Toll from China Quake at 12,000" More on that in a minute.
Things to do in Hawaii: Play a round of golf. Multiple rounds if you can swing it (get it?). The thing I like about golf in Hawaii, is that most courses offer substantial discounts to the locals. Doesn't help me much, but I think it's a cool thing to offer the locals. I haven't played many courses--pretty much 2 is it. But for the money and if you are on Oahu, I'd go with the Ko'Olina Golf Club It's a bit off the beaten path over on the south west corner of the island, but it's worth the trip. Of course, I may be a bit biased, seeing as I'm spending my vacation pretty much across the street from the joint.

2008 Presidential Race - Hillary Clinton coasted to a large but largely symbolic victory in working-class West Virginia handing Barack Obama one of the worst defeats of the campaign yet scarcely slowing his march toward the Democratic presidential nomination. "The White House is won in the swing states. And I am winning the swing states," Clinton told cheering supporters at a victory rally. West Virginia, a swing state? Since when? No disrespect intended to my friends in the Mountaineer state, but since when has a state with 5 electoral votes ever been considered a swing state? With votes from 98% of West Virginia's precincts counted, Clinton was winning 67%of the vote, to 26% for Obama. Clinton's triumph approached the 70% of the vote she gained in Arkansas, her best state to date. It came courtesy of an overwhelmingly white electorate comprised of the kinds of voters who have favored her throughout the primaries. Clinton won 20 of the 28 delegates at stake in West Virginia and Obama won eight. That left Obama with 1,883.5 delegates, to 1,717 for Clinton. Home stretch, my friends. Next up, Kentucky and Oregon. Come heck or high water, the Democrats may finally pick themselves a presidential nominee.

Iraq War - No doubt you have heard countless accounts of the sacrifices that have been made, particularly by the troops and their families, but here's one that tops them all. President George W. Bush said he quit playing golf in 2003 out of respect for the families of Americans killed in the war in Iraq. "I don't want some mom whose son may have recently died to see the Commander-in-Chief playing golf. I feel I owe it to the families to be as -- to be in solidarity as best as I can with them. And I think playing golf during a war just sends the wrong signal," Bush said. Well that's awfully big of the President. Here's a novel concept. How about showing some solidarity with them by figuring out a way to get our troops home and out of harm's way. Call me a whack job, but I'm sure these folks would appreciate that a heck of a lot more than you giving up your golf game.

China - China poured more troops into the earthquake-ravaged province of Sichuan to quicken a search for survivors as time ran out for thousands of people buried under rubble and mud. The government dispatched 50,000 troops to the southwestern province to dig for survivors as the national death toll climbed past 13,000. It is likely to rise steeply after state media said 19,000 were buried in Sichuan's Mianyang area alone. The quake, the worst to hit China since 1976 when up to 300,000 died, has muffled upbeat government propaganda three months ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games. It has also quelled criticism from abroad over recent unrest in Tibet, with images of the human tragedy and heroic rescue efforts spurring offers of aid and an outpouring of sympathy. Okay, first of all, I applaud the effort that the Chinese government is making to get assistance to the victims of the earthquake. But honestly, this deal has nothing to do with the unrest in Tibet. This earthquake doesn't change the situation in Tibet one little bit. I'm not saying that we shouldn't offer some sympathy to the Chinese for this tragedy, but it doesn't undo any of the issues that exist with regard to Tibet.

Myanmar - You all are not going to believe this. The U.N. says another cyclone in forming near Myanmar, which was devastated by a killer storm less than two weeks ago. Information about the possible cyclone came from the Joint Typhoon Warning center, which is part of the U.N.'s World Meteorological Center. The center said on its Web site that "the potential for the development of a significant tropical cyclone within the next 24 hours is good." This has got to be some sort of cruel joke, right? The May 3 cyclone, which pulverized the Irrawaddy delta, left more than 60,000 people dead or missing. Aid agencies estimate that more than 100,000 people have died, and as many as 1.5 million are at risk of disease and other health problems caused by a lack of fresh food, water and shelter.