What Caught My Eye Today

2008 Presidential Race - Yeah, not much to report today. Barack Obama sealed the Democratic presidential nomination, a historic step toward his once-improbable goal of becoming the nation's first black president. A day-long parade of delegates flocked to Obama, putting him just shy of the 2,118 delegates he needs to become the first black to lead a major U.S. political party in a campaign for the White House. Facing defeat, Hillary Clinton told New York members of Congress that she would be open to becoming Obama's vice presidential running mate, and her backers began to turn up the pressure on Obama to pick her as his No. 2. Obama's victory set up a five-month campaign with John McCain, a race between a 46-year-old opponent of the Iraq War and a 71-year-old former Vietnam prisoner of war and staunch supporter of the current U.S. military mission. Say what you will about the upcoming presidential election (God knows I will), but no one will be able to claim that we won't have a discernible choice between Obama and McCain. Frankly, about the only thing that they do agree on is that they both want to win in November. As for Hillary, considering a bunch of so-called 'experts' left you for dead after the Iowa caucuses in January (seems like a lifetime ago, doesn't it), I'd say you ran a pretty good race. Incidentally, as we go to press, it looks like Clinton is going to win South Dakota while Obama takes the final primary in Montana.

Iran - The United States and Israel said the rest of the world isn't doing enough to stop Iran from getting the bomb and accused Iran of continuing a covert drive for nuclear weapons, although U.S. intelligence has said Tehran quit its active warhead program years ago. Say what? Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, both used speeches to complain that European and other nations are undermining the hard line against Iran's nuclear program by pursuing business relationships with Tehran. A U.N. report suggested that Tehran was stonewalling investigators and possibly withholding information crucial to the U.N. nuclear monitor's probe of allegations it did nuclear arms research. Rice scoffed at Iran's claim that its nuclear program is intended only to produce electricity. Why then would Iran keep inspectors away from some sites, reject a generous offer of civilian nuclear help from Russia or maintain part of its program under military control, Rice asked. She also indirectly criticized Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama for his willingness to talk to Iran, the rising Mideast power that Israeli leaders consider their greatest enemy. Of course she did and why not? If President Bush is going to use the international stage to take shots at the Democratic presidential candidate, why wouldn't his minion do the same. Monkey see, monkey do. As for this whole deal between Iran and the United States, I not sure which is more irritating--the lunatic rantings of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or the incessant whining of the American government. Seriously, is there a single shred of tangible evidence that can be produced suggesting that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. If so, I'm all ears. Honestly, show me the money.

Space Station - A team of astronauts working inside and out anchored a giant billion-dollar Japanese lab to the international space station, making it the biggest room there. Kibo — a behemoth stretching 37 feet and weighing more than 32,000 pounds — became the largest lab at the space station by nine feet. It's also more sophisticated. Kibo sports a hatch to the outside and a robot arm for sliding out science experiments. A smaller arm will arrive next spring, along with an outdoor porch for holding the experiment packages. The first part of Kibo — essentially a storage shed — was delivered by the last shuttle crew in March. The astronauts aboard the linked shuttle and station will attach the shed to the lab later this week. I regret to say, that I have no information on the real story of this latest space shuttle mission--that of fixing the busted 'toitee' on the space station. I promise you this, when I know, you'll know.

Food - A U.N. global food crisis summit will draw up an emergency plan to mobilize aid, reduce trade barriers and invest in farming in poor countries to stop the spread of hunger threatening nearly one billion people. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization called the emergency meeting amid soaring commodity prices that threaten to add as many as 100 million more people to the 850 million already going hungry and destabilize governments. Sounds like a good idea to me. One wonders why they waited so long to do this. I suppose better late than never.

In related news...

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, whose authoritarian rule has brought widespread hunger to his country, defended his policy of seizing land from whites, saying he is undoing a legacy of Zimbabwe's former colonial masters. He contended that while land reform was "warmly welcomed" by most of his people, it has "elicited wrath from our former colonial masters." Oh yeah, I'm sure that's exactly what he thinks they said. My guess is that most of the people would welcome a reliable source of food a bit more. Once hailed as a hero of African liberation, Mugabe has come to be widely reviled for presiding over the collapse of Africa's one-time bread basket into a nation where millions go hungry. Mugabe struck a defiant tone — accusing Western powers of maneuvering to bring about "regime change" in Zimbabwe. Here's an idea. How about we put Mugabe, Ahmadinejad, and my personal favorite, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, into a room and let them solve the world's ills. If nothing else, whatever they come up with--and I'm sure the annihilation of the United States is probably pretty high up on the list--should be good for a few laughs.

Gas Prices - With gas prices at record highs, it's a bit hard to find a silver lining, but here's a glimmer of hope. Around the country, high gas prices are pushing more people to leave their cars at home and crowd onto trains, buses and subways. In the first three months of 2008, 2.6 billion trips were taken on public transportation in the U.S., a 3 percent increase over the first quarter of 2007, according to the American Public Transportation Association. Meanwhile, the number of miles driven on American roads fell slightly last year — from 3.014 trillion to 3.003 trillion, according to the Federal Highway Administration. It was the first time since 1980 that the figure had not increased. Unfortunately, no good intentions go unpunished. While increased ridership is usually good news for transit agencies, some are struggling to accommodate new riders at a time when tight budgets are making local and state governments reluctant to put more money toward public transportation. Kind of ironic that the same economic pressures that are leading people to take mass transit are the same pressures preventing most municipalities from doing anything to accommodate the increased demand.