What Caught My Eye Today

Economy - President Obama took to the airwaves this evening. Guess what he talked about? I'll give you a hint; it wasn't to announce a new family pet. President Barack Obama said his attempts to lead the nation out of economic turmoil are beginning to yield results. Obama also cast his budget — now under review in Congress — as essential if the economy is to recover. The tax and spending plan "is inseparable from this recovery because it is what lays the foundation for a secure and lasting prosperity," he said. What else was the guy going to say about his budget? "Well golly, folks. Maybe it's work and maybe it won't." I don't think so. I'll tell you what he said that did impress me. Obama was quick with a retort when asked about Republican criticism of his budget, with its huge projected deficits. "First of all," he said he inherited a deficit of over $1 trillion from his predecessor. And secondly, he said the Republicans have yet to offer an alternative to his own tax and spending plan. While, I'm not sure that Obama will be able to use that inherited bit indefinitely, I'm all over that second bit. The Republican party lost power in November in a big way, but that does not mean the Republicans are absolved of their responsibility to help fix this economic mess. And by fixing I don't just mean criticizing everything the other side is proposing. The Grand 'Ol Party needs to come up with some solutions of its own to reinvigorate the economy especially if it ever wants to recapture some of the power it lost in the last election.

International Space Station - I love it when a plan goes awry...and no one gets hurt. NASA's online contest to name a new room at the International Space Station went awry. Comedian Stephen Colbert won. The name "Colbert" beat out NASA's four suggested options in the space agency's effort to have the public help name the addition. NASA's mistake was allowing write-ins. Colbert urged viewers of his Comedy Central show, "The Colbert Report," to write in his name. And they complied, with 230,539 votes. That clobbered Serenity, one of the NASA choices, by more than 40,000 votes. Power to the people, now that's what I'm talking about. And talk about a PR plug for Comedy Central. Still this episode could be viewed as a cautionary tale. How many of us would be laughing if Rush Limbaugh had decided to mobilize his audience? And how embarrassing would it be for the new room at the International Space Station to be call "Pompous Blowhard"?

South Africa - Here's a follow up to a story that I posted yesterday. Organizers shelved a peace conference meant to show how sports can bring people and nations together because South Africa's government — fearing trouble with China — won't allow the Dalai Lama to attend. Serves them right for being so stupid. Unfortunately, the real loser here is world peace. Like it didn't have enough going against it. The conference had been in doubt since South Africa's government said the Dalai Lama was not welcome, prompting condemnation and a boycott by retired Cape Town Archbishop Desmond Tutu and others. The conference was intended to highlight ways soccer can promote peace, and all Nobel peace laureates had been invited, along with world statesmen and celebrities. This is just one guy's opinion, but I have to believe that China would have given South Africa a little slack on this one. As much as South Africa relies on them, I don't think that China is terribly interested in stopping a rather productive relationship with South Africa.

Czech Republic - The Czech Republic's centre-right minority government has lost a vote of no-confidence midway through the country's six-month EU presidency. Four rebel MPs voted with the opposition Social Democrats and Communists against Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek. Talk about harsh. Topolanek lost his post as Prime Minister and President all in one vote. Ouch. That's got to sting the old ego. The no-confidence vote in the lower house followed accusations that one of Topolanek's advisers had attempted to pressure its public TV channel into dropping a program critical of a former Social Democratic MP who had decided to back the coalition. All this over a TV show? My goodness. Not that this advise will do much good now, but next time...I'd let the program air. Seriously, who watches public television anyway.

Baseball - Japan won the World Baseball Classic, defeating South Korea 5-3 in 10 innings. And get this, Japan was the defending champion. In fact, Japan is the only nation to have ever won the World Baseball Classic--all two of them.