What Caught My Eye Today

Sri Lanka - You have to hand it to the folks at the United Nations. They take the concept of "understatement" to new levels. The more than 100,000 civilians pouring out of Sri Lanka's war zone have included people with untreated blast, mine and gunshot wounds — prompting the U.N. chief to order an expert team to assess the "rapidly deteriorating situation." Just out of curiosity, how much worse do thing need to get before the U.N. assesses that the situation is actually bad? The government says 104,862 civilians have escaped the conflict since Monday. Some 170,000 to 180,000 civilians now live in the government camps. An additional 15,000 to 20,000 civilians remain trapped in the coastal strip measuring just five square miles still controlled by the ethnic separatist Tamil Tigers. The government has ignored calls to stop the fighting so more civilians could leave, saying it is on the verge of crushing the insurgency. The rebels have been fighting to create an independent homeland for ethnic minority Tamils, who have faced decades of marginalization by governments controlled by ethnic Sinhalese. I'm not saying that I endorse the government's actions, but I can appreciate their reasoning. This civil war has been dragging on for 25 years. At long last, it would appear that the conflict may be reaching a conclusion. If I'm the Sri Lankan government, the last thing I want to do at this stage if given the rebels a means of escape. Of course, if I'm one of those 20,000 civilians getting shot at from both sides, my perspective is slightly different.

China - Chinese President Hu Jintao sought to reassure the international community over China's rising military strength before presiding over a naval display highlighting Beijing's ambitions of becoming a major sea power. China's annual double-digit percentage increases in military spending have rattled its Asian neighbors and Washington has warned Beijing's failure to clearly declare its intentions could prompt further unease. China's military, including the fast modernizing navy, "will always be a force for the preservation of world peace and advancement of common development," Hu said. Somehow I'm thinking that Hu's statement isn't going to do much to quell the anxieties of the rest of the world. I find stories like this particularly amusing. The press obviously plays up fear mongering in order to attract readership. Case in point, China may be increasing its defense spending by double-digits, but what does that mean really? The U.S. routinely increases its defense budget by more than 10%--last year the defense budget rose 11.7% over the previous year--and the rest of the world doesn't flip out. And another thing. How much does China spend on defense annually? Just over $57.2 billion. How much does the United States spend? Try $623 billion. Put another way, worldwide spending on defense in 2008 was about $1.1 trillion; meaning the United States accounted for more than 56% of all defense spending on the planet. I don't think we have anything to worry about from China--or anyone else for that matter.

Russia - Negotiators from the United States and Russia will take the first steps toward a new treaty to curb nuclear arms, part of an effort to improve relations. Wow. This is new. The Rome talks were called after presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev agreed at their first meeting, in London earlier this month, to work out a replacement for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1) which expires in December. A new arms reduction deal is seen by both sides as a way to show the former Cold War foes can work together despite bitter rows on other issues like NATO expansion into regions once dominated by Moscow and tackling Iran's nuclear ambitions. Okay, so I'm a bit confused here. The United States and Russia are going to sit down together and work on a plan to reduce their capabilities of annihilating each other. How can this be? All these guys did was talk for a few minutes in London last month. Is it possible...no...impossible. For a moment there I was thinking that constructive dialogue may be behind this. Yes, I know, laughable, isn't it. We must have some dirt on the Russians. No way we would engage in dialog of any sort on equal footing.

Jay Leno - I'm not exactly a fan of the "Tonight Show" but I did find this next item rather interesting. Jay Leno checked into a Los Angeles hospital on Thursday with an undisclosed illness, forcing the comedian to cancel a taping of "The Tonight Show" for the first time in his 17-year tenure. Leno has not missed a scheduled appearance on "The Tonight Show" since he started hosting it in 1992, except for a show a few years ago in which he traded places with Katie Couric, said NBC spokeswoman Tracy St. Pierre. Conan O'Brien will take over the coveted "Tonight Show" slot on June 1, while Leno will move to his own week-night prime-time program this fall. Seventeen years without a single sick day. That's the equivalent of not missing a day of school from kindergarten through grade eight, four years of high school, and another four years of college. Of course, if I was getting paid $20 million a year, I probably wouldn't call in sick very often either.