What Caught My Eye Today

2008 Presidential Race (Part I) - As if the Democratic nomination isn't convoluted enough, check out this item. RealClearPolitics.com (you have to appreciate the irony of this web site's name) keeps track of 6 versions of the popular vote, including the vote of the sanctioned contests, the sanctioned contests plust estimated totals from several cuacuses, and the sanctioned vote plus Florida and Michigan. You'll have to go to the web site to see the specifics (cause the explanations they use to justify the results are too darned long), but suffice it to say that Obama comes out ahead in 4 of the 6 counts. I think one thing that we can all agree on is that if you mess with the math long enough, you can get the numbers to say whatever you want them to say. Ain't democracy grand?

2008 Presidential Race (Part II) - Democratic party officials said a committee agreed on a compromise to seat Michigan and Florida delegates with half-votes. The deal was reached after committee members met privately for more than three hours, trying to hammer out a deal, and announced in a raucous hearing that reflected deep divisions within the party. The sticking point was Michigan, where Obama's name was not on the ballot. Clinton's camp insisted Obama shouldn't get any pledged delegates in Michigan since he chose not to put his name on the ballot, and she should get 73 pledged delegates with 55 uncommitted. Gee what a big surprise. Obama's team insisted the only fair solution was to split the pledged delegates in half between the two campaigns, with 64 each. And yet another shocking statement. The committee agreed on a compromise offered by the Michigan Democratic Party that would split the difference, allowing Clinton to take 69 delegates and Obama 59. Each delegate would get half a vote at the convention in Denver this summer, according to the deal. They also agreed to seat the Florida delegation based on the outcome of the January primary, with 105 pledged delegates for Clinton and 67 for Obama, but with each delegate getting half a vote as a penalty. The resolution increased the number of delegates needed to clinch the nomination to 2,118, leaving Obama 66 delegates short but still within striking distance after the three final primaries are held in the next three days. The beauty of this compromise is that both Clinton and Obama probably feel like they got screwed, though I'm guessing Obama is not quite as pissed off as Clinton is, seeing as he's still winning. I only hope that the Democratic voters in both Florida and Michigan have been appeased enough to turn up for their candidate in November. Oh and by the way, the Democratic National Committee could have avoided this if they had done that same thing as the Republicans did several months ago, penalize both states by cutting the delegates by half. I find it rather amusing that today's decision basically did this.

Space Shuttle - Fear not Space Station occupants. Your potty issues are about to be resolved. Space shuttle Discovery and a crew of seven blasted into orbit carrying a giant Japanese lab addition to the international space station along with something more mundane — a toilet pump. The shuttle's trip to the space station should take two days. Once there, Discovery's crew will unload and install the $1 billion lab and hand-deliver a specially made pump for the outpost's finicky toilet. The Japanese lab is 37 feet long and more than 32,000 pounds, and fills Discovery's entire payload bay. The first part of the lab flew up in March, and the third and final section will be launched next year. The entire lab, with all its pieces, cost more than $2 billion. There are so many joke openings here that I find myself not being able to choose which one to go with. Oh heck, just use your imaginations on this one. It'll do you some good to exercise your noodles.

Hurricanes - A weak tropical storm formed Saturday off the Yucatan Peninsula and quickly made landfall at the Belize-Mexico border, dumping rain and kicking up surf. The first named storm of the 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season, Arthur was moving northwest across the Yucatan with maximum sustained winds near 40 mph (64 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The storm formed one day before the official start of the season June 1, hitting land near the Mexican port city of Chetumal and Belize's Corozal city. Well this doesn't exactly bode well does it? I've read a few articles that suggest this year's Atlantic hurricane season is expected to be above normal. I suppose if we make it to Wilfred (#21 on this year's list of Atlantic hurricane names) then we'll definitely know that it was a busy year. Should you have interest in the Pacific, apparently there is more action, so the list contains an entry for all 24 letters of the alphabet. So far, Alma is already active, which means Zeke is only 23 storms away.

Potpourri - Curious about how those tax rebate checks are working to stimulate the economy? Me neither, but some enterprising lad with apparently some extra time on his hands was. And with that I give you "How I Spent My Stimulus" (click here) Here's my personal favorite -- "I used my $600 to bail myself out of prison, along with $6900 more." Just what the government had in mind, I'm sure.

Tennis - I have to offer an apology to American tennis phenom, Robby Ginepri. I incorrectly reported yesterday that no American man or woman made it past the third round of the French Open. Turns out I was wrong (big surprise, huh?). Dude won his third round match in straight sets and next faces #24 seed Fernando Gonzalez. On the off chance that he wins, Ginepri will likely face Roger Federer in the quarter finals. What a prize. One last note on the men's draw. Out of the 16 remaining competitors, 5 are French and 4 are Spanish. Over on the women's side, there are 5 Russians left, though as luck would have it there are two all Russian match ups in the fourth round.