What Caught My Eye Today

Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe was sworn in for a sixth term just hours after government officials said he overwhelmingly won a runoff that has been widely discredited. His main rival, Morgan Tsvangirai, dismissed the inauguration as "an exercise in self-delusion." African and other world leaders have condemned Friday's election, in which Mugabe was the only candidate. Residents said they were forced to vote by threats of violence or arson from Mugabe supporters who searched for anyone without an ink-stained finger — the telltale sign that they had cast a ballot. Tsvangirai had withdrawn from the race because of the violence, though his name remained on the ballot and his supporters may have spoiled their ballots rather than vote for Mugabe. Human rights groups said opposition supporters were the targets of brutal state-sponsored violence during the campaign, leaving more than 80 dead and forcing some 200,000 to flee their homes. The electoral commission said total results showed more than 2 million votes for Mugabe, and 233,000 for opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai. Turnout was put at about 42 percent, and 131,000 ballots had been defaced or otherwise spoiled, apparently as an act of protest. Neither candidate got credit for the spoiled ballots. I suppose congratulations are in order for President Mugabe. Well done. You managed to steal an election by forcing out the opposing, making your citizens vote for you or risk being murdered, all the while bringing near unanimous condemnation on your government by the international community. All in all, not bad for a weekend's work.

Afghanistan - The number of civilians killed in fighting between insurgents and security forces in Afghanistan has soared by two-thirds in the first half of this year, to almost 700 people. The figures are a grim reminder of how the nearly seven-year war has failed to stabilize the country and suggest that ordinary civilians are bearing a heavy toll, particularly from stepped-up militant attacks. NATO's reaction to the U.N. figures was cool. Afghan leaders including President Hamid Karzai have accused NATO and the U.S.-led coalition of recklessly endangering civilians by using excessive force, including airstrikes, in residential areas. Foreign commanders insist they take all reasonable precautions to avoid killing innocents and say militants routinely fire on them from houses and flee into villages. What do you think is meant by 'reasonable precautions.' I'm all for defending oneself when shot upon, but I'm not sure launching airstrikes in areas clearly populated by civilians constitutes a proportional response. It certainly is doing very little to endear the NATO forces to the native population that they seem to keep bombing.

California - Firefighters are making slow progress against more than 1,000 wildfires throughout Northern California as the region braces for more lightning storms. Forecasters are predicting more thunderstorms similar to the ones that ignited hundreds of fires a week ago. Lucky us. The state Office of Emergency Services says the blazes have charred more than 556 square miles and destroyed more than 50 buildings. All things considered, you have to be rather amazed that only 50 buildings have been destroyed thus far.

Sports - It's been awhile since we've done a sports round up. Here are a few items that caught my eye recently...

Baseball - Here's something you don't see everyday. The Los Angeles Dodgers became the fifth team in modern major league history to win a game in which they didn't get a hit, defeating the Los Angeles Angels 1-0. A fielding error on a slow roller led to an unearned run by the Dodgers in the fifth inning. It never ceases to amaze me the weird sorts of statistics that Major League Baseball keeps track of.

Soccer - In what is generally considered the most prestigious tournament other than the World Cup, the 2008 Euro Cup final pits Germany against Spain. Germany is attempting to win a record 4th title while Spain attempts to claim the title for the first time since 1964. I joined a small betting pool at work--me and 124 of my closest friends--and, needless to say, despite picking Germany to win it all, I'm not even remotely close to claiming any of the prize money.

Tennis - Going into the second week of Wimbledon, the headlines have been dominated by top-seeds for all the wrong reasons--they lost. And if you are a fan of U.S. tennis, you're probably rather depressed at this point, unless you are a fan of the Williams sisters. Venus and Serena are the only notable Americans left in the tournament. Notables like Andy Roddick, James Blake, and Lindsay Davenport all exited by the third round. Getting back to the top-seeds, other than Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, it has been a Championship to forget. Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic all crashed and burned. #2 seed Jelena Jankovic is still alive but is likely to withdraw due to a knee injury, meaning that the highest remaining seed going into the round of 16 will likely be #4 Svetlana Kuznetsova. On the bright side, you have to like the chances of either Serena or Venus taking home another title. On the men's side, other than Federer and Nadal, there's pretty much no one left, though Britain does have #12 seed Andy Murray to cheer for. Dude has been looking really sharp. The true test will come in the quarterfinals when he will likely face Nadal. I'm thinking Federer likes his chances to repeat for a fifth straight year.

Cycling - Looks like it is official. Team Astana, arguably the best cycling team on the professional circuit with the likes of Levi Leipheimer, Andreas Kloden and Alberto Contador, will not be invited to participate in this year's Tour de France. However, all is not lost for American cycling fans (oh come now, there must be one or two of you out there). George Hincapie will be riding for Team Columbia (formerly team T-Mobile, the arch nemesis of Lance Armstrong's now defunct Team Discovery). In fact, for the first time in recent memory, there will be two American based teams riding in this year's Tour, Hincapie's Team Columbia (of Columbia sportswear fame) and Garmin-Chipotle, whose roster includes Englishman David Millar and American Christian Vande Velde. However, interestingly enough only 4 Americans are riding in this year's event.

Fred's Note: You may have noticed, that the Let Levi Ride portlet has been removed. As of June 29, 62,850 people had signed the online petition to get Levi into this year's tour. Obviously, that was not enough.