What Caught My Eye Today

Antigua - Antigua's prime minister wants to rename the island's highest mountain peak "Mount Obama" in honor of the U.S. president-elect. Suck up. "Boggy Peak," as it is currently known, soars more than 1,300 feet (396 meters) over the island's southern point and serves as a transmission site for broadcast and telecommunication providers. It also is a popular hiking spot. Officials say the name change could draw more tourists to the island. I'm thinking the fact that it is an island paradise in the middle of the Caribbean might be a slightly bigger draw, but what do I know. The Attorney General said he will research if parliament needs to approve the name change. How about researching if it's worth wasting parliament's time on this in the first place.

Iran - Speaking of suck ups, here's a rather surprising brown-noser. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Barack Obama on his election win — the first time an Iranian leader has offered such wishes to a U.S. president-elect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. An analyst said Ahmadinejad's message was a gesture from the hard-line president that he is open to some sort of reconciliation with the U.S. It's called kissing up, people. Ahmadinejad congratulated the Democrat on "attracting the majority of voters in the election." Maybe it sounds better in Farsi. Iran sees Obama's victory as a triumph over the policies of President Bush, who repeatedly clashed with Iranian leaders while in office over Iran's nuclear program and its opposition to the U.S.-led military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq. That policy, Ahmadinejad claimed, was "based on warmongering, occupation, bullying, deception and humiliation, as well as discrimination and unfair relations" and has led to "hatred of all nations and majority of governments toward the U.S. leaders." Seriously, Mahmoud, if this is your way of congratulating Obama, you need to work on your people skills, because dude, you suck at it.

Senate - The problem with being an independent is that you never know who your friends are. In Joe Lieberman's it is pretty clear who his friends aren't. Joe Lieberman's affiliation with Democrats was in question after a meeting with Majority Leader Harry Reid, steamed over the Lieberman's high-profile support of John McCain for president. Reid is leaning toward removing Lieberman as chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. He switched to an independent after he failed to win the Democratic Senate primary in Connecticut in 2006. Lieberman won the general election as an independent but is still registered as a Democrat. Although he aligns himself with Senate Democrats, Lieberman angered many Democrats for when he used a prime-time speech at the Republican convention this summer to criticize Barack Obama as an untested candidate beholden to Democratic interest groups. Democrats in the past had tolerated Lieberman's political straddling because he held their slim 51-49 majority in his hands. Now that Democrats have strengthened their hold in the Senate to at least 55 seats as a result of the election, Lieberman no longer is vital to their majority control. And so, the the victors go the spoils. Of course, being an independent, Joe could find himself a whole new bunch of friends in the Republican caucus. They need all the numbers they can scrounge up.

Prostitution - Under the watchful eye of law enforcement in 40 states, Craigslist pledged to crack down on ads for prostitution on its Web sites. I gather that common sense is not as effective as the 'watchful eye of law enforcement' in abiding by the law. As part of Craigslist's agreement with attorneys general around the country, anyone who posts an "erotic services" ad will be required to provide a working phone number and pay a fee with a valid credit card. The web site will provide that information to law enforcement if subpoenaed. Craigslist said the deal will allow legitimate escort services to continue advertising, while providing a strong disincentive to companies that are conducting illegal business. In defense of Craigslist, it is not like they can tell beforehand if an advertisement on its web site is for legitimate purposes or otherwise. I applaud them for working with law enforcement on this...even if they had to be 'nudged a bit' to do it.

Georgia - I don't know if this dude is in the running for a Darwin Award; if he isn't, he should be. Would-be cleaners take note: A blowtorch is not a good substitute for a broom. You learn something new everyday. Coweta County authorities said a man set fire to his west Georgia home as he cleaned cobwebs from exterior eaves with a blowtorch. The man noticed the blaze when he saw smoke pouring from the attic. The Coweta Fire Investigator said the fire was contained to one part of the house, but the entire home had smoke and water damage. No one was hurt. Should you not be familiar with Darwin Awards and are wondering why I think this brain trust should be considered for nomination, click here.