What Caught My Eye Today

Iraq - Iraqis want the U.S. military presence to end. But when that occurs -- and whether a timetable should be set for troops to leave -- is something ordinary Iraqis, security officials and politicians cannot agree on. Big deal, neither can we. Iraqis are acutely aware that more than five years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, there are still more than 140,000 American soldiers in their country. Big deal, we're acutely aware of that too. The buzzword word now is "sovereignty." Works for me. It's their country; let them defend it. Last week, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki suggested setting a timetable for U.S. forces to leave as part of a deal being negotiated with Washington to govern the presence of U.S. troops when a U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year. No dates have been mentioned and Iraqi officials now also use the more general term of "time horizon" for any departure. Now what do you suppose "time horizon" means? Here's my theory--it means the Iraqi government has been spending way too much time watching the American government and now finds itself making statements that make no sense.

Business - Oil prices fell below $130 a barrel for the first time in more than a month as a dramatic slide entered a third day along with a sharp sell-off in natural gas. The declines accelerated amid growing concerns about the weakening U.S. economy. Light, sweet crude for August delivery dropped $5.31 to settle at $129.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices have fallen more than $15 in just the past three days. Natural gas futures for August delivery fell more than 8%, marking their biggest one-day drop in nearly a year. A number of market observers say there was nothing supporting the run up in natural gas prices, which peaked in early July, and that this week's sell-off of oil has only helped speed the declines. And there you have the funky dynamics of supply and demand. If you are a supplier of commodities like oil this has been a very good year (and that's putting it mildly). The last thing these dudes want to go and do is push consumers into acting rashly and reduce their demand for oil. Regardless of the factors that caused this run-up in prices, the simple fact of the matter (at least in my humble opinion) is that the spike in prices was too high, too fast. Consumers are learning to do without...and big surprise, doing without isn't as bad as we all thought it was going to be.

Obesity - This is one of those good news bad news stories. First the bad news, especially if you reside in the South. Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee lead the nation when it comes to obesity, a new government survey reported. More than 30% of adults in each of the states tipped the scales enough to ensure the South remains the nation's fattest region. And now the good news, at least for those of you who live in the Rocky Mountain state. Colorado was the least obese, with about 19% fitting that category. The 2007 findings are similar to results from the same survey the three previous years. Mississippi has had the highest obesity rate every year since 2004. The traditional Southern diet — high in fat and fried food — may be part of the answer. Do you think? Obesity is based on the body mass index, a calculation using height and weight. A 5-foot, 9-inch adult who weighs 203 pounds would have a BMI of 30, which is considered the threshold for obesity. CDC officials believe the telephone survey of 350,000 adults offers conservative estimates of obesity rates, because it's based on what respondents said about their height and weight. Men commonly overstate their height and women often lowball their weight. I hate to sound like a broken record, but again, do you think? Obesity was most prevalent in the South, with 27% of residents classified as obese. In the Midwest, the number was 25.3%; in the Northeast, 23.3%; and in the West, 22.1%, according to the report. Being from the West coast, these numbers don't surprise me that much. Think about it. These percentages represent averages, right. Well half the state of California is busy fighting forest fires. With all that physical exertion, you would expect a few shrinking waistlines, wouldn't you?

Cycling - Here's your latest Tour de France update. And guess what, some cyclists are still trying to cheat their way to victory. Drugs hit the Tour de France again Thursday, and the third doping bust netted the biggest name yet: Italy's Riccardo Ricco, a winner of two stages. Ricco tested positive after the fourth stage, a time trial in Cholet. The Giro d'Italia runner-up won the sixth and ninth stages of this Tour and was ninth overall entering Thursday.I watched both of those stages and have to say, this dude looking amazing...now we know why. The disclosure came hours before the 12th stage, which was won by Britain's Mark Cavendish while Australia's Cadel Evans kept the yellow jersey. Ricco was detained by police and booed by spectators before the stage. All three busts have involved the performance enhancer EPO, cycling's drug of choice. His Saunier-Duval team withdrew from the Tour and suspended all activities. Cavendish, a Team Columbia rider who had never won a stage before this year, was followed by Sebastien Chavanel of France in second place, with Gert Steegmans of Belgium third.Evans, trailing in the main pack, leads Frank Schleck of Luxembourg by one second and Christian Vande Velde of the United States by 38 seconds. Despite all the drug news, this year's Tour has been pretty good for the two American-based teams. Team Columbia has three stage wins (all by Mark Cavendish) and held the yellow jersey for 5 days, while Garmin Chipotle has the third place contender for the yellow jersey in Christian Vande Velde.

Golf - Golf's third major (such as it is without Tiger Woods playing in it), the British Open kicked off today at Royal Birkdale, and wouldn't you know it--a couple of familiar, but unexpected names at the top of the leaderboard. Rocco Mediate proved his performance at the last major championship was no fluke, becoming the first player at the British Open to break par. His 1-under 69 was quickly matched by Graeme McDowell and Robert Allenby, all of them late starters seizing on their meteorological good fortune. Out of the first 26 threesomes — exactly half the 156-player field — there were 19 scores in the 80s. There wasn't one red number in any group. Compare that with the afternoon. The next 10 groups to finish produced all three of the co-leaders, as well as Greg Norman and Adam Scott, each at 70. No one in the latter half of the bracket had yet to shoot worse than 79. Wouldn't it be cool to see Mediate or Norman in contention on Sunday? Though for the headline of the day, I have to hand it to Rich Beem. Beem called it quits after reaching the midway point with a score 10 strokes higher. His first seven holes went like this: bogey, quadruple-bogey, bogey, bogey, bogey, bogey, double-bogey. What a wuss. Heck I'm usually at +10 by the fourth hole. You don't see me quitting do you? Heck, for what they charge to play a round of golf these days, I'll hack at the ball all day if I have to, just to get my money's worth.