What Caught My Eye Today

India - Teams of gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular restaurant, hospitals and a crowded train station in coordinated attacks across India's financial capital, killing at least 82 people and taking Westerners hostage. A group of suspected Muslim militants claimed responsibility. Sadly, this sort of thing does happen rather frequently around the world. That being said, there is a particular reason that this incident caught my attention. India has been wracked by bomb attacks the past three years, which police blame on Muslim militants intent on destabilizing this largely Hindu country. Nearly 700 people have died. On this occasion, the attackers specifically targeted Britons and Americans, witnesses said. Clearly there is no justification for this unprovoked attack, but then again maybe the attackers didn't see things the same way. It's rather obvious that American policies since the September 11 terror attack, while not necessarily unjustified, have done little to boost our popularity with a lot of countries. The sad truth of the matter is like it or not depending on your nationality, you might not be welcome in very many places outside your borders. And unless that changes--and forgive the cliche here--there is very little chance for us to "all just get along."

Presidential Transition - This is kind of cute...sorry but I couldn't come up with a better way to characterize this next item. President-elect Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, said their young daughters will still have to do chores in the White House and won't get out of doing homework just because they're the president's children. That means helping out around the house. I bet the White House staff will just love that. "That was the first thing I said to some of the staff when I did my visit," Michelle Obama said. "I said, 'You know, we're going to have to set up some boundaries,' because they're going to need to be able to make their beds, and clean up." I say good for them. Even if you are the President and First Lady of the most powerful nation on the planet, you still put your pants on one leg at a time and its still your job--some might consider it one of the few perks of parenting--to torment your children by making them do their homework and chores. That being said, does anyone think the teacher is going to call the President in for a parent teacher conference if Malia or Sasha doesn't turn in that essay on "What my daddy does for a living"?.

Speaking of first families...

Barbara Bush - Former first lady Barbara Bush was resting and in good spirits in a Houston hospital following surgery for a perforated ulcer. Surgeons cleansed her abdominal area and closed a one-centimeter hole caused by the ulcer. Bush went to the hospital as a precaution Tuesday night after experiencing some abdominal pains. Former President George H.W. Bush was with her. This comes from the heart when I say, "Get well soon, Babs." She was one of the classiest first ladies that ever graced the White House. And I'd venture to say that a lot of folks were probably much more nervous about crossing her than her husband--you know, Bush 1.0.

Thailand - What is it with these dudes and their inability to keep airports open? Thai authorities have closed a second airport in the capital after anti-government protesters stormed the terminal. The country's main international airport has been closed since early yesterday because of tens of thousands of protesters laying virtual siege on the terminal in their push for the government's resignation. The city's main domestic airport, Don Muang, was closed early today as authorities feared that protesters might harm passengers and planes. Authorities are considering using an air force base outside Bangkok and have alerted all airports nationwide to be ready to receive more diverted flights. The closure of Don Muang cuts off Bangkok completely to air traffic. After yesterday's mess, I'd be curious to know what idiot would want to fly into Thailand at this point. A call by Thailand's powerful army commander to end the country's deepening political crisis was rebuffed as the prime minister rejected his suggestion to step down, and protesters refused to end their occupation of the country's main airport. While I'm not a big fan of military juntas (like say the one in Myanmar) I'm tempted to agree with the military on this one. Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat justified his stance saying he came to power through elections and has "a job to protect democracy for the people of Thailand." So how is it exactly, that Wongsawat is protecting democracy, when a rather large number of those folks that elected him to power, seem to have changed their minds. It seems to me that if the will of the people put him into his current position, that same will should be able to remove him as well.

Japan - You really have to hand it to the zookeepers in Tokyo. They don't miss a thing. Puzzled Japanese zookeepers have cleared up a mystery over a lack of chemistry between a couple of polar bears as both turn out to be female. Tsuyoshi, a four-year-old "male" polar bear, and his 11-year-old female partner, Kurumi, have been living together since June at the Kushiro Municipal Zoo in Hokkaido, northern Japan. But much to the frustration and puzzlement of zookeepers, the bear couple, on a breeding mission, showed no signs of chemistry, and Tsuyoshi has never gone into rut even during "his" mating period. The zoo put Tsuyoshi under an anesthetic earlier in the month for a gender checkup, and learned he was a she. You would think that zoo officials would have checked this before they tried to make a polar bear love connection. But wait, they did check. Experts say when polar bears are young, it is difficult to determine their gender as their long hair covers reproductive organs. The zoo said it had determined Tsuyoshi was a male three months after his birth. I'm sorry but couldn't they have used a razor to cut the hair back a little or maybe draw a blood sample? I'm no expert (and I'm wondering just how "expert" these so-called experts really are), but this doesn't seem that complicated.