What Caught My Eye Today

Thoroughbred Racing - Let's just get this out of the way upfront... Big Brown failed in his bid to become horse racing's 12th Triple Crown winner when he finished dead last to Da' Tara in the Belmont Stakes. Da' Tara went wire to wire to beat eight other thoroughbreds over 1 1/2 miles, the longest and toughest of the three classics. The bay colt's disappointing performance followed convincing victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. He failed on the same track where 10 horses had been beaten over the last three decades. The last horse to win the Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978. Now for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, there are 5 weeks each year that a sizable chunk of the population pretends to care about horse racing, known as the Triple Crown--starting with the Kentucky Derby in May followed by the Preakness Stakes and wrapping up with the Belmont Stakes. Horse racing is in desperate need of a new Triple Crown winner to inject some much needed positive press. Since the last winner--31 years ago--11 horses have won the first 2 legs of the Triple Crown, but could not close the deal.

Sportscasting - I don't usually start any posting with two sports stories, but today was unusual. Jim McKay elegantly covered competitions from badminton to barrel jumping. Yet he may best be remembered for that grim day at the Munich Olympics when he broke the news with three simple words: "They're all gone." The groundbreaking sportscaster died today of natural causes. He was 86. McKay was the one who spanned the globe to bring television viewers the constant variety of sports on ABC's influential "Wide World of Sports," where he told of "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." I don't want to take anything away from the athletes, but McKay's passing is a stark reminder that much of the mystique surrounding our sports heroes is due in large part to the brilliant ability of eloquent commentators to make these figures appear larger than life.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

2008 Presidential Race - Hillary Clinton suspended her pioneering campaign for the presidency today and summoned supporters to use "our energy, our passion, our strength" to put Barack Obama in the White House. Okay, this may sound a bit harsh, so my apologies to anyone who might be offended--Girlfriend, it's about flippin' time!!! Clinton issued a call for unity that emphasized the cultural and political milestones that she and Obama, the first black to secure a presidential nomination, represent. It was a poignant moment for Clinton, the end of an extraordinary run that began with an air of inevitability and certain victory. About 18 million people voted for her; it was the closest a woman has come to capturing a nomination. In deciding to "suspend" her campaign, Clinton kept some options open. Well, seeing as pretty much every other candidate on both sides has done the same thing, why not. She retains her delegates to the nominating convention and she can continue to raise money. It also means she could reopen her campaign if circumstances change before the Denver convention. I suppose the story will ultimately play out in November, but it is somewhat difficult to believe that Obama will face a more difficult task in taking on John McCain than he had against Clinton. Then again, he hasn't faced the wrath of those conservative radio talk show hosts the way Clinton has.

Space Station - Astronauts debuted the international space station's newest piece of equipment during a successful but very limited test. Space shuttle Discovery crew members moved two of the six joints on the Japanese Kibo lab's robotic arm for the first time, maneuvering them very slightly with a series of commands. Full deployment of the 33-foot arm will be done after Discovery leaves the station next week. However, it won't be used for any actual work until after the launch into orbit next year of the billion-dollar lab's third and final section — a "porch" for exterior experiments — and a second, smaller robotic arm. IT...IS...ALIVE... And on a separate note, I regret to inform you, yet again, that I have no update on the busted toilet. For all the fuse that was made about it before Discovery launched, you'd think that there would be some mention of whether or not the repair was successful.

Zimbabwe - At least 2 million people in Zimbabwe face greater risk of starvation, homelessness and disease because the government ordered aid groups to halt operations there. And why, you may ask, would the government do something so stupid and cruel... President Robert Mugabe's regime is using food and the threat of hunger as a weapon to cling to power ahead of the June 27 presidential runoff. I do my best to keep this blog clean, but in this case I'm going to make an exception...What a dick! The suspension order hampers aid delivery to more than 4 million people and puts at least 2 million at greater risk of starvation, homelessness and disease. Morgan Tsvangirai leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change beat Mugabe in the March 29 first round, but fell short of the votes needed to avoid a runoff. As the runoff approaches, police have detained Tsvangirai twice and halted his party's rallies. I honestly don't not get what idiots like Mugabe could possibly be thinking when they pull stunts like this. I appreciate the fact that power corrupts, but this lunacy goes to a whole new level.

Myanmar - A severe shortage of housing has left hundreds of thousands of cyclone survivors in Myanmar exposed to heavy rain as the monsoon season begins. Yeah, that sucks. Aid agencies said there was an urgent need for tarpaulins to provide temporary shelter to an estimated 1.5 million homeless survivors. Otherwise, the threats of hunger and disease could intensify. The U.N. estimates that 2.4 million people were affected when Cyclone Nargis hit May 2-3 and that warns that more than 1 million still need help. The U.N. has said that access could also be greatly improved if the country's military junta would accept American offers of support which include the use of military helicopters to ferry aid to remote locations. The U.S. military said it was keeping 22 helicopters on standby in case Myanmar's ruling junta reversed its rejection of such help for cyclone victims, saying the aircraft could reach survivors within three days. So like what's the deal here? It's like Mugabe and the junta are sharing the same brain stem or something.