What Caught My Eye Today

Television - The Senate voted unanimously to postpone the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting by four months to June 12. The vote is a big victory for the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress, who have been pushing for a delay amid growing concerns that too many Americans won't be ready for the currently scheduled February 17 changeover. This they call a victory? Good heavens. Talk about setting the bar low. The Nielsen Co. estimates that more than 6.5 million U.S. households that rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals could see their TV sets go dark next month if the transition is not postponed. Realistically, how bad would that really be. Have you turned on your television, recently? The programming ain't nothing to write home about. In 2005, Congress required broadcasters to switch from analog to digital signals, which are more efficient, to free up valuable chunks of wireless spectrum to be used for commercial wireless services and interoperable emergency-response networks. Republicans in both the House and Senate have raised concerns that a delay would confuse consumers, burden wireless companies and public safety agencies waiting for the airwaves that will be vacated and create added costs for television stations that would have to continue broadcasting both analog and digital signals. Maybe I'm missing something here, but wouldn't television stations lose a lot more money if 6.5 million people can't see those annoying commercials at all? I don't know about you, but I have my own form of back up entertainment already lined up. It's called a book.

Iraq - Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he believes the U.S. will withdraw its troops more quickly than the three-year timeline set down in a U.S.-Iraq security agreement. Wouldn't that be nice? The Shiite-led government pushed for a faster U.S. pullout during last year's negotiations on the security agreement, overcoming longtime Bush administration opposition to a fixed withdrawal schedule.
Al-Maliki has been campaigning actively on behalf of his allies for next weekend's provincial elections, promoting his image as the leader who restored stability and ended what many Iraqis see as a U.S. military occupation. Whatever, dude. I don't what you campaign on, so long as our troops can come home. However, political posturing aside, you don't realistically think that you could have achieved the stability you now enjoy without the assistance of the United States do you, President Al-Maliki? If that's the case, can we have our $600 billion back? At the same time, however, U.S. officials in Iraq have cautioned that a hasty departure of the 142,000 U.S. troops could reverse the decline in violence and undermine Iraq's efforts to establish a stable government. Not if we are to believe, Al-Maliki. If you take his word for it, we're just getting in the way at this stage of the game.

Iran - President Barack Obama's administration will engage in "direct diplomacy" with Iran, according to the newly installed U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice. Yeah, I'd say there's a new sheriff in Washington, wouldn't you. I doubt you would ever here the words "diplomacy" and "Iran" used in the same sentence by anyone in the former Bush administration. She warned that Iran must meet U.N. Security Council demands to suspend uranium enrichment before any talks on its nuclear program. Iran still considers the U.S. the "Great Satan," but a day after Obama was sworn in, said it was "ready for new approaches by the United States." I guess that's progress. Besides, we've been called much worse names than "Great Satan." Plus, if you think about it, Iran is technically acknowledging that we are great. What more could you as for from a country that really, really doesn't like you?

Iceland - Iceland's ruling coalition collapsed under pressure from sometimes violent demonstrations, the first government to fall as a direct result of the global economic crisis. I'm betting it won't be the last. The global financial crisis hit Iceland in October, ending a decade of rising prosperity in a matter of days by triggering a collapse in the currency and financial system. Iceland was forced to seek an IMF-led bailout and economic output is expected to shrink as much as 10% this year, resulting in thousands of lost jobs. So much for Bjork's economic rescue plan (click here).

Japan - Some stories just leave you scratching your head. This is one of those. Overwhelmed by a growing number of misbehaving tourists, Tokyo fishmongers banned all visitors from one of the city's most popular tourist destinations — the pre-dawn tuna auctions at the world's largest seafood market. One of the more notorious recent cases was that of a tipsy British tourist — caught on tape by a Japanese TV crew — who licked the head of a frozen tuna and patted its gill. I sure hope the dude was plastered. I'd hate to think that you'd swap spit with a dead fish while you were sober. Japan is the world's biggest consumer of seafood. The market handles 480 kinds of seafood, attracting around 40,000 buyers and sellers daily. The value of its seafood trade amounts to $20 million per day on average, making it the heart of the national seafood distribution system and the biggest fish wholesale market in the world. It's the kind of place the Japanese take for granted. But it has become a big hit with foreigners because of the colorful way the fish are auctioned off by men in rubber boots and baseball hats using arcane hand signals and the sheer volume and variety of fish available every day. I must be missing something here. You spend all this money flying thousands of miles to visit Japan, and when you get there, you skip out on the Imperial Palace and Mt. Fuji--how boring--and instead hang out at the fish market watching a bunch of smelly men waving frantically at each other. Yeah, that sounds like loads of fun. Where do I sign up?