What Caught My Eye Today

Zimbabwe - Always nice to see the wheels of democracy in action. Widespread voter intimidation and low turnout marked Zimbabwe's one-candidate presidential runoff, further damaging the vote designed to bolster longtime President Robert Mugabe's credibility. What credibility is left to damage? Residents said they were forced to vote, threatened by violence, arson or roving bands of government supporters searching for those without an ink-stained finger. Mugabe, who has been president since independence in 1980, is believed to want a large turnout so he can claim an overwhelmingly victory over Tsvangirai, whose name remained on the ballot because electoral officials say his withdrawal Sunday came too late. Like a large turnout matters at this point. Dude is going to make sure that he gets the result he wants regardless of the methods employed. Since the first round of national elections, shortages of basic goods have worsened, public services have come to virtual standstill, and power and water outages have continued daily. Which begs the question why wouldn't the Zimbabwean people want to keep Mugabe in power, what with all the prosperity that he has brought to the country, after all, an inflation rate of 165,000% is not that easy to come by. I seriously doubt that any run-of-the-mill president could pull this off.

North Pole - Arctic sea ice could break apart completely at the North Pole this year, allowing ships to sail over the normally frozen top of the world. The potential landmark thaw - the first time in human history the pole would be ice-free - is a stark sign of global warming. Allegedly. Remember, there is no conclusive proof that global warming is taking place, at least according to the U.S. government. This thaw thing, I'm sure its just an anomaly. There is no land at the North Pole, but as long as anyone has looked, it has remained a giant block of ice year-round. each summer in recent years, the amount of ice has gotten thinner and thinner. Each winter's freeze, therefore, results in a thinner pack that, this summer, could melt altogether. Russia and other countries, meanwhile, have been arguing over who has rights to the region's resources, including potential oil reserves. Yes by all means, who cares about the potential ecological disaster that we could be looking at. There's oil in them thar melting ice caps.

Oil - Oil futures climbed to a new record near $143 a barrel on expectations that the weakening dollar, a major factor in crude's stratospheric rise, will extend its decline and add to oil's appeal. At the pump, meanwhile, gas prices slipped 0.1 cent overnight to a national average of $4.066 a gallon, according to a survey of stations by AAA. Break out the bubbly. It's party time. One-tenth of one cent? Give me a break. Meanwhile, traders were coming around to the belief that the dollar, whose long decline has contributed greatly to oil's dramatic advance this year, will continue to weaken. The market now expects that the Federal Reserve will be unlikely to raise interest rates until much later than many analysts have forecast; since higher rates tend to strengthen the dollar, traders are anticipating that it will continue to fall and, consequently, that investors will turn to commodities including oil as a hedge against inflation. Excuse me for a moment, while I top off that stiff drink I'm hoping will numb the pain I feel in my checkbook. I figure that's a slightly less destructive course of action that what some dude in Germany did...

Germany - A German man doused his BMW with gasoline and torched it in protest at skyrocketing fuel costs. See what I mean? The unemployed 30-year-old man drove the black 1995 BMW 3-series sedan onto the lawn outside Frankfurt's convention center grounds, emptied a canister of gas over the vehicle, and set fire to it. The man told police that gas prices were so high he could no longer afford to drive the vehicle. I suppose that is one way to go. Me personally, if I was unemployed, I'd be looking to sell my car on eBay or something. Torching the car, sure that's another way to go.

Tennis - Another bloodbath for top-seeds at Wimbledon. Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic was knocked out in the third round of Wimbledon on Friday by 133rd-ranked Zheng Jie of China (6-1, 6-4), extending a spate of stunning upsets at the All England Club. Ivanovic went out a day after 2004 champion and third-seeded Maria Sharapova was ousted by 154th-ranked Alla Kudryavtseva and two-time men's runnerup Andy Roddick was bounced by Janko Tipsarevic. A day earlier, Australian Open champion and No. 3-ranked Novak Djokovic fell to Marat Safin. Let's see who's left, shall we? Roger Federer continued his march toward a sixth straight Wimbledon title by beating Marc Gicquel in straight sets, setting up a fourth-round matchup against #20 seed Lleyton Hewitt (coincidentally, the last dude to beat Federer at this tournament back in 2002). Two-time women's champion Serena Williams dispatched 2006 winner Amelie Mauresmo 7-6 (5), 6-1, extending her supremacy over the Frenchwoman to a career record 10-2. Venus is still alive as well. Actually, the Williams sisters are having a pretty decent tournament so far. In doubles action, they've advanced to the third round.