What Caught My Eye Today

Fred's Note: Sorry for the gap in postings. You know how it is...got to pay the bills.

Taliban - The commander of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for a deadly assault on a Pakistani police academy and said the group was planning a terrorist attack on the White House that would "amaze" the world. Screw the element of surprise. Where would the challenge be if your target didn't know you were gunning for them? The threat comes days after President Barack Obama warned that al-Qaida is actively planning attacks on the United States from secret havens in Pakistan. The group said it would carry out more attacks unless Pakistani troops withdraw from tribal areas near the Afghan border and the U.S. stops its drone strikes. The Pakistani Taliban leader also said he was not deterred by the U.S. bounty on his head: "I wish to die and embrace martyrdom." Don't ask me why, I get the feeling this dude is going to get his wish. I'm not talking about the bombing of the White House (dream on, spark plug), but the martyrdom bit--embrace away, homeboy.

China - China denied a research report's contention that a China-based computer spy ring stole sensitive information from thousands of hard drives worldwide, calling the accusation a lie meant to feed anxiety over Beijing's growing influence. What did the world expect China to say--"Yup, we did. You got us dead to rights. Our bad." I don't think so. The report said that a network, based mainly in China, hacked into classified documents from government and private organizations in 103 countries, including the computers of the Dalai Lama and his exiled Tibetan government and added to growing concerns that China has become a center for cyber-warfare, spying and crime. Industry watchdogs have complained about junk e-mail generated in China. Spam is annoying, and those responsible for generating it should be publicly flogged, but what does junk email have to do with espionage? The spying network, dubbed GhostNet, was able to take full control of infected computers, rifling files and even activating microphones and Web cameras to spy on people present. Invasion of privacy issues aside, you have to be impressed by what these guys have pulled off. "Is big brother is watching?" You betcha.

Iran - In a cautious first step toward unlocking 30 years of tense relations, senior U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke had a brief but cordial meeting with Iran's deputy foreign minister. The meeting was the first official face-to-face interplay between the Obama administration and the Iranian regime. Naturally, nothing substantive was discussed, but you have to start someplace. As the fortune cookie says, "Journey of a thousand miles, begins with a single step." The gathering was being closely watched for signs that the U.S. and Iran can work together on a common problem after years of hostility. The two countries cooperated in 2001 and 2002 after U.S.-led forces ousted Afghanistan's Taliban government. But relations were frozen during the administration of George W. Bush, who referred to Iran as part of the "Axis of Evil." I guess with Obama in charge, it comes as no surprise that the opportunity to "shock and awe" the crap out of Iran has come and gone. Darn it all to heck. I hate when the hope of world peace gets in the way of a good beat down.

Sports - Lot's happened over the weekend. Here's a quick recap--Fred's style.

Basketball - The madness is over for yours truly. I have one team left in the Final Four -- North Carolina. Sadly, I picked Louisville to win. Last I checked on Yahoo Fantasy Sports, I ranked in the 58th percentile. A mere 1,028,000 people are ahead of me in the standings.

Golf - Who da man? Tiger Woods. In his third tournament back from reconstructive knee surgery, Tiger overcame a 5 shot deficit to win the Bay Hill Invitational...for the sixth time. Next up for da man--the Masters in two weeks.

Motor Sports - First stock car racing. My boy Jeff Gordon (#24) hasn't won in 46 races, his longest draught ever, but the dude is leading the NASCAR points race after finishing in the top 10 five of the six races run this year. Over on the Formula One circuit, the 18 race season kicked off this weekend in Australia. Aside from the fact that a brand new team took the top two spots, I think the bigger story was last year's champion, Lewis Hamilton managed to take third place after starting last. If you don't follow Formula One (and I'm guessing most of you don't), take my word for it when I say, this dude pulled off an amazing feat in racing series that is not known for much passing.